Government reveals planning system shake-up to safeguard town centres

The government has unveiled a major shake-up of the planning system in a bid to boost business growth and safeguard town centres and local markets.

Guidance for town hall planners will be cut from 137 pages to just 32, with the new Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4) combining town centre and economic development into a single streamlined statement.

Key points in PPS4 include:

• Reinforcement of the ‘town centres first’ policy, designed to ensure the planning system promotes “the vitality, viability and the unique character of town centres”.
• Retention of the sequential test, which requires the most central town centre sites to be developed first for shops, leisure and offices rather than out of town sites.
• Creation of a new tougher ‘impact test’ in place of the ‘needs test’. The impact test will assess economic, social and environmental criteria so councils “can better assess the impacts on the town centre”.
• Requirements that local authorities plan positively for sustainable economic growth and make markets an integral part of the vision for their town centres.
• Allowing rural authorities to plan for economic development in rural areas subject to the need to protect the countryside.

Housing and Planning Minister John Healey said: “The government is putting in place new protections for local shops at the heart of communities as many high streets have been hit hard by a double whammy of the downturn and out-of-town retail parks.

“By strengthening the hand of local councils, we are giving them the expert tools they need to put the viability and vitality of town centres first in difficult market conditions. The new approach also gives rural and urban councils the power to back developments while making sure that the impacts on important local services like pubs and shops are fully considered in planning decisions.”

PPS4 does not cover the competition test suggested by the Competition Commission in its October 2009 report. This test would require local authorities to assess planning applications for new grocery floorspace over 1,000 square metres  for their impacts on competition, in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading.