St Edmundsbury Core Strategy (December 2010)

There are a lack of eating out venues and further provision would improvethe attractiveness of the town centre as a place to visit and the eveningeconomy.There is no pressing need to identify new commercial leisure developments inHaverhill. As and when proposals arise, they should in principle be welcomedand accommodated in accordance with the sequential approach.Demand for new offices in Haverhill is weak and there is no pressing need toallocate new sites. However there is a need to diversify the employmentbase. As with Bury St Edmunds it is considered that sites coming forwardshould be considered on their own merits in accordance with national,regional and local policy.Infrastructure and Environmental Capacity Appraisal (2009)4.123 It is acknowledged that the Retail, Leisure and Offices Study assessed therelevant market information and forecasts in 2005/6 when the economy wasbuoyant and they will be interpreted and used in that context. More detailed workon retail need for both towns will be undertaken in preparing the Area ActionPlans for Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.4.124 The St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath Infrastructure and EnvironmentalCapacity Appraisal (2009) identified requirements for additional retail, leisure andoffice floor space in the borough in line with projected housing growth figures to2031. These areas are likely to include those outlined in the 2007 Retail Studyabove, as well as the small scale growth of existing local centres in towns andvillages and at the identified broad locations for development which are outlined inthe chapters on the Strategies for Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.4.125 It is recognised that through the Local Development Framework it isdifficult to predict the need for future retail, leisure and office development up to2031 given the changing nature of business, and the predicted growth oftechnology based businesses such as on-line shopping. The Annual MonitoringReport will be used to keep under review the network and hierarchy of centres,the need for additional development and the vitality and viability of existingcentres.4.126 More detailed policies on retail, leisure and office development, includingsite allocations, will be included within the Development Management Document,Area Action Plans for Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill and the Rural Site Allocationsdocument.Policy CS10 Retail, Leisure, Cultural and Office ProvisionThe town centres of Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill will continue to be the focus for newretail, leisure, cultural and office development, taking into account:the need to maintain their vitality and viability;the requirement to assess and accommodate the need for future growth;the sequential approach to development;the impact of any development on existing centres; andthe need to ensure locations are accessible by a variety of modes of transportThe 2007 Retail Appraisal identified the need for additional retail floorspace in Bury St62