Centres Study Manchester City Council STAGE 2 REPORT June 2004 RB/64081 Contents CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER 1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1 2. Evolution of Policy and Research Methodologies .................................................................6 3. National Economic Trends.......................................................................................................30 4. Building Towards New Policy Approaches for Centres .......................................................52 5. Action Plans................................................................................................................................88 6. Centres and Sustainable Communities ...............................................................................167 7. Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................................184 MANCHESTER CENTRES STUDY FINAL STAGE 2 REPORT 1 1. INTRODUCTION INSTRUCTION 1.1 CB Richard Ellis (formerly CB Hillier Parker) was instructed by Manchester City Council to undertake a wide ranging and detailed strategic study of local and district centre retail and service provision across the Manchester City area. The study’s key focus is the 16 district centres within the city, but it also considers the local centres, as well as providing an overview of the relationship with the city centre function. 1.2 This is a unique study. Studies of this kind commonly focus on the retail function of centres, and this important role is of course dealt with in some detail here. However, this study places an equal emphasis on the wider range of facilities and services that make an important contribution to the overall role and function of centres, to provide an assessment of "social inclusion" issues affecting local and district centres. 1.3 The original study brief envisaged its completion in two Stages and our approach has been consistent with this. Accordingly, our Stage 1 report (submitted previously) involved an extensive data collection exercise, including for example a street survey of shoppers in each of the 16 district centres, and a unit by unit analysis of all Manchester’s district and local centres. This information was used to analyse the role and function of each of the centres, re-examine the retail hierarchy in Manchester (and indeed examine the appropriateness of a "retail" hierarchy), evaluate the quality, viability and diversity of centres, review in broad terms the opportunities for further convenience retail provision, and identify a range of centres to be studied in more detail in Stage 2. 1.4 This exercise generated a multitude of data outputs. The synthesis of this huge volume of information enabled us to present in our Stage 1 report a succinct summary of the status of each of Manchester's centres, and the issues facing them moving forward. The purpose of this Stage 2 report is to take this benchmarking and evaluation forward and identify a strategic response to secure the long term vitality and viability of centres on a city wide basis, in order to inform the Council’s UDP review. MANCHESTER CENTRES STUDY FINAL STAGE 2 REPORT 2 OBJECTIVES 1.5 The key objectives identified by the brief and required to be met in Stage 2 included: 1. To develop a strategy to deliver centres contributing to achieving sustainable communities in light of changing retail patterns. 2. To investigate the feasibility of maintaining areas with distinctive characteristics that are important for their long term sustainability, whilst preserving their commercial viability. 3. To identify the social inclusion value of centres in terms of their social infrastructure, and also how they promote social inclusion through accessibility and mobility. 4. To establish a framework that will help monitor the performance and prospects of centres. 5. To recommend a policy approach in relation to centres that are either borderline or no longer viable. 1.6 As the study has evolved, objectives 3 and 4 have effectively been addressed in the Stage 1 report. Our approach to meeting each of the remaining objectives in this Stage 2 report is discussed below. APPROACH TO THE STUDY 1.7 In responding to the brief it was envisaged that a selection of centres would be made to use as case studies in generating an overarching strategy and policy response. However, during the course of the study it became apparent from discussions with Council Officers that it would be beneficial to examine in some detail each of the 16 district centres. Accordingly, at the heart of this Stage 2 report a detailed action plan is provided for each of these centres. MANCHESTER CENTRES STUDY FINAL STAGE 2 REPORT 3 1.8 This builds on the detailed understanding of the role and function of each centre, and the challenges they face, established during the Stage 1 work. Solutions to the issues faced by each centre are set out in the action plans, through examining development, environmental, and management factors. Moreover, in producing the action plans we have also had regard to the need to review UDP designated centre boundaries, identifying key land assembly issues, and establish the principal agencies to be involved in their future development. For each centre, an "immediate priority" is suggested highlighting where we consider attention should be focused in the first instance. 1.9 Clearly, in setting out these action plans it is important that they are not seen to exist in a vacuum, but rather to reflect and be consistent with policy trends and changes in the wider economy. For this reason, our approach to Stage 2 of the study has covered three further important aspects. 1.10 Firstly, we have reviewed relevant literature and other research material on accessibility to and role of district and local centres, neighbourhood shopping and service facilities. This has included examination of a wide range of documents, from National Planning Policy Guidance to the work of the Social Exclusion Unit, as well as Ministerial speeches, emerging government policy (in the form of White Papers), and academic work. 1.11 Secondly, we have undertaken a detailed review of the key trends in retailing and service provision of relevance to the local and district centres in Manchester. In our Stage 1 report, we set out trends operating at the national level; this overview is repeated in our Stage 2 report for ease of reference but is also built upon to include more localised trends. Drawing on a wide range of data sources, we have identified 12 main trends ranging from ‘polarisation’ by retailers toward larger schemes/centres, to rationalisation of the Post Office network, and the growing role of Asian and Ethnic retailing. 1.12 Thirdly, we have identified new broad policy approaches for district and local centres in Manchester. This builds upon the existing UDP Polices, and identifies a further eight topics to be addressed as new policy evolves. These are discussed in detail in this Stage 2 report, and range from the need to redefine centre boundaries across the city, to development, environmental and management policy responses, and the particular issues raised by hot food takeaways and other A3 uses. MANCHESTER CENTRES STUDY FINAL STAGE 2 REPORT 4 1.13 Taken as a whole, these three elements provide the context for, and underpin, our action plan analysis. Importantly, at each stage, through data collection and analysis, the preparation of action plans, consideration of the literature and trends in retailing and service provision, and formulation of a new policy approach, we have been guided by the overarching aim of ensuring that the resultant strategy is consistent with delivering centres that contribute to achieving sustainable communities. As the study has progressed the extent to which this has been addressed has been kept under constant review, and the outcome is explored, tested and made explicit in section 6 of this report. REPORT STRUCTURE 1.14 Following this introduction, in section 2 we set out our review of the evolution of policy and research methodologies relating to accessibility and the role of neighbourhood shopping and services. In section 3, we outline key economic trends, including the national trends presented in the Stage 1 report, and additional trends operating at a more local level. 1.15 In section 4 we present our discussion of suggested new policy approaches for district and local centres in Manchester, before moving on in section 5 to setting out the detailed action plans for each of the 16 district centres. Section 6 discusses the conceptual framework underpinning our work, relates it to the concept of “sustainable communities”, and provides an evaluative framework within which the status of centres can be assessed. 1.16 In section 7 we summarise the key themes emerging from this Stage 2 report, and set out key conclusions and recommendations. This section outlines each of the eight main broad policy approaches (from section 4), sets out the key issues emerging from the 16 action plans (presented in section 5), and provides a brief overview of the most relevant issues arising from our analysis of the local centres. It also summarises the relationship between the study and the concept of “sustainable communities”. 1.17 We complete section 7 by dealing with three further issues. Firstly, we identify the key agencies likely to be involved in the implementation of the action plans over the