Planning for Retail Development

A Critical View of the British Experience

Clifford Guy

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781134326167
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping

Written by a leading expert in the field, this is the first thorough critical review of retail planning policy in Britain (including Scotland and Wales). It covers recent changes in government policy and guidance, and examines retail policy within a broader economic and social context.

Planning for Retail Development explains key events and debates in the evolution of retail planning policy, at central and local government levels, since the 1960s and draws contrasts between the 1980s, a period in which retail developers were encouraged by central government to expand away from town centres, and the more recent emphasis on protection and promotion of town centres as the most appropriate location for new development.

The book develops a critical evaluation of past and present retail planning policies, based upon analyses of retailers' objectives and of typical consumer shopping behaviour. Relationships between retail planning and wider societal concerns, including sustainable development, social inclusion and urban regeneration are also examined and analysed and guidelines for future policy objectives and content are drawn.

Chapter 1
Introduction

This chapter explains the context within which a description and evaluation of retail planning in Britain should take place. It first summarises the purpose of the book, and then discusses the meaning of the term ‘retail planning’, and explains why most commentators in this area feel retail planning to be necessary. The operation of retail planning and the agencies directly responsible are then discussed briefly. Finally, the topics addressed in forthcoming chapters are introduced.

The aims of this book are:

• To offer a critical history of the development of retail planning policy in Great Britain.¹ Changes in policy are explained with reference to trends in retailing methods and shopping behaviour, and political attitudes to retail development and change.
• To provide a critical view of the basic assumptions which appear to underlie policy. This leads to an evaluation of policy in terms of consistency, effectiveness, and its impacts upon retailer, consumer and town planning interests.
• To relate developments in retail planning policy to other governmental objectives, including the enhancement of productivity, the achievement of sustainable development, and encouragement of urban regeneration and social inclusion.
• To offer views on the most suitable future path of the retail planning system, and the role and content of national level guidance to local authorities and the private sector.

The case for retail planning

Retail planning, the focus of this book, involves the interaction of the private sector (retail property development) with the public sector (the town planning function of central and local government, and occasionally other agencies). It is usually described as part of the process of government regulation of the retail system, although it could be argued that the strategic planning activities of retail organisations, especially concerning new store development, are also part of the retail planning process. The practitioner Bryan Wade (1979: 51) summarised retail planning as

the planned provision of retail outlets in which the following questions assume critical importance:

• How much or how many?
• What type?
• When?
• Where?

He went on to note that ‘these questions … cannot be answered in a simple direct manner. The results are the outcome of a complex process of decision making, politics and horse trading’ (ibid.).

In discussing the case for retail planning, we should first examine some reasons why it is claimed that public sector intervention is necessary at all in the operation of the retail system.

Boddewyn and Hollander (1972), as summarised by Dawson (1983a), set out five objectives for public policy controls over retailing:

• protecting smaller retailers;
• achieving price stability;
• improving the efficiency of retailing;
• ensuring consumer protection; and
• protecting the environment.

Of these, the first and second have not usually been a specific aim of the UK government, in contrast to some other European countries. The other three objectives have consistently been UK government policy, although the ways in which they have been applied have varied over time.

Davies (1984: 72–5) drew attention to the role of central government in regulating the retail sector, although he also noted that there was ‘no special ministry or government department concerned exclusively with the development of the distributive trades … nor is there a major council or advisory body’. He claimed that this led to a lack of comprehensive monitoring of retailing methods and retail developments, and to a potential for inconsistencies in government policies or even lack of policy in crucial areas.

This type of discussion does not itself justify retail planning as a public sector activity; it can be argued that the retail industry itself can achieve ‘the planned provision of retail outlets’ in the absence of government regulation, as is broadly the case in parts of North America. Furthermore, any restriction of retail growth and change is likely to impose additional costs upon the retail industry, and hence upon consumers in the form of limited competition or raised prices. Commentators therefore argue that a wider ‘public interest’ has to be invoked in order to justify intervention through the town and country planning system.

‘Public interest’ is a much used term in this type of discussion:

The planning system seeks … to provide a mechanism for overriding or modifying the operation of the marketplace where it is seen to be against the public interest. What constitutes the public interest is not defined but it is founded on the recognition that land is a scarce resource and its use for private or public sector purposes is of interest to all citizens. Public interest is served if private investment is directed to places and land uses which allow both private and public services to exist and, at the same time, provide benefit to private capital and the general public in a cost effective way. Central and local government, in ensuring adequate provision of these public services, seek to minimise the cost and maximise the benefit to the community.

