Local authorities are to be asked to look at the impact of an out-of-town scheme rather than the need for one. So what does this planning change mean for retailers?
What is PPS4, then?
Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4) is an overhaul of the local planning system, which is intended to protect town centres and independent retailers from out-of-town developments. It consolidates all of the Government’s key planning policies relating to the economy into one single planning document, cutting the guidance for councils from 137 pages down to a more manageable 32.
How does it differ from previous planning guidance?
The revised guidelines retain the key “sequential test” for town planners, which requires town centre sites that already exist to be developed first for stores ahead of out-of-town sites.
The big change is the move away from the needs test to a tougher “impact test”, which will give councils more wide-ranging control over big developments that put small shops and town centres at perceived risk.
Schemes will now be assessed against factors including climate change, impact on the high street, consumer choice, spending and jobs.
The new rules are separate from the Competition Commission’s proposal for a competition test that would make it harder for supermarkets to open stores in areas in which they are already dominant.
When will PPS4 be introduced?
PPS4 has been through a lengthy consultation, which attracted some 330 responses from local authorities, retailers, lobbying groups and planning and property professionals.
The summary of those responses was incorporated in the final guidance, unveiled by housing and planning minister John Healey at the end of last year. The guidance document now takes immediate effect.
Does everyone think it’s a good idea?
No. There seems to be general consensus that a simpler, quicker and more cost effective consolidation of the existing planning guidance is a good idea but less agreement PPS4 is the right document.
According to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), ministers have failed to convince local shops that the policy will promote town centres and protect small shops.
ACS chief executive James Lowman lamented: “This new policy will weigh heavily on under-resourced planning departments in local councils, who will have to interpret and implement a policy that is ambitious, contradictory and highly subjective.”
The main concern cited by the ACS arises from the removal of the need test for new retail development.
The ACS has an unlikely bedfellow in Tesco, which fiercely opposes the guidance, although many retailers have broadly supported it.
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