PRESS RELEASE
Monday 19 February 2007
PLANNING REGIME SHOULD BE CHANGED TO SUPPORT LOCAL SHOPS
Planning can no longer stand aside as mega
firms, squeeze out small shops and local businesses, the Town and Country
Planning Association has said in its response to Kate Barker’s Review of Land
Use Planning.
Local authorities should be allowed to protect
sites for small shops and call a halt to local monopolies in land ownership.
Government should also resist creeping privatisation of street space, through
which companies are beginning to control who can have access to shopping areas,
according to the charity which campaigns for sustainable development through
planning.
Chief Executive of the TCPA, Gideon Amos said:
“Government should
seize the opportunity provided by the Barker Review to open up any retail
monopolies by allowing planning authorities to limit the permissions they grant
to big companies.
“Some sites should
be reserved for smaller independent shops while planning should be empowered to
prevent a single major retailer controlling all available sites in a particular
town centre.”
The TCPA calls for a joint study by Communities
and Local Government and the Competition Commission into supporting diverse
local economies. This should consider time limiting planning permissions to
particular retailers to counter the affects of incumbency where one firm
controls all retail opportunities in a particular town – the ‘clone town
The TCPA is critical of business interests that
seek to abolish planning controls pointing out that plans are crucial to
ensuring a limited natural resource – land – is used sustainably.
Gideon Amos continued:
“The kind of free
for all that some short term business interests want would irrevocably damage
responsible economic growth in the long term. There are real opportunities for
planning to support local economic growth and small and medium sized
enterprises but planning authorities need to be empowered if they are to do more.”
In its response to the Review the TCPA also
calls for clearer rules on what minor householder development will need
planning permission and warns against cash payments being used to obviate to
apply for planning permission.
Notes
to Editors
- The Town and Country
Planning Association (TCPA) is an independent campaigning charity calling for more
integrated planning based on the principles of accessibility,
sustainability, diversity, and community cohesion. The TCPA
puts social justice and the environment at the heart of the debate about
planning policy, housing and energy supply. We inspire government,
industry and campaigners to take a fresh perspective on major issues
including climate change and regeneration.
- The TCPA response to the Barker Review of Housing
and Planning is available on request, or can be found on the TCPA web site
www.tcpa.org.uk
Media
contacts: Gideon Amos, Chief Executive 0207930 8903 or
Or
Robert
Shaw, Director (Policy & Projects) 0207930 8903 or