CABE Supermarket Led Development: Asset or Liability

8/7/2019 CABE Supermarket Led Development: Asset or Liability

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Supermarket-leddevelopment:asset or liability?


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Published in 2010 by the Commission

for Architecture and the Built Environment

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Cover photo: Vizion, a Sainsburys and

Barratts development in Milton Keynes Morley von Sternberg.

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preparing this report, no responsibility

or liability will be accepted by CABE,

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Introduction 2

Supermarket-led development: asset or liability? 4

The reliance on standard solutions 5

Principles of good supermarket-led design 7

1 Relating the building to its neighbourhood 8

2 Achieving strong environmental credentials 9

3 Getting the housing right 10

4 Creating good public realm and reducing

car dependency 11

5 Planning for the long term 12

Strengthening the role of local

planning authorities 13

What should happen next? 15

Contents


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Supermarkets are often involved in creating largeparts of our towns and cities. Fewer stores are

built to stand alone: often they come with amix of housing, sports facilities, shopping streetsor schools.

For all their commercial success, supermarketshave to deal with powerful neighbourhoodopposition. There have been hundreds of localcampaigns in the UK against applications to openthem, often related to their environmental andpurchasing practices. Research has shown that50 per cent of people think the size and strength

of supermarkets should be controlled to stop themputting local independent retailers out of business1.

Also of great public interest, but much moreoverlooked, is the issue of design andplacemaking.

Conventionally, CABEs role has been to adviseon design, leaving economic evaluation to thelocal authority. But with supermarket regenerationprojects becoming more complex, we haveobserved that it is increasingly difficult to separatedesign and placemaking from economic impact.What local communities tell us is that a lotof supermarket-led development amounts to

a large plain rectangular building and car parkin the middle of town. This can actually undermine

regeneration, local character and sense ofplace, and compound traffic problems.

For this report, CABE has drawn on 30 ofthe major supermarket schemes which wehave reviewed. Two thirds are mixed use andmost are proposed for significant sites. Giventhat the sector is buoyant, and these developersare so well resourced, every scheme shouldreasonably be expected to make a positivecontribution to the locality and to the wider

prosperity of the town centre. So we lookat how local planning authorities could workwith developers to create schemes whichare commercially viable and enhance the placein which they are built.

There are examples of good design to drawon, such as the Grand Union Walk housingfor Sainsburys, and the Tesco store in Ludlowwhere the roof profile successfully echoesthe contours of the hills which form thetowns backdrop.

Some more recent schemes also show adetermination to create an attractive place.

Introduction

Grimshaws Grand

Union Walk housing

scheme for Sainsburys

in Camden was

completed in 1988

and it is still a

desirable place to live.

Residential units take

the form of individualhouses, capitalising on

the canalside setting.

The south facing wall

to the rear needed to

be blank to exclude

lorry noise, so their

living space at first

floor level is top lit.

A double-height

dining area opens

out onto a balcony

NickHornig


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At Fulham Wharf in London, a Sainsburysdevelopment proposes active frontages at street

level and new public routes and spaces withgenerous landscaping. This kind of pedestrian-friendly scheme proves that there is no need tochoose between commercial success and goodquality places. Everyone wants both.

But it has to be said that in most of the schemesCABE sees, it is clear that the basic model for asupermarket on an out-of-town brownfield site hassimply been transported to a town centre setting.This is not an oversight. The standard supermarket

shell is the product of the intensive refinement ofa tried and tested commercial model. The retailersand their developers tell us that this model stillserves them very well in a highly competitivecommercial world.

This creates a number of problems. Out-of-townsites are usually very straightforward to develop,but urban centre sites almost never are. There isalso a far greater complexity to supermarket-leddevelopment itself now that it locks togetherbuilding uses with very different cycles of renewal.The life of housing, for instance, is not the sameas the life of retail space and the potential foradapting the latter in ways that could support

the former needs to be designed in from theoutset. And grocery shopping patterns are

changing. The number of us shopping online,for instance, is predicted to double to 25 per centby 20142, and this could have radical implicationsfor the building. All these suggest the need forgreater flexibility in design to meet future businessand community needs.

At a recent CABE design review, it wassuggested that supermarkets could be likened tocruise liners. Both are massive and self contained:they aim to meet all customer needs in one place.

