Wokingham Borough Council

Retail Study Refresh

February 2010 1

Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Ltd 14 Regent's Wharf All Saints Street London N1 9RL

T 020 7837 4477 F 020 7837 2277 Offices also in Cardiff [email protected] Manchester www.nlpplanning.com Newcastle upon Tyne

Contents 2

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 Recent Changes 2 The Need for the Study Update 2 The Implications of PPS4 ‘Planning for Sustainable Growth’ (December 2009) 2 Regional Policy 5 Local Policy 6 The Economic Downturn 7 Recent Development 8

3.0 Retail Trends 9 Expenditure Growth 9 New Forms of Retailing 10

4.0 Quantitative Scope for Retail Floorspace 13 Introduction 13 Methodology and Data 13 Existing Retail Floorspace 16 Existing Spending Patterns 2009 16 Quantitative Capacity for Convenience Floorspace 18 Quantitative Capacity for Comparison Floorspace 20 Occupier Demand 22

5.0 Assessment of Centres and the Hierarchy 23 Centres in Wokingham and the Surrounding Area 23 Wokingham Town Centre 24 Woodley Town Centre 25 Lower Earley District Centre 27 Twyford Village Centre 28 Winnersh Village Centre 29 Shinfield Road District Centre 29 Proposed Arborfield Garrison District Centre 29 The Qualitative Need for Retail Development 30 Defining Centre Boundaries 32

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations 36 Meeting Shopping Needs in Wokingham 36 Retail Floorspace Projections 36 Accommodating Future Growth 38 Scale of Development 39

Centre Boundaries 39

Appendices

Appendix A - Study Area and Existing Retail Facilities Appendix B - Convenience Retail Assessment Appendix C - Comparison Retail Assessment Appendix D - Operator Requirements

Wokingham Borough Council Retail Study Refresh 2010

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners (NLP) was commissioned by Wokingham Borough Council to prepare a Retail Study Refresh. This study provides a review and update of the Council’s previous retail study, carried out in 2007 by Donaldsons. This review takes into account the changes brought in by the Core Strategy, the economic recession, South East Plan and PPS4. It seeks to ensure the Council has an up-to-date evidence base for the emerging Local Development Plan Documents (LDD’s) as part of the Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF).

1.2 The key objectives of the study are:

1 to assess the impact that the Core Strategy’s housing and population figures will have on the town and district centres (in terms of their retail floorspace capacity for both convenience and comparison goods), and the impact of the Strategic Development Locations (SDL’s);

2 to help assess retail centre boundaries;

3 help review retailer demand; and

4 to provide evidence towards the regeneration of Wokingham Town Centre and Lower Earley District Centre.

1.3 Section 2 of this report summarises recent relevant changes to the retail capacity assessment and Section 3 outlines retail trends. Sections 4 and 5 set out the updated retail capacity and quantitative need assessment. Section 6 provides the recommendations and conclusions.

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Wokingham Borough Council Retail Study Refresh 2010

2.0 Recent Changes

The Need for the Study Update

2.1 The Council’s previous retail and town centres study (2007) provided projections up to 2026 and these figures now need to be updated. The aim of this report is to provide updated projections for the period up to 2026. The 2007 study did not foresee the current economic recession and the expenditure growth projections adopted in 2007 may no longer be robust.

2.2 Central government guidance in PPS6 has been replaced by PPS4 and this will have implications for plan making and development control decisions.

The Implications of PPS4 ‘Planning for Sustainable Growth’ (December 2009)

2.3 The 2007 study was based on the guidance set out in PPS6: Planning for Town Centres published in March 2005. This guidance has now been