Intelligence/
Current TopicsLooking after our Town Centres
A mini-guide, Looking After Our Town Centres, has been launched by the Communities and Culture Secretaries recently in a bid to encourage creative ways to reduce the negative impact of empty shops on the high street.
Turley Associates has produced a Comment reviewing the mini-guide, highlighting that:
- The mini-guide is virtually a compendium of existing provisions and references to current advice and research. There is much exhortation to encourage local temporary non-commercial initiatives such as cultural, community, learning or information centres.
- The publication has been described as little more than ‘spin’ by business and property organisations, who say that what is needed in the Chancellor’s Budget statement is a firm and immediate relaxation of business rate burdens.
- The headlines referred to “relaxed planning rules, special planning waivers, and additional Council powers”. However, there is no effective new planning power to provide assistance in the near future. The only suggested initiative is to promote Local Development Orders (LDOs). These will not provide any meaningful assistance in the short term.
- The opportunity to seek flexible planning permissions (Class E applications as we described them in an earlier Comment sheet) have been completely overlooked by the mini-guide.
The Comment can be accessed via the link below.
Looking After Our Town Centres (April 2009)
A mini-guide, Looking After Our Town Centres, has been launched by the Communities and Culture Secretaries recently in a bid to encourage creative ways to reduce the negative impact of empty shops on the high street.