So supermarkets increasingly come with thebutcher, the baker, the chemist and the computerstore, as well as accommodation. But while acruise liner vanishes over the horizon, the futurefor a supermarket berthing in a town centre isbound up with the viability and vitality of that place.CABE believes that it is time for them to let downthe gang plank, and think more about their impacton the place where they arrive.

The geographical distribution of three major supermarkets as shown here

in effect creates the shape of the UK Tesco (red), Asda (green), and

Sainsburys (orange)

There is no need to choosebetween commercial success

and good quality places.

Everyone wants both

NickH

ornig


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Supermarket-led development:asset or liability?

Done well, supermarket-led development providesthe critical mass to make a place thrive. The

sequential test and current planning policystatement 4 (PPS4) encourages such developmentin town centres precisely in order to promotesustainable economic growth. Supermarket-leddevelopment can restore life to a centre whichhas suffered from out-of-town or edge of towndevelopment, or just become very dated. In manymid-sized towns, the centre is blighted by a tiredmall built two or three decades ago and treatedby its owner as a pension rather than somethingto manage and maintain.

In these circumstances, a well integrated scheme,designed in response to community need andthe local context, can inject economic vitality andreinforce the primary shopping area with a livelymix of commercial and other non-retail uses. Healthcentres, libraries, sports facilities and gyms can bearranged along streets and around public spaces,along with cafs and bars. Many local authoritieshave invested heavily in enhancing their towncentres by improving pedestrian routes andstreetscapes, and a good scheme will create

attractive new open space and destinations to

support this. New homes can contribute to socialvitality: apartments overlooking public space create

natural surveillance, and their entrances on streetsor squares generates 24-hour activity that makesthe locality feel safer for everyone.

However, in practice, CABE finds that manyschemes are not designed well enough to deliverthese benefits. Supermarkets and the developerswith which they work keep repeating the modeldesigned for out-of-town sites, with rectangularbuildings, large car parks and constant delivery. Inour discussions with them, it is clear that variationis seen as the enemy of economy. This leads to big

standard blocks being built in small, irregularlyshaped sites, and design which bears norelationship to the neighbourhood.

The problems are often compounded by planningauthorities seeking to maximise associateddevelopment. Supermarkets will deliver mixed-useschemes if they have to, but their priority will remainthe delivery of an obvious and familiar workableretail solution. So the store building and parkingis likely to be given prime position, whatever the

elements in the rest of the development.

Vizion in Milton

Keynes is a

successful example

of a mixed-use

development. Led

by Sainsburys, it

includes housing,

community and not-

for-profit facilities,

commercial space

and offices, with a

well landscaped

garden for residentson the roof top of

the 10,000 sq

metre store

QuartetDesign;FrostsLandscapeConst

ructionLtd


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The reliance onstandard solutions

Here we describe some of the supermarket-ledschemes seen by CABE which illustrate reliance

on standard solutions, and over development. Thiskind of weak design will result in a scheme whichis likely to be a local liability rather than an asset,adversely affecting how a place looks and feelsand whether it will thrive long term.

A rigid store format and standard car parkingapproach was proposed by Tesco for an importantand sensitive site in Halesworth, Suffolk. Inside theconservation area, its service yard and overflow carpark detracted from the setting of adjacent listedbuildings. The scheme undermined existing good

connections into the town centre, positioning theblank rear of the store on a popular pedestrianroute. No effort was made to create spaces orlandscape in a way which would strengthen thesense of place.

A Tesco scheme proposed for the high street inEpsom, Surrey, tried to cram so much developmentonto the site, it inflated the building to five storeysin a neighbourhood of two storey terraced housing(see picture below).

A significant scheme in Bromley-by-Bow in eastLondon which has received planning consent

illustrates the impact of site layout givingprecedence to the store. This new district centreincludes 293 new homes, a primary school, a hoteland a new public park. While the monolithic Tescostore will enjoy a waterside frontage, the residentialtower overlooks the northern approach to the A12Blackwall Tunnel. The new primary school in thescheme is tacked onto the stores delivery yard,reached across the entrance to a busy car park.

Another scheme for Tesco, in St Helens,Lancashire, brought the opportunity to build a

new stadium for the rugby league club. However,instead of placing this building in a prominentposition, reflecting its value to the city, thedeveloper awarded prime position to the superstoreand its car park, and hid the stadium around theback. The scheme was granted planning consentdespite its very serious shortcomings.

