Proposed Submission: Gravesham Local Plan Core Strategy

quality and range of supply whilst also accommodating new dwellingsso more people can live there;• As the opportunity area has significant heritage interest, its forminfluences where new units designed to meet modern commercialneeds can be located;• Competition from other centres and opportunities to buy goods andservices over the internet has changed the way in which people shop.As a result, some of the retail offer of the town centre has becomedated, although the demand for modern retail units of a larger size tomeet the requirements of multiple retailers remains;• Commercial leisure provision within the Gravesend Town CentreOpportunity Area has declined over time, following trends seennationally in this sector;• The cultural offer of the opportunity area is limited and this reduces itsattractiveness as a heritage riverside town and place to visit;• Whilst the environment of the town centre has been significantlyupgraded over the past 20 years, further environmental improvementswill be needed to ensure it remains a good place to live, work and visitand competes well with other centres;• Some parts of the opportunity area are dominated by traffic resulting innoise and poor air quality with the one-way system being declared anAir Quality Management Area. The existing one-way system also hasan adverse impact in that it divides the core town centre from theriverside and badly affects one of our finest heritage assets - HarmerStreet;• The River Thames is one of our most important assets but the towncentre fails to make the most of the advantages it brings - it hasbecome increasingly disconnected from the river over time and somenew developments have tended to block important views; and• Whilst the opportunity area includes the Riverside Leisure Area, it isrecognised that open space provision elsewhere is constrained byurban form and available space but making it more pleasant andadaptable to climate change through additional greening would bebeneficial.86