Promoting our Town Centres

cy EC.5 Promoting our Town Centres In accordance with Policies DS.2 and DS.8, Town Centre boundaries and Primary Shopping Areas have been identified for the Main Urban Centres and Main Service Centres across South Warwickshire. These are shown on the Policies Map. A. Promoting Vitality of our Town Centres Within the Primary Shopping Areas, proposals for development or change of use of existing employment land and buildings (Use Classes E(g), B2 and B8) to non- employment uses will not be permitted, unless demonstrated to be unviable in accordance with Policy EC.2. For sites in non-employment use within the Primary Shopping Areas, proposals for development or change of use for town centre uses (Use Class E) will be permitted where they: 1. support the vitality and viability of the town centre and non-shopping proposals would not compromise its shopping function. 2. are of an appropriate scale in relation to the role and function of the town centre within the identified town centre hierarchy 3. reflect the character and form of the town centre and contribute to the enhancement of the public realm, including consideration of Green and Blue Infrastructure-led design solutions. Within the Primary Shopping Area, the use of ground floor retail units will be restricted to uses within Use Class E. Residential development will only be permitted on upper floors. Where suitable sites are not available in the Primary Shopping Areas, sites on the edge of the Primary Shopping Areas will be considered and, if no suitable sites are available in any of the preferred locations, only then will out of centre locations be considered. Where sites on the edge of Primary Shopping Areas are considered, preference will be given to accessible sites that are well connected with the Primary Shopping Areas. Evidence of the impact on the Primary Shopping Area will be required where the proposal is above 280sqm floorspace. B. Office Accommodation and the Creative Sector The conversion of existing space within town centres to provide modern office floorspace will be supported in principle, including repurposing retail floorspace where suitable. The development of office space alongside other types of employment development within town centres and other sustainable locations will be supported in principle. Specific proposals for investment in the electronic gaming sector and the digital and creative industries will be supported. This includes intensification of use and related research and development uses. C. Upper Floors of Town Centre Buildings Development that denies access to the upper floors of buildings within the town centres or proposals that results in the loss of the use of upper floors that could otherwise be occupied will not be permitted. EC.5 Development Management Considerations Use Classes Order 2020 ~ Class E: Commercial, business and service uses. In Main Service Centres, the Town Centre boundary and the Primary Shopping Area Boundary are identical. Development proposals for Class E and main town centre uses which do not contribute to the retail function of the Primary Shopping Area at the ground floor (street) level must submit a statement demonstrating that the development, whether individually or cumulatively with others will support the retail function of the Primary Shopping Area and will not result in an unacceptable adverse impact on it by : 1. Contributing to the vitality, viability and vibrancy and character of the Primary Shopping Area including by ensuring that a range of consumer goods remains available within it, taking into account the role and function of the centre in the hierarchy. 2. Providing an appropriate main town centre use at the ground floor level that will attract visitors and generate footfall within the Primary Shopping Area. 3. Providing a positive frontage along with an active ground floor frontage in order to ensure that there is no excessively harmful break between retail uses and the continuity of the active frontage; 4. Ensuring local amenity is not unreasonably harmed by increased noise, odour, fumes and other nuisances. 5. In the town centres of the Main Urban Areas, development proposals should support the role and function of the centre by contributing to the target for the Primary Shopping Area to maintain a minimum of 50% of retail units as defined under Class E (a) as a proportion of all units. Policy Justification 4.3.3 Ensuring that town centres remain as the focus for new development is important in maintaining local economic growth and encouraging investment. It is also fundamental in achieving sustainable patterns of development within South Warwickshire. This policy is consistent with Government guidance that aims to make town centres the focus for new development to ensure their continued vitality and viability. 4.3.4 It is important that within the town centres there remains a defined and vibrant core where it is important to maintain a concentration of E Class Uses, including retail necessary to preserve the vitality of the centre. New retail proposals will be encouraged and supported in the Primary Shopping Areas defined on the Policies Map. 4.3.5 Primary Shopping Areas (PSA’S) are the locations within our town centres where the main body of retail uses are located and should be concentrated. Development proposals should support the retail function of the PSA. New Class E (a) retail uses are encouraged to locate to in the PSA and support the important retail function of town centres through the provision of a complementary cluster of retail uses. 4.3.6 The Local Planning Authority will promote the continued role and function of its network of town and local centres and will support proposals that positively contribute towards their viability, vitality, character and public realm. Improvements to the public realm are important in terms of creating vitality, the Transformation Framework for Leamington Town Centre will assist this objective. 4.3.7 Across South Warwickshire there is a defined hierarchy of town centres with Leamington Spa and Stratford Town Centres being the most significant due to the quality of the retail offer available as well as the scale of leisure and other main town centre uses to be found. Warwick and Kenilworth are different as they predominantly serve a more localised catchment and therefore perform a different role; as a consequence, they have a significantly lower number of shops and services. Beyond Stratford town centre there is a network of smaller rural towns that are defined in the town centre hierarchy as Local Centres. These include Alcester, Bidford-on- Avon, Henley-in -Arden, Kineton, Shipston-on -Stour, Southam, Studley and Wellesbourne. They function as destinations catering predominantly for the shopping and service needs of their particular local catchment. 