The quality of a scheme is of particular concern tomany residents of new homes built within it. Someschemes propose up to 900 dwellings. Many of the

apartments in the schemes which CABE sees will

This development for Tesco on the high street in Epsom proposed three

levels of parking for 500 cars. Design approaches such as wrapping the

store frontage with a thin layer of housing units, and introducing smaller

shops at street level, were proposed. But at five storeys, the building had

become too bulky for any such mitigation to work

All traffic on site brings

noise, air pollution and

safety issues, but a car-

focused scheme can make

residents lives grim in

other ways too

SheppardRobson


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be an unpleasant place to live. All the traffic whichsupermarkets generate on site brings noise, air

pollution and safety issues, but a car-focusedscheme can make residents lives grim in otherways too. In an Asda scheme proposed for theEast Barnet Gas Works in north London, forinstance, the apartments were accessed from thebasement car park and along frontages adjacentto store parking entrances.

Apartments are also routinely single aspect. In thatAsda scheme, for instance, at least 36 apartmentsfaced only north, or were set back within cornerswhich would restrict daylight.

So what was the response of the five planningauthorities to the schemes described above?

In Halesworth, the local authority had good,up to date land use policy for the site, proposingresidential and community use. It felt able to refusethe scheme as it did not fit with those aspirations.CABEs design review panel supported theirposition, as it did in Epsom where the Council didnot have up to date town centre wide guidance but

still felt confident about refusal on design groundsand because of its impact on a conservation area.

In Bromley by Bow, Tesco argues that their schemeis an obliging response to the local planningauthority guidance, and this is correct even downto the lamentable location of the residential tower.CABE felt that the guidance for such an important

new urban quarter, critical to local regeneration,could also have required far more from the new

streets and better connectivity with nearbyneighbourhoods.

In St Helens, CABE believes that had the localauthority shown more confidence and vision, theycould have reshaped the scheme into one for thetown to be proud of.

The primary concern of East Barnet Council wasthe impact the scheme would have on the highstreet, but the scale of the store and poor qualityliving environment were also reasons for refusal.

The scheme had not been adequately justified inrelation to the sequential approach and adverseimpact on designated centres.

On page 13, we look more closely at the roleof local planning authorities. But it is alreadyclear from the examples above that wherecouncils have the confidence to stand firmand use existing policy (national or local) tosupport their case, they can negotiate betteroutcomes for their communities.

It is in everyones interest to get a good schemefirst time round. If the scheme put forward meetsthe demands of the business, the economicexpectations of the council and the aspirationsof planners for high quality places, this shouldbe recognised in the planning process. Fasterplanning consent avoids costly delays.

This scheme in

Bromley-by-Bow,

east London iscomplex superstore-

led regeneration

which is driven by the

Tesco-led investment

opportunity, even

though planning and

design guidance

underpins the scheme.

The site layout gives

precedence to the

supermarket, which

enjoys a river frontage.

The residential tower

will be sited where

noise, air quality and

outlook are at their

worst, beside the

northern approach to

the A12 Blackwall

Tunnel

Collad

oCollins


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Principles of goodsupermarket-led design

Underpinning every good supermarket-led schemeis a clear, locally informed brief. A good brief will

specify what the design must achieve and what it isdesirable to achieve, and reflect design principlesset out in national and local planning guidance. Mostdesign briefs for a supermarket scheme are writtenby the retailer long before any discussions withplanners take place, but will be informed by the localdevelopment framework. So it is essential that thecore strategy and associated documents, such asarea action plans, clearly communicate whatplanners expect to see in terms of design quality.

CABE has supported around 100 local planning

authorities in creating their core strategies. Thereis immense value in having a clear vision for atown centre, with the facilities, services and retailrequirements identified and the relevant strategiesfor town-centre parking or sustainable transportfully reflected.

The mix of uses depends on location and whatwould work well together over the long term.The best mix for the site should emerge fromcollaboration with the communities that use the

area and take full account of the needs of minorityethnic groups, older people and disabled people.

