Untitled - Cork City Council

Appendix 5 : Guidance on Retail Impact Assessment
the Cork Strategic Retail Study 2007, subsequently to be adjusted by the applicant to
reflect the timeframe elapsed between the preparation of the CSRS and that of the
particular Retail Impact Statement.
17. Care should taken to identify specifically the particular types of retailing proposed taking
into account that industry dynamics have resulted in certain stores trading over a range of
formats, including convenience and comparison goods under the one roof. Catchment
areas and turnover ratios therefore, must be applied specifically to the particular format.
Higher order centres have a more extensive catchment reflecting the role in the retail
hierarchy.
18. Within the hierarchy, retail centres compete with other centres of their own type and do
not necessarily compete with upper or lower echelons. A mature hierarchy requires
centres of all types, with a greater number of lower order centres.
19. The design year for a development is a period ranging up to one year after completion of
construction and commencement of trading. This allows settled trading patterns to have
been established. Therefore, it is necessary to take a prudent account when preparing a
Retail Impact Statement, of the period required for procurement of planning permission
(including potential appeals), the period of construction and lettings. It is not necessary
that this period falls within the term of a particularly Retail Strategy, particularly where
there is a longer term strategic expansion envisaged for a particular centre.
20. Estimation of trade diversion is an integral part of the assessment of retail impact and
cumulative impact. It is necessary to show the diversions from each centre to the new
proposal and to substantiate how this is calculated by reference to empirical evidence.
Broad statements of diversions as a proportion of total spending within a catchment area
or as a proportion of the growth in forecast spending generated do not give any
meaningful guidance as to the diversion from individual centres.
21. Cumulative impact refers to the impact of the proposed development along with one or
more existing planning permissions for other retail development in the catchment area of
the proposal. Here it is necessary to account for the joint impact of more than one new
project and also to show the impact of the new proposals on each other.
3