Out of Centre Local Shopping Provision
HLDF background paper no.16
January 2007
Foreword
This paper provides information for monitoring
and development control purposes and background information to
inform the implementation of retailing policies in the adopted
Havant Borough District Wide Local Plan (
HBDWLP
), and
future policies in the Local Development Framework (
LDF
).
The address for any correspondence or personal
callers wishing to inspect or purchase the document is:
Planning Policy and Urban Design
Havant Borough Council
Civic Offices
Civic Centre Road
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 2AX
Telephone (023) 9244 6015
Price:£10.00
Contents
Appendices
1.0 Survey Overview
1.1 During July and August
2006 a survey of all out-of-centre small shops was carried out in
order to update similar surveys carried out in 2002 and 2004. All
local shops were visited and photographs of each premises were
taken and details of shop fascias noted. The key findings of the
survey were as follows:
- In total there were 308 units, 70 within the convenience
sector, 118 within the comparison sector, 65 within the service
sector, 18 were classified as miscellaneous (employment, careers,
post offices and information) and 37 were vacant.
- The four wards with very poor provision were Battins, Emsworth,
Stakes and St Faiths.
- The three wards with above average provision were Hayling East,
Hayling West and Purbrook.
- 11 shops were lost between 2004 and 2006. 8 of these were
converted or lost to residential use and 2 were amalgamated into
adjacent units.
- The number of vacant units decreased from 40 to 37 between 2004
and 2006.
2.0 Survey Methodology
2.1 All trade categories defined in the tables were the same
as those used in the 2004
HBC
report “Out of Centres Local
Shopping Provision” from Experian Goad. Outlet count is the number
of units in each trade category.
2.2 The Borough was divided into 20 separate survey zones. 11
of the zones related to the boundaries of local centres defined as
such in Policy TC1 of the Havant Borough District-Wide Local Plan
(
HBDWLP
). The nine
remaining zones cover all other areas of the Borough excluding the
areas not within the six town and district centres. The survey did
not include the large out-of-centre retail warehouses e.g.
ASDA/Walmart Hypermarket and Homebase at Bedhampton, B&Q at
Purbrook Way and the Hambledon Road Retail Park in
Waterlooville.
2.3 All floorspace figures are gross and based on measurements
obtained from the 2004
HBC
report “Out of Centres Local
Shopping Provision” and Cadcorp
GIS
. Public houses and bars
have been excluded except for those which fall within the defined
boundaries of local centres.
3.0 Out of Centre
Summary
3.1 A summary of all local shopping facilities by trade
category is included in Appendix 1. In total there were 308 units
providing 28,867sq m (310,747sq ft) gross of retail floorspace. Of
these 70 (23%) are within the convenience sector, 118 (38%) are
within the comparison sector, 65 (21%) are within the service
sector, 18 (6%) classified as miscellaneous (employment, careers,
post offices and information) and 37 (12%) were vacant.
3.2 Within the convenience sector, confectioners, tobacconists
and newsagents (
CTN
) and
convenience stores were the dominant trade category with 49 units,
followed by groceries and frozen foods, and off licences and home
brew, both with seven units. Within the comparison sector,
hairdressing, beauty and health were the dominant trade category
with 33 units, followed by DIY, hardware and household goods with
17 units. In the service sector restaurants, cafes and fast food
were the dominant trade category with 54 units.
In the comparison sector there was no representation by
footwear/ repair, mens and boys wear, books, arts/ crafts,
stationers/ copy, travel agents, jewellers, clocks and repairs. In
the service sector there was no representation by building
societies. All trade categories in the convenience sector were
represented. Summary reports for all the areas are included in
Appendix 2.