Fulham Wharf, a

development proposal

led by Sainsburys

and designed by

Lifschutz Davidson

Sandilands. The

box of the store is

concealed behind

homes and smallerunits. Front doors

for residents are

provided off a lively

street, and shared

surfaces favour

pedestrians. It will

create attractive

new open spaces

to play and meet,

with generous

landscaping,

including a new

public route to

the river

Overleaf we look at the following five issues

that can help to inform discussions between

local planning authorities and developers.1 Relating the building

to its neighbourhood

2 Achieving strong environmental credentials

3 Getting the housing right

4 Creating good public realm

and reducing car dependency

5 Planning for the long term

LifschutzDavidsonSandilan

ds


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1 Relating the buildingto its neighbourhood

The scale of the supermarketbuilding is determined by many

factors, including the size of thenearest competing store andpredicted trading intensity, butit should above all relate to thesite. Sites created by landassembly can be irregular andthe large rectangular floor-planof a typical supermarket will notalways be a comfortable fit.However, PPS4 currently requiressupermarket developmentto enhance the established

character and diversity of thetown, and recommends that localauthorities ensure that operatorsdemonstrate flexibility interms of floor space and siteconfiguration and car parking.

Planners can ask developersto undertake context appraisalsand to produce schemes thatshow how the store links into

its surrounding neighbourhood.Supermarket designs that do notrespond to their site are unlikelyto comply with the local corestrategy and so should not begranted planning permission.

The brief needs to indicate whatsort of street presence the formand massing of the buildingsshould create. Site masterplanningis usually generated by a retailerand developer working to atemplate. The interior layoutneeds to provide clear directionfor the customer this limitsqueues which in turn minimisesthe car parking required and arectangular plan form works wellfor this, but access, storage andservicing usually means blankfacades on three sides. This canaffect the quality of bordering

streets, making them dead andunwelcoming. It is a constraintthat can prompt somewhatarbitrary design responses,

such as the addition of woodencladding to all elevations. But

CABE has also seen exteriorswhich respond to their contextmore successfully, such as theSainsburys in Sherborne,Waitrose in Ely and the Tescostore in Ludlow (see picturebelow). Screening the store withresidential and commercial unitscan provide balance, as canmoving subsidiary elements outof the box: so for example thedeli counter or the pharmacy

could operate from a separateshop frontage.

The brief should demonstrate thethinking behind routes throughand within the site, and provideevidence that connectionsthrough the neighbourhood willbe maintained and enhanced.Positioning large structuresthat block desire lines should

obviously be avoided. For mostschemes, creating a pedestrianlink to the rest of the town centreis of significant commercial value:according to industry experts,outside London 20 per cent

of the trade (and more of thevisits) will walk in from the

town. So planners seeking welldesigned and attractive links totown centres should be pushingat an open door.

The scheme should make aplace feel safer as a result ofthe natural surveillance fromwell frequented streets, day andnight. Street safety is a particularissue for people who alreadyfeel vulnerable through age or

disability, and the Equalities Act2010 requires local authoritiesto ensure that no developmenthas an adverse impact.

In major cities, the compacthypermarkets on brownfield sitesclose to big roads tend to focussolely on the car, with multi-levelcar parking, in order to attractaffluent customers from a wider

region. But they are often built inthe middle of communities thatare far from affluent, and need todemonstrate that the interests ofthose people have also beentaken into account.

JamesO.Davies/Eng

lishHeritage/N.M.R.

This Tesco store in Ludlow, Shropshire was designed by MJP Architects and completed in 2000.It responds well to the town in terms of scale and the materials used. The building's most prominent

feature is its 55m curved roof which echoes the undulating hills which frame the town. The building

is also unusual in being substantially naturally lit, which creates a more attractive internal environment

as well as helping to reduce energy use and carbon emissions


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Local planning authorities arein a strong position to show

leadership in securing the higheststandards of energy efficiencyand environmental responsibilityfrom a schemes developers.

Currently planning policystatement I (PPS1) requireslocal authorities to ensure thatstrategies address climatechange through policies whichreduce energy use, reduceemissions from travel and freight,

promote renewable energy, andtake climate change impacts intoaccount in the location anddesign of development.

The major supermarkets takeenergy efficiency very seriously,given the enormous energydemand from their heating/cooling outputs, but still CABEsees schemes with features such

as large south-facing glazedareas with no shading devicesto mitigate the significantheat loads.

The standard template for thebuilding limits opportunitiesto use natural daylight andventilation, but rooflights areoften possible, even throughroof gardens or rooftop car parks.

We have observed that there canbe advantages in setting firmcommitments to BREEAM andCode for Sustainable Homestargets through the planningprocess. Applications can setbenchmarks for sustainability,including estimates of carbonemissions as kg CO2/m2.Thelarger supermarkets are subjectto the CRC Energy Efficiency

scheme which requires that theymonitor and then reduce theirenergy use. When supermarketsare building new schemes, it

makes sense to take advantageof passive design to reduce

the need for energy use inthe first place.

