News Archive 2010

BBC Report on Supermarket Growth Dec 2010
A special BBC Panorama programme looked at the recent continued growth of supermarkets, including an investigation of planning issues. As background for this they conducted a survey of local authorities to obtain recent permissions data.

Local High Streets debate Dec 2010
A recent Commons debate in Westminster Hall considered the state of Local High Streets, including comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on the role of Government and public policy.

Localism Bill and Planning Dec 2010
Much of the relevant detail of the new Localism Bill will be contained in the still awaited National Planning Framework or secondary legislation. However a presentation by the CLG Chief Planner to the National Planning Forum gives a very useful overview.

Effects of Foodstores on Smaller Centres Dec 2010
New research by the University of Southampton revisits the impact of edge-of-centre/in-centre supermarket developments on market towns and district centres. The executive summary is free to download while the full report can be purchased online.

Designing Town Centre Supermarket-led Developments Nov 2010
A report by CABE reviews town centre supermarket-led developments, emphasising the importance of good design, especially in mixed use schemes. Examples of how to achieve commercial viability while enhancing locale are given

Is Your High Street Healthy? Nov 2010
A new, simple High Street Health Check has been launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), intended to help local businesses, councils and community organisations spot the early warning signs and prevent further degeneration.

Continued Support for 'Town Centres First' Nov 2010
The Government has twice reaffirmed its support for the 'Town Centres First' policy, firstly in a speech delivered on behalf of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to the Association of Convenience Stores, then by the Business and Enterprise minister during a parliamentary debate on independent retailers.

A Plan-led Approach Nov 2010
With the Localism Bill imminent, a recent Parliamentary Written Answer suggests grounds for appeal will be much reduced in the new planning system.

Vacany rates slowing Sep 2010
The lastest shop vacancy report from the Local Data Company shows a national slowdown in shop vacancy rates. However this masks diverging trends, with a clear divide apparent between North and South, and between affluent and poor towns.

Return of the Clone Towns Sep 2010
The New Economics Foundation have repeated their controversial Clone Town Britain survey, suggesting that little has changed since the orginal 2005 report.

Small Shops and Planning Aug 2010
The London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee documents the decline of London's neighbourhood shops in its report 'Cornered Shops', calling for changes to planning policies at all levels to offer them more protection.

Supermarkets and Planning Policy Jul 2010
A recent Commons Written Answer provides an update on PPS4 and its future.

Revocation of Regional Strategies Jul 2010
The Secretary of State has announced the revocation of Regional Strategies. The Chief Planner's letter to local authority Chief Planning Officers sets out the implications, including the abolition of the hierarchy of strategic centres (see point 17).

London's Retail Street Markets Jun 2010
A pre-publication draft report for the GLA provides a spatial and economic analysis of London's retail street markets, highlighting key trends and looking also at their wider social benefits.

London Small Shops Study Jun 2010
The GLA have released a pre-publication draft of this report which assesses the small shops policy proposed in the draft London Plan, looking at current provision and how the policy proposals might be implemented. Further data covering all London's town centres will be published later in a supplementary appendix.

High Street Index shows some recovery Apr 2010
ATCM and Springboard's High Street Index provides a good measure of town centre rather than just retail performance. For February it shows a reduction in the annual decline in footfall compared to the previous year. For details, more commentary and earlier reports see the ATCM and Springboard websites.

Knowledge Base update Mar 2010
The annual update to our Knowledge Base is now online, providing concise summaries of relevant publications from a wide variety of sources during 2009 as well as an insightful commentary on research trends. Our list of useful websites has also been updated.

Expansion of Retail Multiples Mar 2010
A briefing paper from CB Richard Ellis looks at changes in expansion activity by UK multiple retailers since 2007, with several sectors showing major changes both positive and negative.

Retail Now Online Conference Jun 2010
A free-to-attend Property Week online conference and exhibition on June 29th and 30th looked at the future for high streets, shopping centres, retails parks and supermarkets

Town Centre retailing reports Mar 2010
Recent research by Verdict reports a record decline in town centre retail sales in 2009, losing out to online and out-of-centre, a trend is predicted to continue.

The Local Data Company's Openings & Closures Report 2009 suggests independent retailer numbers have grown while multiples have barely changed.

However the Retail Think Tank predicts more turbulence ahead in 2010.

CONSULTATION: CLG Statistics Feb 2010
CLG consulted on possible changes to planning and land use statistics. In particular, options for the frequency of publication and coverage of Town Centre and Retail and Commerical & Industrial Floorspace statistics are proposed. The consultation closed on April 14th 2010

Conservative Planning green paper Feb 2010
The Conservatives have launched their planning green paper 'Open Source Planning'. Retail issues are specifically dealt with on page 19 but see the full document for proposals of wider relevance.

Lib-Dem town centres policy Feb 2010
The Liberal Democrats have released their town centres policy document 'Vibrant Local High Streets'.

EVENT Secondary Centres Seminar Mar 2010
BCSC held an evening seminar in London on March 23rd to discuss the issues raised by their recent report on the Impact of the Recession on Secondary Shopping Centres.

EVENT Saving Britain's High Streets Mar 2010
A summit in Birmingham on March 18th organised by Retail Week buildt on the BRC's 21st Centure High Streets report and the magazine's own Manifesto for the High Street, bringing together a diverse range of high-profile speakers to look at how the decline of centres can be reversed.

Diversity Briefing Note Feb 2010
The latest in our series of Briefing Notes looks at retail diversity. The Association of Convenience Stores have also recently published a report on this topic - see their press release for details.

PPS4 Workshop materials Feb 2010
Materials from a recent event held in London rolling out the new PPS4 are now available to view: presentations by Nick Ward of CLG on the PPS itself and Chris Goddard of GVA Grimley on the Practice Guidance, along with a summary of points raised in smaller group discussions.

Retail Vacancy Briefing Note Jan 2010
A timely Briefing Note, prepared by the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, considers patterns of retail vacancies.

Making Public Data public? Jan 2010
Recent welcome initiatives by central Government and also the Greater London Authority aim to make more of their data more easily available to all. There isn't too much new directly relevant data as yet but both sites are in their early stages and should develop. See also CLG's new Places Database