RSS East Of England Plan - Broads Authority

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Section 4 Economic Development
POLICY E5: Regional Structure of Town Centres
The cities and towns of strategic importance for retail and other town centre purposes are:
• Regional centres: Basildon, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend,
Watford; and
• Major town centres: Bedford, Bury St Edmunds, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Hemel Hempstead, King’s Lynn,
Lowestoft, Luton, St Albans, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City.
Major new retail development and complementary town centre uses should primarily be located in the above
centres and be consistent in scale with the size and character of the centre and its role in the regional structure.
Development plan documents should only propose higher order provision where need is clearly established and the
development would:
• result in a more sustainable pattern of development and movement, including a reduction in the need to travel;
and
• have no significant harmful impact on other centres or the transport network.
Any new regional centres are subject to similar considerations and should only be brought forward through a review
of this RSS.
Below the level of the centres of regional strategic importance local development documents will identify a network
of more local town centres, district centres, neighbourhood centres and village centres.
4.17 Policy E5 defines the regional structure of centres for retail and other town centre purposes, whilst Policy SS6 sets the
overall aims for city and town centre development. National policy on town centres is set out in PPS6.
4.18 The retail sector is an important driver of the regional economy. There is an established structure of retail centres in the
East of England from major regional centres to market towns and villages. In the north of the region centres tend to be
more widely dispersed with discrete catchments. The south of the region is strongly influenced by London and the larger
centres are closer with more complex, overlapping catchments.
4.19 Retail, leisure and other services in the East of England compete with surrounding centres, particularly London, but also
Milton Keynes, the Bluewater shopping centre and, to a more limited degree, Nottingham and Leicester. During the RSS
plan period Milton Keynes is likely to continue to grow and town centres in Bedfordshire will need to respond to this by
raising and upgrading their offer.
4.20 Growth in retail provision will be needed in response to growth in population and expenditure per capita but changes such
as the growth in ‘e-tailing’ mean there are uncertainties about how much additional floorspace and of what types will be
needed. At the same time, the scale of additional provision needed may be significant in areas of major regeneration or
housing growth.
4.21 No need has been identified for additional out-of-centre regional/sub-regional shopping centres. The only such centre
within the East of England is the Thurrock Lakeside regional shopping centre within the Lakeside Basin area of Thames
Gateway. Lakeside Basin has the largest concentration of retail floorspace in the region but the Basin and regional
shopping centre are not listed in Policy E5 as they do not currently have the functions of a town centre. Policy ETG2 gives
guidance on the approach to the area’s future development, including whether it should be reclassified as a town centre.
4.22 There are smaller out-of-town centre retail sites of local, rather than sub-regional importance, notably the Brookfield
Centre in Broxbourne, Hatfield Gallerias and Colney Fields near St Albans. Development Plan Documents should define
the future role of such centres, in particular to determine whether they should remain purely retail centres or develop into