Planning system reforms needed if high streets are to adapt and survive, says expert

Reforms to the planning system are vital if high streets are to successfully adapt to the decline of the retail sector and remain vibrant in the coming years, according to a leading expert.

Stephen Bethal, Corporate Affairs Director at the British Retail Consortium, said the decline in the number of shops which has been sped up by the pandemic should not necessarily mean the death of the high street.

The Yorkshire Post reported on Saturday that the future for high street retailers is “in the balance” in the run-up to the crucial Christmas period after a year when footfall in the region’s town and city centres has fallen by more than half.

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But Mr Bethal, whose organisation acts as a trade association for all UK retailers, said high streets were “more than just places with shops in them” and would remain centres of communities where people would gather.

He said: “A lot of it comes down to planning reform and more flexibility on planning rules so there can be easier change of use, so they can be used for different purposes that can still support that kind of community. It’s a high street that is less dependent on retail, but how it’s used can more easily be changed.

“Whether that’s leisure, gyms, entertainment venues, cultural spaces, that sort of flexibility in the planning system and the ability for those kind of different kinds of things to come together, I think that’s where the future lies.”

The Government’s planning reforms announced earlier this year include provisions to make it easier for shops and commercial buildings to change use without planning permission.

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And its planning White Paper published in August says: “We need to build more homes at gentle densities in and around town centres and high streets, on brownfield land and near existing infrastructure so that families can meet their aspirations.”

High streets need planning reforms to help them adapt, according to a leading expertHigh streets need planning reforms to help them adapt, according to a leading expert
High streets need planning reforms to help them adapt, according to a leading expert

Measures taken to meet this aim include a £400m fund - the majority of which will go to northern metro mayors - to make it easier to build homes on previously developed brownfield land.

Another section of the document said the reforms are “primarily aimed at creating vibrant, mixeduse town centres by allowing businesses greater freedom to change to a broader range of compatible uses which communities expect to find on modern high streets, as well as more generally in town and city centres”.

Susan Hinchcliffe, the leader of Bradford council who is hoping to become metro mayor of West Yorkshire, said changes to retail had been going on for decades and “part of the solution is rethinking our high streets and working to regenerate them”.

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She said: “This means more housing, more leisure, education spaces and green spaces. That means big changes in our city and town centres so that they can continue to be the thriving social and economic spaces we all want.

“If government want to show serious intent to support our city and town centres in the North then they need to do rescue and recovery simultaneously. That means supporting those businesses which are still hanging on with financial support ready for better times ahead.

“But government also need to help accelerate these plans by plugging the viability gap for new brownfield developments and by delivering on transport improvements which will help town and city centres re-shape their offer.”

York was the worst affected location in the country for shop closures in the first half of this year as the coronavirus crisis left the nation’s retail sector in tatters.

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Statistics published in October by the Local Data Company and the accountancy firm PwC showed that a total of 11,120 chain store outlets closed between January and June, while 5,119 shops opened.

The 6,001 net store closures was a record high and compared with 3,509 stores shutting in the first half of last year. York was the worst affected, with 55 net shop closures in the first six months of the year, followed by Newcastle upon Tyne with 43 closures.

Andrew Waller, City of York Council’s Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning, said the challenge in his city was about how to use the large city centre sites previously occupied by chains which have now disappeared.

He said: “There are ways in which Coney Street, for example, which has suffered more than most in the loss of chains, because of the shapes of those buildings, can be helped. For example breaking them into a lot of different shops and open up the riverfront, and there’s an appetite to do that.”

And he added: “What we don’t want to see is a lot of commercial property owners for whom the shop is just a line on a spreadsheet.”

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