4.3.8 Town centres provide important employment opportunities within a range of sectors. It is important to maintain a continued employment role within the town centres to provide employment opportunities in sustainable locations and as part of encouraging a diverse range of uses within town centres in accordance with Government guidance. 4.3.9 The use of upper floors in town centres is important in ensuring that buildings remain in a good state of repair. It will also help in providing opportunities to introduce other uses, such as offices and residential, that can generate positive benefits for the town centre economy. Where proposals that relate to ground floor uses only are submitted, applicants will be expected to show that they have considered how access arrangements to upper floors can be achieved in the future so that buildings may be fully utilised if required. Where upper floors may be considered for residential or office use, this access may need to be independent of the ground floor use. When considering proposals for listed buildings or buildings in conservation areas, applicants must ensure that in achieving access to upper floors the quality of the building and the conservation area is not compromised. 4.3.10 As part of creating diverse and active town centres, it is important that every opportunity is given for people to live within town centres. The continued occupation of flats above the ground floor of premises throughout the town centres has a particular role to play in this. Encouraging greater living in town centre locations can also enhance personal safety by increasing natural surveillance. 4.3.11 The objective of this policy is to protect specific designated employment areas within the town centres, but to allow greater flexibility for other existing town centre employment land and buildings to change uses. The protected areas are those within Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick town centres defined as “Town Centre Employment Areas” on the Policies Map. In the Althorpe Street protected employment area, the Council may consider the introduction of a wider range of uses if they would positively contribute to the wider regeneration aspirations of this area of Old Town. 4.3.12 Maintaining an appropriate network of centres across the South Warwickshire Plan area is important in order to provide easily accessible shops and services to meet the day-to-day needs of residents, as well as being the focus of local community facilities. As a part of this process, it is important to ensure that development proposals do not compromise the hierarchy and that they and that they are of an appropriate scale relative to the intended location. It is also important that future development can be successfully assimilated without harm to the particular character and form of our town centres. 4.3.13 As an integral part of this Local Plan, new residential development associated with the delivery of New Settlements and Strategic Growth Locations will be required to deliver new local retail and service provision necessary to meet the consumer needs of these new developments. Careful consideration of the scale and format of new provision at these locations will be necessary ensure that they are of an appropriate scale and do not undermine the established retail hierarchy. 4.3.14 It should also be noted that the South Warwickshire area also contains a range of valuable neighbourhood centres and local shopping opportunities within its smaller villages and within the built-up areas that typically comprise of a parade of shops and service outlets that are purely of local significance. 4.3.15 As a consequence of changes to the Use Class Order and the introduction of Class E (Commercial, Business and service) our latest retail study considers that it is no longer appropriate to define and apply Primary and Secondary retail frontage policies. Frontage policies are regarded as out of date and overly restrictive. To encourage necessary regeneration, it is considered more appropriate to enable the growth of a mix of non -retail uses in our town centres that can add significantly to the diversity, vitality and viability of towns and high streets and facilitate the full occupancy of units necessary to underpin vital and vibrant centres. This will allow our centres the flexibility required to respond to the structural changes in shopping and leisure patterns that have occurred. It is however, important that the retail function of our town centres remains an important part of the overall town centre offer. 4.3.16 The South Warwickshire Employment Land Study Update (March 2026) updates the office need requirement for South Warwickshire set out in the HEDNA (2022). The Employment Study Update sets out that there is a residual need for 7.1ha of office land (equivalent to 57,900 sqm of office floorspace) across South Warwickshire up to 2050. 4.3.17 However, the Employment Study Update considers that significant stand-alone allocations for office developments are unlikely to be developed, as rents are considered insufficient to support substantive speculative development. Specific site allocations for office development are therefore not proposed within this policy, with the focus instead being on retaining existing office space and supporting the conversion and repurposing of existing buildings. The provision of a proportion of ancillary office space alongside other employment space is also considered to be appropriate. 4.3.18 The Employment Land Study Update recommends that the SWLP should support the development of office floorspace within town centre sites and the conversion of existing buildings where suitable. Some smaller scale provision may also be delivered through the conversion of agricultural buildings in order to support the rural economy. Such rural development is covered separately by Policy… Rural Economy and Diversification. 4.3.19 Permitted development rights currently allow for a certain amount of flexibility for Class E(g)(i)uses, with the change of use from E(g) uses to some other use classes permitted without the need for planning permission. While this Policy cannot control for such permitted uses, this Policy does seek to safeguard against the loss of existing office uses within town centres where possible. Any proposed loss of such uses will need to accord with the requirements set out in Policy … Existing Employment Sites. 4.3.20 Although not a single site, Leamington Spa is a nationally important economic cluster for the gaming and electronic arts industries. Akin to its approach to Major Employment Sites, the SWLP seeks to support p