(DTEDC, 1988: 66)

This largely economic case for planning intervention suggests that retail planning policy should allow the retail sector to grow and change while maintaining a satisfactory level of profitability. Indeed, increasing profitability may itself be within the public interest if it brings wider benefits to national and local economies. However, the public interest also includes non-economic considerations such as the welfare of ‘socially excluded’ elements of the population, or the need to preserve historic and attractive physical and natural environments.

For example, Thorpe (1974) suggested reasons for the use of planning controls over the retail sector in the UK:

1. The retail case: free market forces need to be carefully controlled in order to prevent the construction of an excessive quantity of shops and to achieve an optimum mix of shop types at the various levels of the retail hierarchy.
2. The urban case: due care needs to be given to planning the distribution of shopping facilities because of the influence they have on complementary land uses, as well as on the overall urban morphology. Town centre vitality is heavily dependent on the complex web of interactions between the diverse central functions.
3. The social planning case: retail planning is necessary in order to ensure equity in shopping provision, such that no socio-economic groups should become disadvantaged.
4. The environmental case: town planners should attempt to separate retailing from non-conforming or incompatible land uses and to minimise the environmental impact of new retail development.

(Thorpe, 1974: as summarised by Ibrahim and McGoldrick, 2003: 22–3)

One of the key questions in retail planning is the extent to which these so-called ‘non-economic’ matters should override the economic advantages of a particular proposal. Or, to express the professional view of many town planners, the essential question is to what extent the financial goals of retailers and property developers should affect a planner’s stance concerning new retail development, where that stance is fundamentally informed by social and environmental criteria. This dilemma is likely to arise frequently, because many planners feel that the economic case for a proposed development is irrelevant when the proposal is being considered by the planning system (Campbell and Henneberry, 2005).

The ‘urban case’ noted by Thorpe (1974) has been particularly important to most retail planning practitioners:

A genuine fear among many local authority planners is that the changes in the structure of shopping provision will result in underutilisation of existing facilities … Inherent in this view is the belief that there is a relationship between the retail function of a centre and its other functions to the extent that the success of the latter would be adversely affected if the former were to decline. … planners [also] fear that substantial loss of consumers’ expenditure in town and city centres will cause a reduction in the level of services available and in the access provided for the disadvantaged groups of society.

(DTEDC, 1988: 66)

This fear that retail development which takes place outside town centres will have adverse economic and social effects has dominated retail planning practice in Britain, and is a prominent theme in this book.

How retail planning is carried out in Britain

Retail planning takes place in Britain in ways which are rather different from those used in other parts of western Europe (for further details see Davies, 1979; 1995; Guy, 1998a). Retail planning is basically the responsibility of local planning authorities, in two ways. First, in their development plans they specify what appears to them a desirable future spatial pattern of retail development. Second, they decide whether to allow or refuse applications by retailers or property developers to develop new shopping centres or stores, or to provide retail premises in some other way. In this respect the British system is uniquely ‘flexible’ – each application has to be decided ‘on its own merits’, although within a framework of policy set out in development plans. Such policy may be criteria-based, indicating where and in what format retail development would normally be acceptable, and/or spatially based, indicating preferred uses for particular areas of land. These latter policies are often referred to as ‘zoning’, although they are generally more flexible in operation than the rigid zoning policies typical of most of western Europe and North America.

Local planning policies are in theory determined by elected local authority councillors, with advice from officers. Retail policy within development plans is usually fairly clearly specified for proposals of major importance, such as new shopping centres, and increasingly follows central government guidance. This guidance is provided so that local authority planning decisions should respect broader government objectives, and also serves to ensure consistency of policy across the country. If a local authority’s development plan is out of date, central government policy in effect takes precedence. However, for minor proposals or for minor details of major proposals (including layout, appearance, etc) development plan policy does not usually give strong guidance, hence details tend to be negotiable between developer and planners:

where there is an articulated policy which can be clearly applied to a case, development control and appeal decisions tend to abide by it. However, some areas do not have plans, some plans do not cover issues that arise in individual planning applications, and much development control has to rely on unwritten policy and professional skill and judgement.

(Cullingworth and Nadin, 1997: 131)

Local authority councillors also decide on planning applications for new development, after seeking advice from officers. Unsuccessful developers are allowed to appeal to government ministries against refusal or failure to decide upon an application within a prescribed period of time. This shifts the responsibility for decision-making to ‘independent’ inspectors who conduct public hearings or inquiries into the proposal concerned. Inspectors are expected to make decisions compatible with current government policy, or in important cases, advise government ministers accordingly. In this way, many decisions on proposals for retail development are made more or less directly under central government control.