Comprehensive redevelopmentof a site creates the opportunityto put in place infrastructuresuch as combined heat andpower. This can be even morevaluable if it becomes a catalystfor a town centre-wide network,for instance exporting waste heatfrom the retail units to nearby

sheltered accommodation.

Even though Sainsburys newmegastore in Crayford hasdoubled in size, by introducinga geothermal system as part ofthe refurbishment it has cutenergy usage by 30% and helpedto reduce its electricity bill by60%. The technology has beenused before at Sainsburys in

Greenwich but here is the firsttime that it also extracts excessheat generated by the motors inthe stores fridges, and capturesit for re-use.

Supermarkets can also respondto climate change by taking aholistic approach to their useof natural resources. This willrange from the longevity of thematerials used in building, andtheir potential for re-use, to themanagement and conservationof water. Rainwater can becollected, for instance for usein non-food areas.

With flash flooding becomingmore frequent in urban areas, it isworth designing open space withporous surfaces, rather than theusual hard paving and tarmac, to

slow the flow of rainwater to thedrains. Generous planting in thespaces around the building willalso increase absorption.

For detailed advice on howto create sustainable urban

environments at the differentscales of building, site andneighbourhood, visitwww.cabe.org.uk/sustainability.

2 Achieving strongenvironmental credentials

Designed by ATP and completed in 2006,

the Maximarkt supermarket in Wels, Austria,

benefits from full height windows which

flood the sales hall with natural light

Planning authorities

are in a strong position

to show leadership insecuring the highest

environmental

standards from the

schemes developers

AlexanderKoller


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3 Getting the housing right

One of the most serious issuesfor mixed-use supermarket-led

development is the quality of thehousing, as outlined above onpages 5-6. Mix and type of tenureneeds careful consideration whendeciding whether the site reallyis suitable for housing.

Building homes is a significantlong term commitment to thelocal community, and goodhousing can add immeasurablyto the overall quality of the

development. Yet economicpressure often significantlyaffects the quality of design. Thehousing component of a schemeis not generally a significantsource of value for the developer.We have been told it is oftenincluded on the guidance of localplanning officers as a way tomeet targets for social housing ina world where the council cannot

directly invest to build it. Privateresidential housing then needs tobe included to help defray thecost of these low-cost units.

There are several key thingsto consider when ensuring

that supermarket-led housingdevelopment will provide adecent quality environment forresidents. These include clearand safe access routes home,and a real address a proudand visible front door to theapartments from the street.There needs to be cleardifferentiation between routesfor the shopping public andthe residents private world.

Circulation within the buildingshould be straightforward, sothat residents do not have tonegotiate a succession of longinternal corridors to reach theirapartments.

CABE has seen a numberof schemes where balconiesoverlook the delivery yard or aparking podium. It is possible

to use the podium to createattractive, secluded gardensand amenity space for residents,free of service ducts and plant.

Residents in

supermarket-led

housing developments

are entitled to

enjoy a high qualityenvironment, starting

with a proud front

door off the street

(picture on far left).

The gate shown near

left, by contrast, fails

to say welcome home

Building homes is a

significant long term

commitment to the

local community, yet

economic pressure

often significantly affects

the quality of design

NickHornig


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Open space in supermarket-ledschemes generally amounts to alarge expanse of tarmac dottedwith the occasional tree. This isbecause the purpose of open

space is often defined sonarrowly for parking cars andfor servicing buildings acrossthe site.

A more productive approach,for both developer and localauthority, starts from viewing thesite as urban space, just like thepublic realm across the rest oftown, and thinking about howthat status can be reflected

in its design quality and inthe materials used for itslandscaping. This leads tothe public space on the sitebecoming people oriented andsupportive of neighbourhoodactivity, for instance by hostinga local market.

The current supermarket modelentails a constant flow of heavy

delivery vehicles and cars, andcreating a good safe environmentin that situation starts from thepremise that pedestrians have

priority over drivers. It is possibleto reduce the visual impact ofcar parking through enclosingit within a block: an expansivestreet level plot creates a gap

which magnifies its impact.

A good masterplan will generatea series of logical routes andgenerous, broad links that peoplewould want to use, day and night.Strong landscaping helps todefine character and sense ofplace. Public routes, semi-privatespaces and private spaces canbe demarcated through levelchanges and gated access.

