Email Template

1 The Purpose of the Study 01 The St Helens Retail and Leisure Study advises on: • The current performance of the town and local centres of the Borough; • The need, and capacity to support, further retail and commercial leisure development within the main centres of the Borough up to 2016; • The most appropriate location for such development; and • Any requirement to amend the retail policies of the St Helens UDP, having regard to the above 2 The Performance of the Borough’s Shopping Centres 02 In the sub-regional context, St Helens town centre is an important comparison shopping centre. In terms of function and size, its importance is directly comparable with its major competitors, Wigan and Warrington, although these towns have a far greater importance in terms of influencing leisure patterns. Moreover, their relative importance for shopping may alter following substantial improvements planned within both of the town centres. The broader patterns of non-food shopping in the Borough are influenced by the proximity of the metropolitan centres of Manchester and Liverpool. 03 Within this context, St Helens town centre is the principal shopping destination within the Borough. It has a non-food catchment population in the order of 129,500 and generates an annual retail turnover estimated at over £272m. The majority of its trade derives from residents of the Borough and from settlements on the periphery of the Borough, such as Ashton-in Makerfield and Prescot. 04 In general, retailers within St Helens perform well or very well. The success of the town centre as a borough-wide trading destination is reflected in its Zone A rental levels, which have seen considerable growth since 1995, and its low investment yields (7%). Vacancy levels, at 8% of units, are below the national average of 11%. 05 Most visitors to the town centre are satisfied with the choice it provides and its shopping environment. Nevertheless, increasing the range of both non-food retailing and entertainment facilities were considered major objectives by residents. 06 In contrast to its shopping provision, the town’s commercial leisure sector is weak in comparison to competing town centres. Its evening economy relies heavily on pubs and restaurants. This situation may be remedied in the near future following the development of a multiplex cinema off Chalon Way and other leisure uses at Ravenhead Park. 07 In contrast, Earlestown is a far less robust centre. Its vitality stems from the presence of three large foodstores, which retain 29% of main food and 47% of ‘top-up’ food shopping trips within the town. Most residents undertake both their food and non-food shopping in either St Helens or Warrington. The comparison retail sector within Earlestown is used principally for lower-order or day-to-day requirements. The town centre’s catchment population is estimated at between 12,000 and 19,000, although this may decline once the superstore in Haydock is built. Its total turnover is estimated at £32.9m, the majority of which is accounted for by the three foodstores. 08 Although the town’s limited catchment area means that it is not considered attractive to new investors, it performs its local role well and commercial indicators of vitality and viability have either remained constant or improved marginally since 1995. Vacancies are below the national level. Most visitors were satisfied with the town centre generally, although many cited the environment (most particularly the poor street cleaning), car parking, personal safety and the range of non-food shops and entertainment facilities as being principal concerns. 09 Most residents of the Earlestown/Newton-le-Willows area look to Warrington for entertainment provision. 10 The local centres vary considerably in their structure and function. Some centres, such as Boundary Road, perform a strategic function in terms of food shopping owing to the presence of freestanding foodstores, although they do not necessarily act as a focus for the community. Others, such as Marshalls Cross or Rainford, perform essential multiple roles in terms of shopping, leisure and community functions. 11 Overall, the local centres are assessed to be underperforming, particularly in terms of non-food shopping. For many, this reflects the relative ease of accessibility to larger centres by either car or bus. Although many smaller centres continue to prosper by exploiting convenience roles, some larger centres are clearly in decline as a result of changing shopping patterns and increased consumer mobility. 3 The Need for Further Retail and Leisure Development 12 Within St Helens itself, the analysis identifies a need for further retail development arising from: • A continuing growth in the levels of expenditure available to retailers, compounded in the case of food retailers by current overtrading. By 2016, this could potentially accommodate a 5,000 sq. m net superstore (or a number of smaller supermarkets), just over 21,000 sq. m net of non-food retailing and about 4,200 sq. m net of retail warehousing; • A considerable level of market demand for new retail development in the town, including requirements from superstore operators and, in the comparison retail sector, several national multiples; and • A general requirement to continue to diversify the retail and leisure base of the town centre in order to retain current market shares and to keep pace with similar developments taking place in competing centres. 13 The qualitative deficiencies identified in the town’s leisure and entertainment sectors will be addressed by the new multiplex cinema off Chalon Way and the unspecified provision at the Ravenhead Retail Park. 14 Turning to Earlestown, no statistical capacity is identified sufficient to support further large-scale retail development. For such expenditure to become available, the town would need to compete more directly with the larger centres of St Helens and Warrington to ‘claw back’ trade lost currently. Whilst there is clearly scope for this to happen, in practical terms there would be no commercial support for the scale of retailing required to effect such a material change in shopping patterns. Therefore, although it should be a land-use planning objective to achieve a greater level of expenditure retention within the Newton-le-Willows area, the ability to do this is restricted by the modest level of market demand. In this respect, it is noted that demand is strongest in the convenience sector, where the town’s qualitative need is lowest. There is no identifiable requirement arising from the comparison retail sector. 15 The majority of the local centres perform a vital role in providing for the top-up food shopping and lower-order non-food shopping needs of their local areas, which reduces the need to travel. This role should be encouraged. Moreover, some of the centres, such as Marshalls Cross and Rainford, also fulfil a vital social and communal role that should be extended wherever possible to other local centres in order to help diversify their attractiveness to a range of visitors. 4 The Requirement to Allocate New Sites in the UDP 16 It is considered prudent to plan for an expansion to St Helens town centre’s central shopping area during the course of the UDP Review’s lifespan. New retail and leisure development should be directed to locations where they are highly accessible to a full range of travel modes and where they will complement and be of benefit to town centres. 17 Having regard to the scale of the need identified, the local planning authority should consider the availability of sites suited to accommodate: • Up to 30,000-40,000 sq. m (gross) of new Class A1 development integrated with an additional 3,400 sq. m of Class A3, in a variety of units ranging from 100 sq. m to 6,000 sq. m. The floorspace should be provided in one or two large redevelopment schemes in the town centre to maximize retailer interest. This would provide a sufficient mix of tenants to attract consumers on a large scale. The floorspace may be provided as an extension to the existing primary shopping frontages or shopping centres of the town centre; and • Improvements to the town’s hotel provision. 18 The Study identifies a ‘need’ for a large foodstore of about 8,000 sq. m gross (which would convey qualitative benefits over the existing provision in the town) or a smaller superstore and several discount supermarkets of about 1,500 sq. m gross. Subject to Secretary of State approval, the Council has approved development at the former St Helens Glassworks that will provide 8,361 sq. m gross retail floorspace and therefore satisfy this need. Nevertheless, owing to the high shopper satisfaction expressed with the current foodstores in St Helens, further provision is not considered pressing, and should not take precedence over, nor jeopardize, the Council’s search for sites to accommodate the non-food retailing identified above; 19 Only one site has been identified in the town centre that could accommodate a significant new non-food retail development. This is the area to the south of the Church Street Shopping Centre, occupied currently a variety of uses including car parking (which would need replacing), which has problems relating to multiple ownership that may take some time to resolve. Moreover, the cost of replacing surface level car parking on the site currently with decked parking will prove costly and, in combination with other development expenses, may make the scheme unviable. Nevertheless, the benefits of a major extension to the Church Square shopping area, and the better integration of the Safeway to the main shopping streets, will be considerable. Depending upon the land available, the site could potentially accommodate all of the town’s identified non-food retail requirement.

Load more