Economy and Employment - Town Centres

The Council will support a wide range of uses in centres where they comply with Policies TC2, TC3 and TC4, as relevant, and will help to improve the vitality of the relevant centre.

All proposals should be of a scale appropriate to the size and function of the centre, taking account of the hierarchy as set out in Table 3: East Ayrshire's Network of Centres, which can be viewed on page 105 of  Local Development Plan 2: Volume 1 (PDF 48.17 MB).

Development proposals within prime and strategic town centres, local town centres and suburb centres as defined in Table 3 will be supported by the Council where it can be fully demonstrated that they will improve and expand the commercial or municipal offer within the Centre, do not have an adverse impact on any Centre, and that they:

1. contribute positively to the character of the immediate and surrounding area
2. contribute positively to the visual amenity of the area by providing a high quality and attractive, active street frontage with appropriate signage and careful consideration of the siting and design of any external features including flue extraction systems
3. do not have a detrimental effect on the amenity of adjacent properties, in terms of noise, litter, odour or any other disturbance
4. do not result in an inappropriate concentration of Hot Food Takeaways (including permanently sited vans), Public Houses and Composite/Hybrid Uses in a particular area, to the detriment of the overall character and amenity of the area⁹

Proposals in the defined commercial centres will be supported where they comply with the role and function identified in the network of centres and where they meet the criteria listed in policy TC2.

Developments which do not meet with the provisions of policy TC1 will not receive Council support.

Design Supplementary Guidance on the display of adverts and shop alterations supports policy TC1.

The Council will promote town centres as the prime locations for footfall generating developments, as described in Table 4 which can be viewed on page 107 of  Local Development Plan 2: Volume 1 (PDF 48.17 MB).

Proposals for new or expanded footfall generating developments outwith town centres will be supported only where they meet with the provisions of Policy TC3 or when the following criteria can be addressed:

1. a robust sequential assessment has been carried out in respect of (1) town centres, local town centres and suburb centres; (2) edge of town centre locations; (3) commercial centres and (4) out-of-centre locations. Retail development in out-of-centre locations will only receive Council support if it falls within the description of small-scale development detailed in Policy TC3 or is mentioned as part of specific allocated site requirements in Volume 2
2. evidence will be required as to which sequentially preferable sites have been assessed and why these have been discounted. These areas are shown on the settlement maps in Volume 2. For developments over 2,500sqm a Retail Impact Assessment (RIA) must be prepared. The Council may request a RIA in certain cases of proposals of a lesser floor area; in such cases the scope of this RIA would be commensurate to the scale of the development¹⁰
3. the applicant can demonstrate that full consideration has been given to altering or reducing the scale of the development to accommodate it within a sequentially preferable location. Consideration should be given to the potential to disaggregate large scale developments, utilising sequentially preferable gap or infill sites in a coordinated manner
4. the development would not unacceptably adversely affect, either individually or cumulatively, the vitality and viability of any town centre
5. the proposal must not adversely impact on action to tackle climate change by generating significant levels of additional journeys with reliance on the private car and must fully comply with the transport policy on significant travel generating uses; and (vi) the development complies with the provisions of Policy TC1

Out-of-centre areas comprise all parts of East Ayrshire that do not fall within the Network of Centres detailed in Table 3 above and shown on mapping in Volume 2 of the LDP.

Those town centre, local town centre, suburb centre and commercial centre areas without a defined edge of town centre area lie immediately adjacent to out-of-centre areas, which encompass all other land within and outwith the settlement boundary.

Retail and Commercial leisure developments will be required to provide public open space to the standards set out in Schedule 1 of the LDP.

To support the role of town centres in a 20 minute neighbourhood, the town centre first assessment and associated requirements will be applied flexibly and realistically for municipal services so that they are easily accessible to the communities that they are intended to serve. Proposals should make space available for safe and attractive walking, wheeling and cycling as an integral part of this.

¹⁰ Where possible, developers should agree the data required with the Council and information should be presented on areas of dispute in a succinct and comparable form. The RIA should demonstrate the potential economic impact of development and any possible displacement effects including the net impact on jobs. It should also consider supply chains and whether local suppliers and workers will be a viable option and the environmental impact of transporting goods and of staff and visitors travelling to the location.

The Council will support small scale Class 1 retail development outside of the network of centres, where such proposals will serve a particular rural, residential or tourist market and have a specific need to be located outside of a town centre. Specifically, the Council will support:

1. small scale convenience shops within settlement boundaries to meet the day-to-day needs of a residential neighbourhood or rural community where there is no defined town centre boundary or where the boundary of a centre listed within the Network of Centres in Table 3 is more than 800m distant – applicants must demonstrate the extent to which proposals recognise the principles of 20 minute neighbourhoods
2. shops attached to farms or factories, where more than 50% of the product range is produced on site (evidence should be provided)
3. the development of tourist-related shops, where the retail element is part of a larger proposal intended to develop and enhance the local tourist market, and itself complies with all relevant LDP policies
4. the development of community uses within settlement boundaries should they comply with all other relevant LDP policies
5. the development of shops linked to petrol/service/charging stations

Development according to each criterion above must comply with the provisions of Policy TC1.

Applicants proposing small scale retail development in the rural area, outwith a settlement boundary will be required to demonstrate why the proposal cannot be located within a nearby settlement boundary. The applicant should also detail the potential impact on nearby town and commercial centres or village/local shops; and the likely impact of traffic generated and access and parking arrangements.

Protecting the vitality and viability of town centre areas is a priority of the Local Development Plan.

This approach emphasises retention of strong, active frontages featuring footfall generating uses and their protection from conversion to competing uses.

Alongside this approach is a recognition that demand for non-residential town centre space has declined due to changing commercial patterns. As part of an encouragement of town centre living, an approach whereby conversion to residential use of upper floor and ground floor units in certain areas is supported is therefore enshrined in the Plan.

A town centre area and edge of town centre area has been spatially defined for each Prime, Strategic and Service town centre in East Ayrshire.

See Table 3: East Ayrshire's Network of Centres, which can be viewed on page 105 of  Local Development Plan 2: Volume 1 (PDF 48.17 MB).

Town centre and edge of town centre areas

• Town centre and suburb centre areas - appropriate conversion to residential use will be supported in upper floor levels – conversion to residential use at ground floor level will not be supported in town centre, local town centre and suburb centre areas, so as to ensure the preservation of available units and an active frontage
• Edge of town centre areas and other areas within the settlement boundary - appropriate conversion to residential use of ground floor and upper floor levels is supported in principle

Proposals for new residential development or the retention and conversion to residential use of upper floor space in town centre, local town centre and suburb centre areas or upper and ground floor space in edge of town centre areas is supported in principle subject to amenity considerations.

Conversions should take into account the potential impact on the character of historic buildings, and ensure that proposals comply with relevant historic environment policies.

It is presumed that suitable residential amenity cannot be achieved if there is a common or shared access with any of the use types listed in Policy TC5.

Suitable residential amenity must be achieved in town centres, local town centres and suburb centres. There will be a presumption against siting adjacent to or on the ground floor of residential properties any type of development listed within Schedule 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 or as superseded (commonly known as 'Bad Neighbour' development).

The developer must clearly demonstrate that suitable residential amenity can be achieved when developing their proposals. Footfall generating proposals, as per Table 4, will not be supported in the curtilage of residential properties.