Client
Blackburn with Darwen Council
Local Authority
Blackburn with Darwen Council
Sectors
Retail & Town Centres, Public Sector
Key Project Information
- We provided retail and leisure support and technical evidence to support the preparation of the Blackburn with Darwen Local Plan.
- Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BwD) commissioned our expert team to prepare an update to the Retail and Leisure Study to support the preparation of the new Local Plan. In summary this sought to:
- Extend the projections within the Retail Study to 2037, which is the end of the Local Plan period and to take into account updated population (including updated Housing and Economic Needs Assessment information) and expenditure information;
- Summarise the impacts of COVID-19 on the forecast need for new retail and leisure uses; and
- Set out the implications on Local Plan policy of recent changes to the Use Classes Order (Introduction of new E Class), including possible implications of Permitted Development changes for Class E to residential.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BwD) commissioned our expert team to prepare an update to the Retail and Leisure Study to support the preparation of the new Local Plan.
This included setting out the impacts that Covid had on the retail and leisure markets, along with the level of expenditure and the confidence that customers have to spend on different items. Essentially it was the evidence base needed to understand the implications for bricks and mortar floorspace and what needed to be planned for moving forwards.
In order to support this evidence, detailed retail capacity assessments were undertaken for both convenience and comparison goods. This sought to draw together the population growth in the area utilising both general population growth statistics, but also forecast population growth identified in the wider local plan evidence base and considering this in light of the forecast growth in retail expenditure.
This growth was assessed in respect of current shopping patters and the level of expenditure drawn to different locations to understand the level of retail floorspace to be planned for over the Plan Period.
A similar exercise was also undertaken for leisure needs seeking to establish the current use of facilities within the Blackburn with Darwen area and the expected need to plan for additional facilities given the growth in population.
Advice was also provided to Blackburn with Darwen Council around the potential implications of the new Use Class order and the expanded permitted development rights for town centre uses. Understanding these were crucial for the Council in respect of how to plan for town centre uses in the emerging Local Plan