Reducing car dependency

The car is fundamental to thefood retailers current businessmodel. Consumer habits suchas the fast bulk shop are hardto change. Planning authoritiesare nonetheless obliged toencourage patterns ofdevelopment which reducethe need to travel by car, and

developers have a significantresponsibility when choosingsite location: it should be whereeveryone can access services

or facilities on foot, bicycleor public transport rather thanhaving to rely on access by car.3

PPS4 recommends a strategic

approach to parking provision:car parks can be designed toserve the centre as well as thestore, for instance by providingaccess from streets aroundthe site.

Developers can also take aproactive approach to reducingreliance on cars without harmingthe business model. Credibletransport alternatives, such as

courtesy bus schemes, can beoffered, and discounts for peopleusing public transport or taxis.At some Waitrose stores, cyclistscan hire shopping baskets onwheels. Other incentive schemesencourage off peak shopping tominimise the parking needed.The expansion of home deliveryservices reduces the number ofcar dependent shopping trips.

11

4 Creating good public realmand reducing car dependency

Highams Park,

a major Tesco

development in north

London, proposes260 homes around

a park which is at the

heart of the scheme,

providing attractive

views for residents

ColladoCollins


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12

All local economies are subject tochange and PPS1 stresses the

importance of drawing up plansover appropriate time scales, andnot focusing on the short term orignoring longer term impacts orthe needs of communities inthe future.

The fees for architects engagedon supermarket projects are tootight to allow time for progressivethinking. Where schemes are ledby developers, many run design

competitions, but when it comesto food store shells, CABE doesnot see design teams regularlycommissioned throughcompetition. This can stiflecreative thinking and leave theprevailing model of supermarketdesign unchallenged, making anyreal change for the better moredifficult to achieve. By offeringdesign teams space to think

creatively, a well-manageddesign competition can openup a range of surprising andvaluable possibilities, producingsolutions that create better

spaces and better supportcommercial viability.

Shopping patterns are changing:industry analysts, IGD, reportthat 13 per cent of peopleshopped online for groceriesin 2009 and this figure isexpected to double by 2014.So supermarket buildings mayneed to be designed in a waywhich allows them to be adaptedfor new uses. Structural flexibilitycould include floor-to-floor

heights suitable for futureconversion to office use, andbuilding in the possibility forlateral subdivision.

The inclusion of housing in mixed-use schemes makes it particularlyimportant to design for change.Out of town, it is feasible to buildon the premise that sheds canchange use or be dismantled, but

it is a different matter to unstitchcomplicated building forms witha range of uses and different lifecycles on suburban or innercity sites.

5 Planning for the long term

A 22,000 sq ft store for Preston-basedsupermarket group Booths, which has been

designed to integrate sympathetically into the

historic town of Garstang, Lancashire. The

development includes a new public square.

Architects: Damson Design

Out-of-town retail sheds

can change use or be

dismantled but it is a

different matter to

unstitch building forms

with different life cycles

DavidMillingtonPhotog

raphyLtd


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13

Strengthening the roleof local planning authorities

The quality of supermarket design reflects thecapacity of local government to create great places

(socially, economically and environmentally), andmake decisions which balance all three.

Land in town centres is a scare commodity but,curiously, there is still a constant threat of radicalunderdevelopment. So beyond the immediateeconomic dividend, there is scope to ensure everydevelopment improves the local environment andcreates a more successful place provided thescheme is well designed, with a good mix of useand form, integrated into its surroundings andstraightforward to reach from all directions.

Current planning policy already puts planners in astrong position to secure retail developments thatrespond to the local environment as well meet thedemands of business. It helps local authorities toresist arguments that in tough economic timesthey must lower their expectations and approvemasterplans and large projects which they mightregret five years on when the plans come tofruition. It provides the basis for negotiation withdevelopers: every local authority is working to

reduce carbon emissions, for instance, andplanning policy requires patterns of developmentwhich support this.

The right support for planning officers

In CABEs experience, planning officers havea critical role in articulating how high standardscan be achieved. Pre-application discussions inparticular present an important opportunity forthe planning officer and the developer to betterunderstand each others objectives. Through them,they can ensure there is clarity about the localplanning framework and the unique identity of theplace expressed within it, which needs to bereflected in the emerging proposals. The officerwho can draw on experience of how commercialoperational efficiency drives decisions can marshall

a good case for key aspects of community interest,as environmental responsibility and high qualitypublic spaces. In other words, pre applicationdiscussions present an invaluable opportunity toalign interests. The problems occur when they arecursory and uninformative, and sometimes it canhelp if officers have been given training innegotiation skills.

