Town centre and retail

Context

Town centres and retail areas play a vital role in shaping how people access services, spend time and experience places. National planning policy places strong emphasis on supporting the vitality and viability of centres, promoting a diverse mix of uses and encouraging development that strengthens their role as the focus for community, economic and social activity. It also supports a positive approach to growth, ensuring that development is directed to the most appropriate locations and contributes to the long-term resilience of centres.

In Tamworth, this is particularly important given the Borough’s compact and largely urban form, and the important role of the town centre and local centres in meeting day-to-day needs. These centres not only provide retail and services, but also act as key locations for employment, leisure and community uses. Supporting their continued vitality, while managing change in the retail sector and wider economy, is essential to maintaining attractive, accessible and well-functioning places.

Why is this important?

Tamworth’s town centre has faced high vacancy rates in recent years, reflecting broader challenges within the retail sector. This increase in vacant units has affected the overall vibrancy and appeal of the centre, highlighting the need for diversification and fresh investment. Addressing these vacancy rates is important to revitalising the town centre, ensuring it remains a thriving hub for local residents, visitors and businesses alike.

A coordinated approach to town centre planning means directing development to the most sustainable locations, supporting a mix of uses and ensuring that new development contributes positively to the role and function of centres. Alongside this, it is important to manage main town centre uses outside designated centres, ensuring that such development does not undermine existing centres.

This approach also supports key regeneration opportunities, including Gungate and Ankerside, which have the potential to enhance the town centre’s offer and create more active, accessible and vibrant environments over the long term.

Our proposed approach

The new local plan will seek to support a balanced and resilient network of centres across Tamworth. It will strengthen the role of the town centre, including through promoting investment and regeneration, while supporting local and neighbourhood centres and managing the impact of development outside designated centres.

This means:

• maintaining a clear hierarchy of centres, setting out their roles and functions;
• supporting a diverse mix of uses within the town centre to enhance its vitality and attractiveness;
• protecting and supporting local and neighbourhood centres as accessible hubs for everyday services;
• applying a consistent approach to main town centre uses outside centres, ensuring impacts are appropriately managed; and
• promoting the regeneration of key town centre sites, including Gungate and Ankerside.

This approach recognises that centres must be able to adapt over time, supporting new forms of development while maintaining their role within the wider network.

Proposed local plan policies on retail and centres

The proposed approach will be reflected in a suite of retail and centres policies that will be used to guide development and investment across the Borough. A summary of the main policy directions is set out below.

The retail evidence base identifies that there is a relatively modest need for additional comparison goods floorspace over the plan period, estimated at around 2,500 sq.m net by 2029, increasing slightly to 2,700 sq.m by 2034. In contrast, there is no overall quantitative need for additional convenience goods floorspace, with an identified oversupply across the Borough.

However, the study identifies a qualitative opportunity to support a medium-sized foodstore within the Town Centre, in order to address a gap in provision and support its long-term vitality and viability.

These findings reflect wider changes in the retail sector, including increased online shopping and reduced demand for traditional retail floorspace. As a result, there is a growing need for centres to diversify and accommodate a broader mix of uses to support their long-term vitality and viability.