One key element in decision-making on retail proposals has been the status of factors which are not specifically included in development policies for retail development, but are significant in their own right and are relevant to the proposal or its location. These are usually termed ‘other material considerations’, and may include matters of design and appearance, or economic outcomes such as employment creation. Before 1991, it appeared that in practice, such considerations were often as important as or more important than development plan policies in determining the outcome of planning appeals. However, in 1991, new legislation held that decisions should be made ‘in accordance with the [approved development] plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise’. This gave development plan policies greater weight in the decision process, as long as these policies were held to be ‘up to date’ and were in accord with central government policy (Cullingworth and Nadin, 1997: 131).

Central government policy itself is in principle devised by government ministers, but in practice the detailed guidance notes which are circulated to local authority planners are drafted by civil servants working in the appropriate Ministry or Department. The content of these guidance notes is generally consistent with broader government policies which relate to retailing and the physical and natural environment, and may also respond to the concerns of various interest groups. These may include organisations who help put the case for retailers and developers; environmental pressure groups; local authorities; and professional town planners as represented by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) or otherwise. Policy guidance notes are usually issued in draft form to allow interest groups to comment on their content and wording.

The content of this book

This brief review of retail planning and the town planning system in Britain suggests some issues which are explored in later chapters. These include:

• The ways in which a balance between the objectives of retail developers and town planners have been sought, by whom and with what degree of success.
• The degree of success in protecting town centres from what planners and small retailers tend to see as unfair competition.
• The extent to which local authority decision-making on retail applications is controlled by central government policy and practice.
• The extent to which conflicts between different government policies and objectives which affect retail planning have been resolved.
• The ways in which formulation of policy at central and local level have responded to the concerns of interest and pressure groups.

This book examines these and other such issues, using a wide range of academic and professional literature, as well as benefiting from the author’s past involvement in case studies and discussions with professionals on all sides. The focus of the book is mainly on public sector policy which relates to the location, size and type of new retail development: methods of retail planning such as sales forecasting or impact analysis are not discussed in depth. Nor is much attention paid to details of design and layout of proposed retail development. These areas have been covered adequately in previous texts such as Birkin et al. (2002) and Guy (1994a).

The chapters which follow this introduction fall into two main parts. The first part (Chapters 2 to 5) relate the history of retail planning policy, from the 1960s to the mid-2000s. This history is discussed within a framework of changing trends in retailing and property development, and the growth of new ideas about retail planning purposes and methods. These chapters show how the initiative for planning the location, size and type of new developments has (in effect) swung from the public sector to the private sector, and back again. They also chart the increasing dominance of central government in retail planning.

Chapters 2, 3 and 4 each cover a discrete period of time, over which the essential elements of policy remained roughly constant. In the 1960s and 1970s (Chapter 2), retail planning policy began to emerge, mainly in response to new retail trends which appeared to threaten the prosperity of town centres. In the 1980s (Chapter 3), these trends intensified, supported to some extent by what many saw as an absence of direction from central government. Chapter 4 examines the revival of retail planning from the early 1990s, taking the story up to the time of writing (early 2006). This period has been characterised by a growing belief that government – at central and local levels – should take responsibility for determining the future growth of retail facilities; and also by increasing detail and complexity in central government policy guidance, culminating in Planning Policy Statement Six (ODPM, 2005a) and its Welsh and Scottish equivalents. Chapter 5 examines how a particular issue in retail planning – the assessment of ‘need’ and ‘impact’ – has developed over the whole time period covered by this book.

One clear trend over time is for retail planning to become more complex and to represent compromises not just between private and public sector requirements for retail development and change, but also between different government policies and objectives. Chapters 6 to 9 examine critically four of the most important such policies, which relate to competition and productivity; sustainable development and shopping travel; social inclusion; and urban regeneration. These chapters examine the justifications (stated and unstated) for these policies, and the ways in which they have influenced retail planning. Chapter 10 finally explores conflicts between retail planning objectives, as well as reviewing some of the issues raised in earlier chapters. It concludes with some recommendations for future directions for retail planning policy.

Chapter 2
Early days

Retail planning in the 1960s and 1970s

Introduction

This chapter examines the beginnings of what became known as retail planning, during the 1960s and 1970s. At the beginning of this period, there we...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Early days
• Chapter 3: A free for all?
• Chapter 4: Tightening up
• Chapter 5: Demand, need and impact
• Chapter 6: Innovation, productivity, competition and retail planning
• Chapter 7: Sustainability, shopping travel and retail policy
• Chapter 8: Social exclusion, access to shopping and retail policy
• Chapter 9: Urban regeneration and retail policy
• Chapter 10: An evaluation of retail planning policy
• Notes
• Bibliography