News Archive 2009

PPS4 and Guidance released Dec 2009
The new Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth has now been issued along with the guidance document Planning for Town Centres: Practice guidance on need, impact and the sequential approach and the responses to the consultation draft. See also the press release.

London Town Centre Healthchecks Dec 2009
The Greater London Authority has published an analysis of the state of over 200 of its town centres using a wide range of indicators, including an examination of change over time.

Retail Development Pipeline Dec 2009
BSCS and Lunson Mitchenall have published a research paper looking at current trends in the development pipeline and future prospects. BCSC have also written to the Chancellor ahead of the pre-budget report, setting out recommendations to revitalise the pipeline.

Education for Retail Planning Nov 2009
The scoping paper prepared for the NPRF considering the current state of retail planning education and how it might be improved has been revised.

Report: State of the Markets Nov 2009
The Retail Markets Alliance has published Markets 21, a policy and research review of UK retail and wholesale markets, shedding valuable new light on the health of this traditionally under-researched sector.

Government response to Select Committee Nov 2009
The government has published its response to the House of Commons Communities & Local Government Select Committee report into the Government's policy on planning for town centres. A pdf version is also available.

Linked trips and town centre viability Nov 2009
A recent article in Town & Country Planning examines the impact of a foodstore moving from an out-of-town to an edge-of-centre location. With kind permission of the TCPA, Professor Neil Wrigley and colleagues.

EVENT ACS Local Shop Campaigner Seminar Nov 2009
The Association of Convenience Stores offered retailers a unique opportunity to speak to the MPs who will be shaping retail policy in the run up to the next General Election at their Heart of the Community Seminar in London on Tuesday 3rd November.

London First Retail Commission Oct 2009
This commission, established earlier in the year to investigate and recommend how to encourage and sustain a diverse retail sector in the capital, has published its final report.

London Plan & Small Shops Consultation Oct 2009
The consultation draft of the replacement London Plan has been published. Of particular note are the Town Centres policy (2.15) and the Retail Policies (4.7-4.9), especially the expected Affordable Small Shops policy (4.9). Supplementary guidance is to be produced on implementing this.

The London Assembly’s Planning and Housing Committee is carrying out a short review of how the planning system and other initiatives can provide support for London’s local and neighbourhood shops and small independent shops. Closing date is 3 November. Read the background to the review here.

Extent of Retail Development in England 2007 Oct 2009
CLG have released statistics on the extent of retail development in England for 2007, with 33% being built in town centres, rising to 44% when edge-of-centre (represented by a 300m buffer) is included. Analysis by region and 5 year averages for each local authority are also available.

ATCM Monitoring Town Centre Performance Oct 2009
An article on the ATCM Chief Exec's blog describes a new database, Milestone, being developed by ATCM and Springboard which will bring together a range of sources to help town centre managers monitor and compare the performance of their centres. See a presentation here.

BCSC's Retail Statistics Oct 2009
BCSC have published a useful statistical report on UK retail property prepared by Experian. The full report is accessible only by BCSC member but a summary is available to all.

Traditional Markets Working Group Oct 2009
In response to the report of the Communities and Local Government Commons Select Committee inquiry into traditional retail markets, the Government has announced it is setting up a Traditional Markets Working Group, led by CLG and including several government departments, industry and local government representatives.

Competition Test Update Oct 2009
The Competition Commission have issued their final decision on the proposed Competition Test. As before they recommend a test be introduced for larger grocery stores, with the OFT as statutory consultee in the planning process, albeit with small extensions permitted.

Entry & Exit of Small High Street Stores Sept 2009
A recent paper by Professor Neil Wrigley and others in the journal Environment & Planning A (2009 vol 41, pages 2063 - 2085) extends the recent work of the Competition Commission on the impact of large foodstores on small shops and looks at the planning policy implications. This paper has been made available to the National Retail Planning Forum and its members by kind permission of the publishers, Pion Ltd.

Evidence-based Retail Planning? Sept 2009
In light of the emphasis on evidence-based planning in the new draft PPS NRPF Research working group paper considers what evidence base is currently being used, what is needed and how the gap between the two can be closed.

Response to Draft PPS4 Consultation July 2009
Read our Research Group's response to the consultation on the draft Planning Policy Statement 4.

Need & Impact: Planning for Town Centres July 2009
The Commons Communities & Local Government Select Committee has published the report of its inquiry into the Government's proposed changes to PPS 6 (now draft PPS4 and accompanying good practice guide). See the press release - main recommendations are that needs test should be retained alongside the new impact test and that monitoring and resourcing should be improved.

The full report is available as a searchable pdf file or in a browsable version; both contain full transcripts of oral evidence and written submissions including BCSC's memorandum on statistics and CLG's response.

