Bucks Council urge government to rethink new plans for High Streets

Leader of the Bucks Council Martin Tett has spoken out against the proposed new rules for our High Streets.

From the 1st august, developers will be able to automatically convert  retail or commercial space along prime High Streets into residential use without needing planning permission from local authority. 

Martin Tett has written to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State at the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) urging the government to pause proposed changes to planning rules.

Here is his statement:

“Giving automatic rights to convert prime retail space into residential space removes any local power for communities or councils to take measures to protect and invigorate our main high streets. National rules will squash our local voices” says Martin Tett. “We simply should not take a ‘one size fits all’ national approach to this” he cautions. “This proposed change risks putting power completely in the hands of developers and leaves local communities and local authorities powerless to shape the future of prime high streets in our towns and villages. Each town and each high street have their own dynamic, their own evolving retail footprint and its own place at the heart of our communities – high streets are part of the hyper local economy of a town or a village.

Without the vital sanity check and safety net coming from local authorities, it could be open season for developers to break up and fragment key high street frontages and change the balance of our town centres. The Government’s proposed change to the planning system threatens the very core of what we are seeking to achieve in Buckinghamshire in protecting and renewing our high streets and shaping the future look and feel of what our town centres have to offer. 

UK planning control includes an 'article 4 direction' where councils can protect the character of an area which might be under threat – typically in its conservation areas. For example, this has been used to protect the older parts including medieval streets in High Wycombe.  An article 4 direction reduces the scope of permitted development and raises the bar that means most changes would require planning permission. This would provide some protection; however it takes anywhere between one and two years to put an Article 4 protection into place. 

I am urging the Secretary of State to pause the introduction of the proposed changes by a minimum of one year to allow councils the time needed to enact Article 4 to protect high streets.

As the country and our town centres begin to recover from the many impacts of Covid, businesses are now to be placed at added risk by this new planning rule. The threat is multi-fold and finding a resolution is urgent."

The threat to Amersham

"As an example, in Amersham the prime high street is being threatened with the loss of key large retail units currently used by Waterstones and Superdrug. There are no suitable replacement local units and it is likely that both stores will leave the town. The current presence of these brands is pivotal to other smaller and independent shops opening in the town. If virtually unlimited conversion from retail to residential is allowed, then we could face the very real prospect of the prime shopping frontage being broken up and centres rendered unviable."

Martin Tett has invited the Secretary of State or any of the civil servants working on the new rules to come and see these issues in practice by making a visit to Amersham or any of the towns in Buckinghamshire to see the issues for themselves.