Planning Consultation about Worcester City Centre
BID businesses are invited to a planning consultation by Worcester City Council about our city centre. This will be at a business breakfast on Monday 8th April commencing at 8.30am, in the Assembly Room at the Guildhall.
Please let Adrian Becker at the City Council know if you wish to attend – Adrian.becker@worcester.gov.uk – as there is a limit on numbers.
This is part of the South Worcestershire Retail & Town Centres Study 2019 being undertaken by Worcester City, Malvern Hills District and Wychavon District Councils. The study will update the Councils’ evidence base in respect of the retail and commercial leisure performance of the defined city/town centres, provide guidance on the ‘need’ for new retail and commercial leisure floorspace, and provide strategic advice to ensure that the town centres remain vibrant and viable locations.
The study will input to the emerging South Worcestershire Development Plan Review which will guide development to 2041. The Study will also be used by the South Worcestershire Councils to assist in the determination of potential planning applications for new retail and commercial leisure development.
In more detail, the purpose of the study is to:
- Define the catchment areas of Worcester City and Great Malvern, Droitwich Spa, Evesham, Pershore, Upton-upon-Severn and Tenbury Wells Town Centres;
- Provide a health check for each city and town centre using a range of qualitative and quantitative data, considering the strengths and weaknesses of each centre;
- Provide recommendations on the quantum of new retail floorspace required (or excess capacity) for both convenience and comparison retailing for each city or town centre;
- Provide a consideration of the need for additional floorspace to accommodate other town centre non-retail uses;
- Provide a calculation of the extent of retail expenditure leakage from the city and town centres, and South Worcestershire as a whole, along with an assessment of potential options to reduce this;
- Assess the impact of out of centre development on the city and town centres and evidence an appropriate local threshold for a leisure and retail impact test for each centre;
- Provide a review of the adopted retail policies for their effectiveness in maintaining the vitality of the centres and providing evidence to support proposed changes to policy;
- Provide a review of the defined primary and secondary retail frontages;
- Review the city and town centre boundaries for effectiveness and appropriateness;
- Review adopted policies for city and town centres and provide recommendations as to how they can be made more effective; and
- Provide an overall retail strategy for South Worcestershire with development targets to 2041.
