DRAFT Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document September 2017
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DRAFT Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document September 2017 Planning Guidance on new Hot Food Takeaways (A5) in the City of Wolverhampton 1. Foreword Councillor John Reynolds Councillor Paul Sweet Cabinet Member for City Economy Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing 1.1 City of Wolverhampton Council is 1.2 The rapid expansion of the fast food committed to improving the health and industry over recent decades has had a wellbeing of its residents, workers and visitors. considerable influence over our eating habits, This commitment is established through the food purchasing and food production. It has City of Wolverhampton Corporate Plan, the City affected not only our diet but also the nature of Wolverhampton Health and Wellbeing and appearance of our towns and cities. Fast Strategy, and in 2014 the Council made an food outlets / Hot Food Takeaways (‘A5’ as a Obesity Call to Action. The commitment is Planning Use Class classification) are now a further articulated through this Hot Food common feature of our high streets and Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document, shopping centres and meet an increasing which aims to reduce the trends towards demand for instant food access and increasing levels of obesity and poor diet in the convenience. Fast food preparation and supply City by tackling issues of over-concentration of is an important element in the economy and in Hot Food Takeaways and the exposure of some urban areas makes up a considerable particularly vulnerable groups, such as school proportion of the retail offer. Where balanced children, to Hot Food Takeaways. with other types of retail this can provide a service to the public, jobs and rental income. 2 DRAFT Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document However, where takeaways occupy a 1.4 Furthermore, research by London disproportionately high percentage of the retail Metropolitan University has shown that offer, there can be negative effects. Too many increased exposure and opportunity to buy fast takeaways can reduce the vitality and viability food results in increased consumption. It has of a shopping centre and discourage shoppers also been demonstrated that the prevalence of and future retail opportunities. Takeaways are takeaways near schools can negatively impact recognised as adding to the vitality and viability on children’s eating habits. Whilst it is of centres but retailing should be the dominant recognised that takeaways can have a useful use, as identified in national guidance. There is role to play in offering convenience and choice, a need to balance the protection of the retail they can contribute negatively on health due to function of our shopping centres and higher amounts of salt, saturated fats and encouraging diversification of uses to keep preservatives found in many of the foods them vital and viable. This balance can be served, as well as extremely large portion sizes. difficult to achieve as takeaways have high They also have potential to create conditions for profit margins and low operating costs and are disturbance and detract from residential therefore easy to establish and cheap to run. amenity and environmental quality through creating litter, noise, anti-social behaviour, 1.3. Another major driver of the increase in the odour issues and elevated levels of vehicular number of takeaways is demand. Less food is traffic. prepared from scratch using fresh ingredients, both commercially and in the home, again 1.5 For several years, the Council has driven by pressures to save time, offer encouraged takeaways to control the convenience and reduce price. More food ingredients and content of their fast food offer products are mass produced, pre-cooked and and to offer healthier options to customers. pre-packaged than ever before. Market forces, Several operators have risen to the challenge. demand, and the need for standardisation have However, the sector continues to be dominated resulted in greater consumption of food that is by retailers offering food in large portion sizes highly processed and high in saturated fat, that is high in fat, sugar and salt. Therefore, we sugar, salt and additives, often at the expense cannot rely on working with retailers or of important qualities such as fibre content and appealing to the public alone. We must also use nutrition. We are also eating larger portions the tools offered to us through the planning than ever before. This is against a backdrop of system to control the proliferation of these increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Greater premises. consumption and less activity equates to more calories in and fewer calories burned, resulting 1.6 This Supplementary Planning Document inevitably in rising levels of obesity and poorer aims to achieve an economically viable balance health. between Hot Food Takeaways and other retail across the City, and to contribute towards 1.4 