Development Control Policy
Guidance Note 3
Town Centre and Local Centre Uses
1. Introduction
The Council's planning policies are set out in the Unitary Development Plan. This note provides detailed guidance for the following types of development in town or local centres, including new buildings, extension and changes of use of existing buildings.
(a) Shops (Use Class A1), Financial & Professional Services, e.g. bank, building society (A2), Food and Drink establishments e.g. pubs, cafes (A3), and other town centre uses such as dry cleaners, amusement centres, taxi offices and launderettes.
(b) Offices (B1) i.e. offices which do not have shop windows.
(c) Hotel (C1).
(d) Non-residential institution, e.g. surgeries and clinics (Use Class D1) and Assembly and Leisure uses, such as cinemas and clubs (Use Class D2).
2. Scope of Control
New buildings, extensions and material alterations (i.e. substantially changing the appearance) to buildings in the above categories will need planning permission.
However, some changes of use will not need permission and these are set out in the Town and Country Planning (General Development) Order 1988. In summary these are:-
- Changes within a use class, e.g. from a church to a day nursery in Use Class D1 or cinema to bingo hall in Use Class D2.
- From food and drink or financial and professional services to retail shop (A2).
- From car showroom to retail shop (A1).
- From food and drink to financial and professional services (A2).
Advertisements may need permission and other controls exist in Conservation Areas and for listed buildings. Guidance on these and other issues can be obtained from the planning officer.
3. Policy Background
Government guidance is set out in DCPN11 (Service Uses in shopping areas), DCPN5 (Development in Town Centres), PPG6 (Major Retail Development) and RPG4 (Strategic Guidance for Greater Manchester).
These Department of Environment publications can be obtained from HMSO.
The Council's policy is set out in the Unitary Development Plan in the Chapter on Shopping and Town Centre Policies.
4. Guidance
(a) Location
New Shops (A1) are in principle welcome in areas specifically allocated for shopping development in Ashton, Hyde and Stalybridge centres, and in the 'commercial' zones of these centres. New shops are also acceptable in principle in or adjoining the shopping streets of other town centres - Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield and Mossley.
New shops and small to medium sized (up to 1000m2) supermarkets will be supported within or adjacent to existing local centres, or outside of existing centres where it can be shown that there is a local need which cannot be met by existing provision and that the proposal would have no significant effect on the vitality and viability of established local centres. Account would also need to be taken of other criteria, such as impact on traffic and residential amenity and accessibility by public transport.
The Council will oppose further large scale retail developments in and out of centre locations.
Offices (A2 Financial and Professional Services) will only be acceptable in principal shopping streets where this would not result in more than two separately occupied units other than shops being situated immediately adjacent to each other, or create a situation in which the balance of uses appears to diminish the overall appeal of the shopping centre.
In other shopping streets and elsewhere in 'commercial' zones of town centres A2 office uses will be acceptable provided that an imbalance or excessive grouping of non-retail use does not detract from the overall appeal of the centre.
In local centres, however, changes of use from retail to non-retail uses would be resisted unless it can be shown that the centre would benefit from the new use proposed or that there is no realistic prospect of a replacement retail use coming into the centre or that there is already a more than adequate retail provision in both the centre and accessible adjacent areas.
Food and Drink Establishments (A3) will in principle be acceptable in the same locations as A2 offices (see above). However, some of these establishments can cause nuisance for residents. Where there are dwellings close by food and drink establishments will only be acceptable where it can be shown that there will be no significant harm to local residents, and conditions may need to be imposed to minimise the impact, (see (d) below). Clearly in town centres it must be recognised that it may not be reasonable to expect the same level of amenity as in predominantly residential areas.
B1 Offices, C1 Hotels and D1 Non-residential Institutions will not be acceptable in shopping frontages in town or local centres. However, they will in principle be acceptable above shops and elsewhere in areas specifically allocated and in the commercial and employment zones of Ashton, Hyde and Stalybridge and other town centres.
Assembly and Leisure Uses (D2) have similar locational requirements to B1 offices, etc., above. However, where there are dwellings nearby assembly and leisure uses will only be acceptable where it can be shown that there will be no significant harm to local residents, and conditions may need to be imposed to minimise the impact (see (d) below).
Amusement Arcades will not be acceptable in local shopping centres or within or adjoining housing areas or near to a school, church, hospital or other sensitive use. In shopping areas the locational requirements for A2 office use would apply.
Taxi Offices will only be acceptable where they are not likely to give rise to problems of obstruction and where there are no nearby residents who may be disturbed.
(b) Parking, Servicing and Access
The Council would normally seek to ensure that all the parking and servicing requirements generated by a development should be provided within the development site at the developers expense.
However, in town and local centres this is often neither practical nor desirable when account is taken of public transport, the availability of public car parks, and the often tightly constrained nature of the site.