Bedhampton Local Centre
4.0 Ward
Provision
4.1 The distribution of out of centre retail facilities varies
widely throughout the Borough. An examination has been carried out
on a ward by ward basis to determine the levels of provision as a
proportion of the population living in each ward as set out in
Table 1.
|
Table 1. Total number of shops in wards as a
proportion of ward populations
|
|
Ward
|
Shops
(No)
|
Population
(%)
|
Shops
(%)
|
Index
|
|
Barncroft
|
16
|
5.1
|
5.2
|
102
|
|
Battins
|
6
|
5.7
|
1.9
|
34
|
|
Bedhampton
|
18
|
7.2
|
5.8
|
81
|
|
Bondfields
|
8
|
5.7
|
2.6
|
46
|
|
Cowplain
|
23
|
7.7
|
7.5
|
97
|
|
Emsworth
|
6
|
8.0
|
1.9
|
24
|
|
Hart Plain
|
24
|
8.2
|
7.8
|
95
|
|
Hayling East
|
56
|
7.8
|
18.2
|
233
|
|
Hayling West
|
53
|
7.3
|
17.2
|
236
|
|
Purbrook
|
49
|
7.7
|
15.9
|
207
|
|
St Faiths
|
2
|
7.2
|
0.6
|
9
|
|
Stakes
|
8
|
8.7
|
2.6
|
30
|
|
Warren Park
|
14
|
5.8
|
4.5
|
78
|
|
Waterlooville
|
25
|
7.9
|
8.1
|
103
|
|
Borough
Total
|
308
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
4.2 An index of 100 represents an exact percentage match with
the ward population, anything less than 100 indicates a below
average shop count for the ward and conversely a figure over 100
represents an above average shop count. The index can be used to
identify wards that have poor local shopping facilities. A ward
that is heavily under represented would indicate poor local demand
or an area where there has been recent residential development that
has not provided local shopping facilities in step with housing
development. It can also show where there is an untapped market
waiting to be served.
4.3 The four wards with the lowest provision are Battins with
6 shops (Index 34), Stakes with 8 shops (Index 30), Emsworth with 6
shops (Index 24) and St Faiths with 2 shops (Index 9). However it
should be noted that Battins contains the Leigh Park District
Centre, Emsworth contains Emsworth District Centre and St Faiths
contains Havant Town Centre. Therefore it is likely that a
significant proportion of the residents living in these wards use
these centres for their top-up shopping requirements.
4.4 Three wards have particularly good local shopping
facilities, these being Hayling East with 56 shops (index 233),
Hayling West with 53 shops (Index 236) and Purbrook with 49 shops
(Index 207). However all these wards contain local centres, Hayling
East has the local centres of Rails Lane (22 shops) and Creek Road
(18 shops), Hayling West has West Town Local Centre (29 shops), and
Purbrook has Purbrook Local Centre (13 shops). It should also be
noted that the local shopping facilities for Hayling Island are not
evenly distributed as most of the facilities are to be found in the
southern residential areas. There are little or no shopping
facilities to the north of the Island where there is less
residential development.
Grassmere Way Local Centre
5.0 Changes between 2004 and
2006
5.1 Appendix 3 shows the changes that have occurred between
2004 and 2006. In summary 11 shops were lost between 2004 and 2006.
9 of these were converted or demolished for residential use and 2
were lost through being amalgamated into adjacent units.
5.2 An examination of sector representation shows a fall in
the convenience sector of 6 units (from 76 to 70) between 2004 and
2006. This decrease is mainly attributable to the closure of units
in the CTN and convenience category whose representation has fallen
from 56 to 49 units. In the comparison sector there was a decrease
of 4 units from 122 to 118. These were mainly from loses in the
womens, girls and childrens category and the furniture, carpets and
textiles category. In the service sector there was an increase of 2
units, 1 in the restaurants, cafes and fast food category and 1 in
the estate agents and auctioneers category.
5.3 In the miscellaneous sector the number of units classified
as employment, careers, POs and information has stayed the same,
however the number of vacant units has decreased from 40 to 37
units.
6.0 Changes between 2002 and
2006
6.1 Appendix 4 shows the changes that have occurred
between 2002 and 2006. Over the four year period a total of 27
units have been lost, with a loss of 3,779 square metres (40,678
square foot) in floorspace.
