HILLINGDON UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN - London Borough ...

Employment-Generating Development in Town Centres
10.22 The importance of town centres for retailing is covered in detail in Chapter 8 'Shopping and Town
Centres'. The wider role of town centres and the importance in achieving sustainable development
(including transport) regeneration objectives is being increasingly recognised both at a strategic level
(RPG3 (1996) Para 5.1 and Table 5.1) and at a local level through the Council's economic regeneration
strategy and SRB Programme (See Chapter 15). The four town centres at the top of the hierarchy in the
Borough - Uxbridge, Hayes, Yiewsley/West Drayton and Ruislip are all concentrations of employment
generating uses though it is recognised that Hayes and Yiewsley/West Drayton in particular currently
employment generating opportunities need to be realised.
10.23 Uxbridge Town Centre Strategy: The ‘Uxbridge Initiative’ aims to address the issues and
opportunities present in the town centre, to improve its long-term vitality and viability. It is a partnership
between the Local Authority and key local businesses. The Council recently commissioned a
comprehensive survey of business activity in the Uxbridge area, to inform its future policies and strategies
for encouraging sustainable economic growth locally. The 'Uxbridge Audit' (April 1996) found that
Uxbridge businesses in general are doing well and that Uxbridge is perceived as being a good location.
The survey endorsed earlier findings that there continues to be quite a strong demand for office
development in Uxbridge. There is also additional scope for retailing as the town centre is not at present
attaining its retail potential, though the eventual development of the proposed 'St Georges Centre' between
the High Street and Chippendale Way (see Chapter 15, Policy PR12), should redress this situation.
LE6 MAJOR OFFICE AND OTHER BUSINESS PROPOSALS IN TOWN CENTRES SHOULD
WHERE APPROPRIATE, INCLUDE A MIX OF TOWN CENTRE USES SUCH AS SHOPS,
BUILDINGS FOR ARTS, CULTURAL, ENTERTAINMENT, COMMUNITY USE, INDOOR
SPORTS AND LEISURE, FACILITIES FOR THE CARE OF CHILDREN, AND SMALL UNITS
FOR FIRMS APPROPRIATE TO A TOWN CENTRE LOCATION. PLANNING BRIEFS MAY
BE PREPARED FOR MAJOR SITES BY THE LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY.
Planning Obligations
10.24 Chapter 2 of this Plan signalled the intention of the Council to seek planning benefits where
development imposes costs on the local community. Circular 1/97 identifies those circumstances in which
it is reasonable for a local planning authority to seek certain types of benefit by way of planning obligations
in order to facilitate and enhance development proposals. In general these are where the obligation sought
is “necessary, relevant to planning, directly related to the proposed development, fairly and reasonably
related in scale and kind to the proposed development and reasonable in all other respects” (Circular 1/97,
para. B2). As stated in Chapter 2, subject to complying with these tests of reasonableness, the Local
Planning Authority will seek to enter into legal agreements with developers to ensure the provision of
legitimate planning benefits in accordance with the tests laid out in Circular 1/97. This general intention
applies to all forms of development including proposals for industrial, warehousing and business uses.
LE7 THE LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY WILL WHERE APPROPRIATE, SEEK TO
ENSURE THAT DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS FOR INDUSTRIAL, WAREHOUSING AND
BUSINESS USES PROVIDE PLANNING BENEFITS RELATED TO THE SCALE AND TYPE OF
THE DEVELOPMENT.
10.25 Such planning benefits could, for example, take the form of:
- environmental enhancement of and public access to canalside areas;
- accommodation for small businesses including small industrial (starter) units;
- improvements to site layout and access arrangements;
- improvements to public transport capacity, interchange and other facilities;
London Borough of Hillingdon Unitary Development Plan