SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL BORDERS COUNCIL SCOTTISH RETAIL SURVEY RETAIL WINTER 2019 Contents Key Findings ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Policy Content ................................................................................................................................... 3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Winter 2019 Results .......................................................................................................................... 5 Trends ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Retail Chains ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Use Classes ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Floorspace ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Charity Shops .................................................................................................................................. 11 Supporting Town Centre Viability .................................................................................................... 12 Town Centre Health Checks ............................................................................................................. 14 Long Term Vacancy ......................................................................................................................... 14 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix 1 – Methodology.............................................................................................................. 17 Appendix 2 – Use Categorisation ..................................................................................................... 19 Table 1: SBC Categories............................................................................................................ 19 Table 2: Use class order included in the survey ........................................................................ 19 Appendix 3 – Town Centre Health Checklist ..................................................................................... 20 1 Key Findings Due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, not all settlements have been surveyed. Consequently only 11 settlements have been surveyed for the winter 2019 survey. These include Earlston, Innerleithen, Jedburgh, Kelso, Lauder, Melrose, Newtown St Boswells, Peebles, St Boswells, Tweedbank and West Linton. The key findings are only relevant to the eleven settlements surveyed. 604 units were surveyed, of which 364 (60%) operate as class 1 use shops (excluding sui generis). The average floorspace vacancy rate of the surveyed settlements is 6% The UK average retail unit vacancy rate remains at 13% [source: Local Data Company]. Newtown St Boswells (23%); Lauder (18%); West Linton (17%); Jedburgh (13%); recorded the highest retail unit vacancy rates. Newtown St Boswells and Lauder have a relatively small number of shops and therefore any increase or decrease in property vacancies can significantly affect the overall percentage total. Peebles (3%) and Kelso (4%) have the lowest retail unit vacancy rates. Earlston, St Boswells and Tweedbank have no vacant units. Since the last survey, retail unit vacancy rates increased for the surveyed settlements Newtown St Boswells (+15), West Linton (+9%) and Melrose (+3%), retail unit vacancy rates decreased in Peebles by (-5%), Lauder (-4%), Jedburgh (-2%) and Kelso (-1%). There were 16 town centre charity shops in the surveyed settlements. Kelso (7 units) and Peebles (5 units) had the highest number of charity shops within their town centres. From the settlements surveyed, Jedburgh has the highest long term vacancy rate (3%) and has the highest number of long term vacant units (3). Kelso is the only other settlement to have long term vacancy rate (1%) and long term vacant units (1). All other settlements surveyed had no long term vacant units. For the purposes of this study, long term vacancy is considered to apply to units vacant for five years or longer. 2 Introduction 1.1 This report sets out the results of the Council’s bi-annual survey of ground floor town centre units within eighteen Scottish Borders settlements. The study monitors town centre health and is used to inform the Council’s town centre planning policies. 1.2 The town centres covered by the study are those with a population of over 1000, namely: Chirnside Kelso Coldstream Lauder Duns Melrose Earlston Newtown St Boswells Eyemouth Peebles Galashiels (town centre & 2nd centre) * Selkirk Hawick St Boswells Innerleithen Tweedbank Jedburgh West Linton *Two centres are monitored in Galashiels, the town centre and a second centre at Wilderhaugh. Where this report refers to Galashiels this will always refer to Galashiels town centre only, unless stated otherwise. 1.3 However due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, only 11 settlements were surveyed for the winter 2019 retail survey. Settlements surveyed include Earlston, Innerleithen, Jedburgh, Kelso, Lauder, Melrose, Newtown St Boswells, Peebles, St Boswells, Tweedbank and West Linton. Policy Content 2.1 Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) notes the importance of town centres to our economic and social fabric and states that town centres are at the heart of communities and can be hubs for a range of activities. A town centre first policy is the focus of town centres policy which encourages a flexible mix of footfall generating uses within town centres. The policy also highlights the importance of broad and robust monitoring of town centres and identifies a Town Centre Health Check—which has been a feature of the Council’s retail survey for several years—as a particularly valuable tool. 2.2 At a local level, the Council’s Local Development Plan was adopted in May 2016. The Plan sets out a new Core Activity Areas policy which replaced the previous Prime Retail Frontage policy. The policy encourages development which increases footfall within the central part of town centres, and allows class 3 (food and drink) uses, which encourage greater town centre activity. The policy will be reviewed as part of the Proposed Plan. 3 2.3 In July 2018 the Planning and Building Standards Committee agreed approval of a Town Centre Core Activity Area Pilot scheme. The pilot scheme operated for a one year period and can be viewed on the following link: https://www.scotborders.gov.uk/downloads/file/5187/town_centre_core_activity_area_pil ot_scheme. The primary purpose of the pilot scheme was to examine ways to revitalise and reinvigorate the town centres of Hawick and Galashiels by considering options to add more flexibility to policy ED4 (Core Activity Areas in Town Centres) within the adopted Local Development Plan 2016 which is aimed at protecting core activity areas within these towns. It suggested a number of options to be considered, identifying potential advantages and disadvantages for each. In essence the approved pilot scheme removed the core activity area in Hawick and, whilst retaining the retention of the core activity area in Galashiels, proposed a wider and more flexible range of uses which could be supported. 2.4 The pilot scheme also laid down some further criteria guidance relating to policy ED4 to be considered for planning application proposals within other core activity areas within Scottish Borders towns i.e. Galashiels, Peebles, Kelso, Melrose, Jedburgh, Selkirk, Eyemouth and Duns. As the pilot scheme removed the core activity area from Hawick this would not be relevant to Hawick. The guidance stated, with reference to considering the longevity of vacancy of premises, that if premises had been vacant for 6 months and evidence was submitted which confirmed it had been adequately advertised for a substantial period of that time, then that would carry much weight in the decision making process. Policy ED4 also made reference to the need to give consideration of any “significant positive contribution” in relation to proposals within the core activity and the pilot scheme expanded upon examples of what were considered to be factors determining “significant positive contribution”. 2.5 The Core Activity Area policy is being reviewed as part of the process for producing the next Local Development Plan. Feedback from the impacts of the one year period pilot scheme will help direct how the policy is developed. The Planning & Building Standards Committee agreed the pilot study should remain in place until the new retail policy is confirmed within the next Local Development plan. Methodology 3.1 The survey covers the town centre of each of the surveyed settlements. This is explained in greater detail in Appendix 1. Retail units that fall outwith these areas are not included within the survey. Ground floor units operating within the use classes listed below