Where a change of use of existing buildings is proposed there may well be no scope for providing off-street parking and servicing facilities. In such cases account will be taken of the traffic generated by the previous use. In cases where on-street parking is likely to give rise to obstruction of streets or hazardous conditions, consent is likely to be refused because of a lack of off-street parking and servicing.
Where new buildings are proposed, space should normally be provided on site for servicing vehicles to stand clear of the highway and to enter and leave the site in forward gear. However, in certain infill sites, especially in the core of town centres, and in conservation areas, restrictions of space, or the necessity to preserve the character of a street, may mean that on-street servicing will be acceptable.
Major new developments and especially developments on the fringes of these centres will normally be expected to provide for all operational servicing requirements and to accommodate the following car parking requirements on, or close to the site.
| Shops | 1 space per 19m2 gross floor space plus 1 space per 93m2 for staff |
|---|---|
| Food halls (supermarkets) | 1 space per 9.5m2 gross floor space plus 1 space per 93m2 for staff |
| Offices | 1 space per 28m2 gross floor space |
| Restaurants | 1 space per 4.6m2 of dining room plus 1 space per 84m2 for staff |
| Pubs | 1 space for 2.3m2 of public drinking area plus 1 space per 84m2 for staff |
| Hotels | 1 space per bedroom plus 1 space per 3 employees at busiest time |
| Clinics and Surgeries | 2 spaces per consulting room+ 1 space per GP and per member of medical staff at busiest time+ 1 space per 2.3 other staff at busiest time |
| Theatres/Cinemas | 1 space per 10 seats |
| Halls | 1 space per 4.6m2 public floor space plus 1 space per 2.5 employees at the busiest time. |
| Sports Centres | 1 space per 2 staff and visitors at busiest time. |
Each parking space should be 4.8 metres by 2.4 metres with 6.1 metres or manoeuvring space for those spaces which are entered at right angles.
Access arrangements to and from the highway shall be in accordance with the standards relating to width, alignment and visibility detailed in 'Roads and Servicing associated with Industrial Development', published by the former GMC. The standards in that document will also apply to any new public highway which it is intended to build as part of the development.
Any substantial increase in traffic, especially of heavy goods vehicles, down residential streets will not be acceptable. The Council will ensure that the traffic generated by the development will not cause problems on the adjoining highway network and ask for contributions to ensure that the necessary highway improvements are carried out.
The development should be accessible to disabled people in accordance with current standards.
(c) Design and Landscaping
Town and local centres are highly prominent places, with tightly packed terraced property. They often contain a concentration of attractive historic buildings including listed buildings and in Ashton and Stalybridge much of the centres lie within Conservation Areas. In these circumstances a high quality of design which is sensitive to the character of the surrounding area is particularly important.
The height of any new building or extension should generally be in scale with adjoining or nearby buildings. In most central locations this will mean 2 or 3 storey in height. Materials should match existing materials prevalent in the area and in most centres this will mean red brick, with blue or grey slated roofs. New buildings and alterations should create attractive and interesting facades. Long stretches of blank walls on street frontages will not be acceptable.
New buildings or extensions should come no closer than 14 metres from the nearest habitable room of any dwelling, where the new wall is blank, or 21 metres where new windows would overlook habitable rooms in the dwellings.
Careful attention will be needed to the design of new shop fronts including security shutters and of advertisements. Guidance on these is provided in the Council's 'Shop Fronts Design Guidelines'.
Open storage areas should be screened from view from public areas such as roads or open space and nearby dwellings by the use of screen walls and landscaping. Materials should not be stored higher than the height of the wall.
Attractive fences or walls can enhance the appearance of new development. The need for security is recognised and consideration should be given to other measures, such as building design and security lighting. High fences adjoining the highway may in any case interfere with vehicle sightlines. The use of chain link fences and concrete panel fences is not acceptable in town centres. Brick walls, with for example patterned brickwork, or attractive steel fencing will be more appropriate.
Landscaping can greatly enhance the appearance of new buildings. However, in town centres, space is at a premium and the number of pedestrians is high. In these circumstances attractive hard landscaping - flags, paviours and setts can be the best solution. Tree and shrub planting should be done wherever practical but care should be taken to choose robust low maintenance species which will not suffer for example from vandalism and litter and to avoid high shrub planting which could threaten security.
(d) Other Environmental Issues
A number of town centre uses such as pubs, restaurants, clubs and other leisure uses can cause problems for example from noise and cooking smells and litter and are often associated with anti-social behaviour late at night.
On the other hand a town or in some cases a local centre is the most appropriate place for these uses because of good access by public transport, and the general absence of large numbers of dwellings, and a certain amount of night time activity gives life to a town centre.
Conditions may well be imposed on planning consents to limit noise, and to prevent problems from cooking smells. In local centres or in town centres close to large numbers of dwellings, it will be necessary to limit the hours of operation to prevent late night opening. If disturbance for local residents is severe this will warrant refusal of the proposal.