DCLG report urges local action on shops

DCLG report urges local action on shops

By Mark Smullian Thursday, 07 June 2012

Local plans need to take account of how to deal with economically declining parades of shops that lack the ‘critical mass’ to succeed, a government report has said.

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Parades of Shops – Towards an Understanding of Performance and Prospects has been issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government as part of its response to the Portas Review on local retailing.

It said local shopping areas were often a ‘barometer’ of an area’s socio-economic health and that local planning processes should support them as far as possible.

However, it said many suburban parades were too small to be viable long-term in the face of competition from large stores and online retailing, which “may point to the need for a more planned approach to the growth and managed decline of the existing, historic pattern of parades to arrive at a more sustainable balance of provision”, it said.

Local shops should be included in neighbourhood plans so that communities “understand the rationale for any planned changes in provision and that the function and form of neighbourhood parades going forward fully reflect the reality of local economic circumstances as well as local needs and views”, according to the report.

It admitted that neither the place-shaping role of neighbourhood parades nor their impact on local housing markets were well understood and called for further research on both issues.

“Local consultations suggest that the availability of local retail and service facilities can support housing market performance,” the report said.

“Conversely, poor quality parades can inevitably have a negative effect on local housing market confidence.

“This relationship seems intuitively unchallengeable but has not been the subject of any specific research or policy guidance.”

Communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles has also issued a guide for councils on how to protect local shopping parades, which recommends that convenience store owners should be encouraged to participate in neighbourhood planning forums.

The guide, Parades to be proud of: Strategies to support local shops, also sets out ideas to make parades safer by councils and retailers collaborating to buy lighting, CCTV and shutters and work with police on neighbourhood watch schemes

Involvement in neighbourhood planning forums would ensure that “local shops are factored into the future development and benefit from simplified planning like change of use rules”, Pickles said.

Parades of Shops – Towards an Understanding of Performance and Prospects can be read here. 

Parades to be proud of: Strategies to support local shops can be read here.