NRPF EVENT - Retailing out of recession July 2009
The programme and presentaions from our recent LGA-sponsored event 'Retailing out of recession – the challenges ahead' held in Birmingham on July 17th 2009 are now available here or under 'Resources' on the menu above.

21st Century High Streets Report July 2009
A new report from the British Retail Consortium sets out recommendations for securing the long term future of town centre retailing beyond the current recession with many case studies.

Competition Commission - and Test July 2009
In the latest stage of the Inquiry into the Groceries Market following the Tesco appeal, the Competition Commission have set out their case for a competition test.

Tackling Obsolete Retail Property July 2009
A white paper by the Retail Think Tank looks at the shop vacancy problem (see also recent research by the Local Data Company, and by Experian for the BBC), and suggests some solutions.

EVENT - WUWM Retail Conference June 2009
The WUWM Retail Conference took place in London on June 26th/27th with the theme 'Policies that Ensure Market Success’ with high-profile speakers from the UK and across the EU.

More Parliamentary Questions & Answers June 2009
Recent written answers to questions on encouranging innovative town centre development, and research into the social effects of prosperous town centres.

BPF Regeneration Manifesto May 2009
The British Property Federation has set out measures to kick-start regeneration projects, including the use of bonds underwritten against future tax revenues. See the press release and report.

London Retail Commission May 2009
London First have established a retail commission to investigate and recommend how to encourage and sustain a diverse retail sector in London.

CONSULTATION: New PPS & Good Practice May 2009
The proposed PPS 'Planning for Prosperous Economies', which will replace PPS4, PPG5, PPS6 and parts of PPS7, has been published. A living draft of the accompanying good practice guide on Need, Impact and the Sequential Approach has also been published. Consultations on both documents were open until 28 July 2009.

New Retailing in Eco-Towns Briefing Note May 2009
Continuing the successful series prepared for us by the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, the latest NRPF Briefing Note looks at retail aspects of the proposed new eco-town developments.

Reviving empty shops Apr 2009
DCLG have announced new measures and funding to to help communities find creative ways to reduce the negative impact empty shops have on the high street, along with a practical guide 'Looking after our Town Centres', which identifies the best ways and steps communities can take to keep town centres thriving.

NRPF Knowledge Base updated Apr 2009
The NRPF Knowledge Base, our unique (and free!) resource for everyone with an interest in retail planning, has now been updated. The annual update contains materials published during 2008, with a commentary highlighting key policy and research trends, while the main comprehensive Knowledge Base has been consolidated to include summaries of all materials published during the last 10 years; both are fully indexed, searchable and downloadable. Our annotated list of useful websites has also been completely revised.

CLG floorspace statistics Mar 2009
CLG have released floorspace and rateable value statistics for commercial and industrial properties in England and Wales at 1 April 2008. Statistics at a finer geographical scale are also available on the Neighbourhood Statistics website within the 'physical environment' topic.

Tesco/Competition Test case judgement Mar 2009
The Competition Appeals Tribunal has judged in favour of Tesco's challenge to the lawfullness of the Competition Commission's recommendation to introduce a 'competition test' into the retail planning processs. See summary and full details. The impact on PPS6 revisions remains to be seen.

Medium-sized and smaller towns Mar 2009
A new report from BCSC 'Medium-sized and Smaller Towns - Raising the Game' uses case studies to show how new schemes in these centres can, with sufficient committment and understanding, create new vitality, reverse the decline in the retail offer and attract growing numbers of customer.

Policies to support a healthy retail sector Feb 2009
A review (and summary findings) by Stirling University's Institute for Retail Studies for the Scottish Government explores the policies adopted to support a healthy retail sector and undertake retail-led regeneration, and the impact of retail on the regeneration of town centres and local high streets.

New 'Planning for Prosperity' PPS to replace PPS6 and others Mar 2009
Responding to the Taylor Review on the rural economy and affordable housing, the government have announced plans to bring together several exisisting planning policy statements and guidance notes, including PPG4 and PPS6. A consultation draft is to be published shortly. See also these House of Lords written answers.

EVENT Convenience Retailing Show Mar 2009
This free event took place at the NEC Birmingham from March 1st to 3rd.

PPS6 consultation responses published Feb 2009
CLG has published a summary of the responses to its public consultation on the proposed changes to PPS6.

The benefits of Retail-led Regeneration Jan 2009
A new research report from BitC and BCSC 'Retail-led Regeneration: Why It Matters to Our Communities' demonstrates how retail-led regeneration has revitalised five communities, reducing levels of deprivation. Read more about the BitC Under Served Markets project here.

Parliamentary report: Building Local Jobs Jan 2009
A report by the All Party Urban Development Group looks at the benefits of using regeneration as a vehicle to deliver jobs for local people, best practice in the field and what the barriers are for such initiatives.