6.2 The convenience sector shows a fall of 18 units (from
88 to 70) between 2002 and 2006. This has been in the
CTN
and
convenience category (64 to 49 units) and off licences and home
brew category (10 to 7 units). The comparison sector has shown a
fluctuation in the number of units, from 114 in 2002, up to 122 in
2004, and back down to 118 in 2006. Overall there has been a
decrease in womens, girls and childrens category and the furniture,
carpets and textile category, and there has been an increase in the
cars, motorcycles and accessories category and the hairdressing,
beauty and health category. The service category has increased by 5
units (from 60 to 65 units), 4 of these being in the restaurants,
cafes and fast food category.
6.3 The number of units classified as miscellaneous has
significantly fallen from 73 units to 55 units. This is accounted
for by the decrease in vacant units from 54 to 37. The reduction in
the number of vacant units can be explained through the loss to
residential use, the amalgamation into adjoining units and a higher
take-up rate.
7.0 Conclusions
7.1 The 2006 survey has shown that since 2002 the number
of out of centre small shops has decreased. The reasons for this
decrease are outlined in sections 5 and 6 above. As the figures in
Table 2 below show the number of units has decreased since 1997
however the amount of floorspace did increase by 2% but has now
fallen to the same level as in 1997. This is due to the
amalgamation of units and the conversion or demolition of units to
residential use.
|
Table 2: Comparison of number of shops and Floorspace 1997 –
2006
|
|
Year
|
Shops (No)
|
Change since 1997
(%)
|
Floorspace
(m2)
|
Change since 1997
(%)
|
|
2006
|
308
|
-7.2%
|
28,867
|
-0.003%
|
|
2004
|
319
|
-4%
|
29,609
|
+2%
|
|
1997
|
332
|
-
|
28,994
|
-
|
7.2 There remains a lack of provision in some areas of
the Borough, particularly Emsworth, North Hayling Island and
Wecock. This lack of representation may be addressed by new
development, particularly housing development which will increase
the levels of locally generated expenditure.
7.3 Site identification for small shops is critical in
that retailers, particularly convenience retailers, need to attract
passing trade and therefore will require a site on a busy traffic
route. They will also require off-street parking facilities for
their customers and a discrete catchment area that is not already
served by existing shops. Whilst no sites for small scale retail
development (450m
2 gross) have been identified in the
adopted
HBDWLP
, planning
permission will be granted for such development in accordance with
the provisions of policies TC1 (Hierarchy of Centres) and TC12
(Other Local Shopping Facilities – Maintenance of Shops). The size
of development will need to be in scale with the catchment area to
be served and a local survey of need should be carried out based on
a comfortable walking distance from the site to be developed.
7.4 The Council is committed to the maintenance and
enhancement of local centres and the provisions of Policy TC2 are
aimed at bringing about improvements. Currently works are underway
at the Milton Road Local Centre to improve its appearance. The
improvements will provide new pavements and parking bays, kerb-line
build outs, tree planting, new street lighting and decorative
banners. The scheme’s design evolved following an extensive
consultation with shop owners and local residents who were
concerned about road safety, lighting, parking and the bleak
appearance of the parade. The vitality and viability of the local
centre will be enhanced by these works which will cost
£325,000.
Milton Road Local Centre
7.5 The maintenance of local shops is an important
planning objective and Policy TC12 - Other Local Shopping
Facilities - Maintenance of Shops is designed to do this. The loss
of shops in local parades restricts the range of shopping
opportunities, reduces choice and the benefits arising from
competition. This is particularly important for those residents who
do not have the use of a car.
7.6 In considering applications for a change of use from
retail to non-retail the Council will take into account the value
of the existing retail unit in terms of its size, location,
servicing arrangements and its suitability for meeting the
operational requirements of other retailers. The Council will take
into consideration the potential benefits that may be derived by
the local community from the introduction of a new use. Applicants
are therefore expected to supply a statement justifying the change
proposed including evidence as to the marketing of the premises for
retail purposes.
7.7 Whilst Policy TC2 alone cannot ensure that shops in
local centres or parades remain in business, it does help to
restrict the loss of shops that meet day to day and top-up shopping
requirements. Since 1997 many of the shops that have become vacant
have been converted to residential use as outlined in this report.
The Council is supportive of this trend but only when it has proved
impossible to attract any other type of commercial use and where
the proposed residential use would be compatible with existing
adjoining uses and the architectural character of the
building
.