This is a significant trend in Wolverhampton reducing increasing levels of obesity and poor which has some of the highest levels of obesity diet. It addresses issues of over-concentration in the country. Around two thirds of adults and of Hot Food Takeaways and exposure of nearly half of school children in Year 6 are particularly vulnerable groups such as school classified as being either overweight or obese. children to opportunity purchases of fast food. This is significantly higher than the England Choice, demand and current provision remain average. The impacts of obesity cost the NHS largely unaffected by this policy, which aims to £6-8 billion a year. strike a balance of interests and issues in the granting of new planning permissions for Hot Food Takeaways. DRAFT Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document 3 Contents Page 1. Foreword 2 2. Introduction 5 3. What is a Hot Food Takeaway? 5 4. Local Context 7 Hot Food Takeaways in Wolverhampton Hot Food Takeaways and Schools Obesity in Wolverhampton 5. Planning Policy 14 National Policy Sub-Regional Policy Local Policy 6. Hot Food Takeaway Guidelines 20 HFT1: Proximity to a Secondary School HFT2: Vitality and Viability of Centres 7. Monitoring 24 Tables and Figures Table 1: Examples of Class A5 Uses 6 Table 2: Concentration of Hot Food Takeaways in Wolverhampton Wards 9 (wards which exceed the national average are highlighted in red) Table 3: Current Secondary schools in Wolverhampton, number of pupils, 11 number of Hot Food Takeaways within 400m of school gates and number of secondary schools signed up to the Children and Young People’s Health Improvement service, which includes advice on healthy eating Figure 1: Example of the precedence of Hot Food Takeaway guidance 21 Figure 2: A5 Hot Food Takeaway (A5) Planning Application Flow Diagram 23 Appendices Appendix 1 – Location of Wolverhampton Centres and Secondary Schools 25 with 400m buffer Appendix 2 – Hot Food Takeaway (A5) and Non-A1 Restriction Policies which 26 apply to each Wolverhampton Centre and proposals outside a Centre 2. Introduction 3. What is a 2.1 This Hot Food Takeaway Hot Food Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) supports and provides detailed guidance on the implementation of Takeaway? policies in the Wolverhampton Local 3.1 The Town and Country Planning (Use Plan. The SPD is in line with the Classes Order) (Amendment) Order National Planning Policy Framework 2015 draws a distinction between a and the Joint Strategic Needs shop (including sandwich shops) Assessment for Wolverhampton (Class A1), a restaurant or café (Class (2017). A3), a drinking establishment (Class A4) and a Hot Food Takeaway (Class 2.2 The SPD explains the overall A5). Establishments whose primary approach to the location of Hot Food business is the sale of hot food for Takeaway development across consumption off the premises fall Wolverhampton, including: within Class A5. The appropriate proportion of Hot Food Takeaways in centres; 3.2 A3 restaurants often have an ancillary The appropriate level of clustering of Hot Takeaway element and A5 Food Takeaways in centres; Takeaways can have ancillary eat-in Distance restrictions on the creation of new facilities. If the two elements are Hot Food Takeaways close to secondary evenly balanced then there would be schools. a mixed A3/A5 use. Where the A5 element of a proposal is equal to or 2.3 This SPD is a material consideration larger than the non-A5 element the in the determination of planning guidance in this SPD will apply to that applications. The SPD has been proposal. To determine the nature of issued under Regulation 17 of the a proposal, the layout of the premises Town and Country Planning (Local will be considered, particularly: Development) (England) Regulations The proportion of space designated for 2004 as amended by the (Local food preparation and other servicing in Planning) 2012 Regulations. relation to designated customer circulation space; The number of tables or chairs to be provided for customer use. 3.3 The applicant will be expected to demonstrate that the proposed use will be the primary business activity. For clarity, Table 1 below provides examples of uses which fall within Class A5, and those which do not. This list is not exhaustive: Table 1: Examples of Class A5 Uses Covered in Class A5 Not covered in Class A5 Fast food takeaways Sandwich Shops Hot Food takeaways Restaurants Pizza takeaways Cafes Fish and Chip shops Coffee Shops Fried chicken shops Dessert cafes Burger takeaways Bakeries Chinese takeaways Indian takeaways Drive throughs 3.4 Anyone intending to submit a planning application for a Hot Food Takeaway is encouraged to read this SPD and contact the City Council’s Planning Department for free pre-application advice and information. 6 DRAFT Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document 4. Local Context 4.1 It is recognised that Hot Food Takeaway establishments provide 4.3 In recent years several retail units in convenience in the food offer, Wolverhampton have been converted particularly in town centres.