Recommendation 104

Under the previous Government, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities provided guidance on “planning policy for town centre vitality and viability”, specifically on assessing proposals for out-of-centre development. 201 The guidance is in line with Section 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and states that out-of-town centre sites should be considered only if suitable sites within the town centre or on the edge of the town centre are unavailable. 202 Local authorities assessing planning proposals for uses that are considered by the NPPF as “main town centre uses” 203 must subject the proposals to a sequential test. The test asks whether the applicant has considered sites within the town centre; if the proposed use can be accommodated on town centre sites; and if not, what sites closest to the centre have been considered. If the proposal has multiple options that are at the edge of or out of the centre, preference should be given to sites most well connected to the centre. Morecambe Town Council stated that a town-centre-first approach to planning had “encouraged a focus on town centres and high streets as the primary locations for retail, commercial and leisure activities”. 204 Primark agreed that the NPPF and guidance had provided a long-established town-centre-first framework for the location of retail. 205