Success is of course predicated on the localauthority having already defined what it wants

from the site. The masterplan needs to be basedon a clear idea of the character and function of theplace that will be created. It will set up a frameworkfor a hierarchy of uses as well as hierarchy ofstreets and spaces. It should also provide a soundbasis for development and change. For many sitesit is the supermarket which drives the value, andin the absence of strategic vision from the localauthority, the interests of the retailer will naturallydrive the masterplan.

Finally, planning officers need to have design skillsin order to be confident that the proposal supportslocal expectations for the development. Thesemight include safer, more inviting pedestrianroutes, with traffic movement minimised; andbuilding at a scale and in a way which enhanceslocal character.Planning policy already helps

local authorities to resist

arguments that in tough

economic times they must

lower their expectations


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The changes ahead for planners

In the future, planners will have even moreresponsibility for sustainable economicdevelopment. PPS1 already emphasises theimportance of good design, local distinctivenessand sustainable development. It also emphasisesthe need to think about how the local economymight change. This is particularly pertinent formixed-use development because of its complexityand different ownership structures. Its long termvalue needs to be protected, for the developerand the community.

Changes to the planning system will also nowenable communities to take the lead in shapingtheir surroundings, with local projects designedthrough a collaborative process. The communitysattitude to new development and change will

determine the vision in the new neighbourhoodplans. There will need to be better community

understanding of aspects of planning such as landuses, standards for architecture and design, andsustainable development. So planning officers willbe required to provide a greater depth of supportand provide enough data to help local peoplemake well informed decisions.

Neighbourhood planning means that localpeople will have the right to take a far greaterrole in the development of their community. Whilemany communities welcome the addition of anew supermarket in the town centre, others wil l

doubtless lodge significant objections. Localpeople are often more willing to support a newscheme if it is well designed and integrated andwill improve the quality of the place.

Delivery bays dominate at Tesco Hammersmith at Brook Green in

west London, positioned directly underneath the residential units

HaaralaHamilton


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15

What should happen next?

We know that supermarket-led development canbring real benefits to towns and neighbourhoods.

Over the coming years, these businesses will beincreasingly important players in job creation andphysical renewal. Our experience suggests thatwhere things go right, supermarket-ledregeneration can be a real asset. But the benefitsof this asset are not yet always fully realised.

Perhaps the most common reason for permittingweak schemes is prioritising the short term valueof the developers investment over its long termimpact on quality of place. Sometimes councilswith weak local economies are wary of refusing

permission, which can be a source of conflict withofficers who want to maximise the potential of thescheme to create somewhere that is well designed.

Finding a constructive route through themisunderstandings and competing prioritieswould go a long way to securing better outcomesfor everyone: meeting the need for economicdevelopment for the local area, for the commercialviability of the store, and for sustainableplacemaking.

Each of these should reinforce the other thethread running between them is the goal of creating

vibrant and viable town centres. So there aremany shared interests between councils andsupermarkets, and many of the seeminglyintractable tensions could be resolved by applyingdesign solutions. But where the differences arereal, clarity about the trade-offs would helpdecision makers on both sides to achieve moreof their goals.

Getting the design right wont make all theproblems associated with supermarket-leddevelopment go away, but it would stack the

odds more firmly in favour of such developmentbecoming a genuine asset, rather than apotential liability.

Getting the design

right stacks the odds

in favour of development

becoming an asset,

rather than a liability

Notes

1 NEF survey, May 20032 Online shopping 2009 report by the Institute of GroceryDistribution3 PPS1: Delivering sustainable development, page 11


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Vizion, Milton Keynes

Morley von Sternberg


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Supermarkets now often create large

parts of our towns, leading mixed use

developments which come with housing,

public space and other non-retail uses.

These can bring valuable jobs and

investment. But if they are badly

designed, the development will

undermine regeneration and any

sense of place.

This report is based on design

reviews by CABE of 30 major schemes

from around the country by retailers

including Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys.

It offers practical advice to planners

and councillors on how to work with

supermarkets to ensure that schemes

are both commercially viable and

enhance the place in which theyare built.

CABE Supermarket Led Development: Asset or Liability

Documents

Transcript of CABE Supermarket Led Development: Asset or Liability