Retail and Town Centres Conference
- Date(s)
- 6 October 2010
- Time
- 09:00 - 17:00
- Venue
- TBC, TBC, London
- Price
- 489 excl. VAT
- Organiser
- RTPI Conferences
- Description
Why you should attend:
Over the last 2 years the economic recession has had a dramatic impact on the vitality and viability of our city and town centres. Falling retail sales, reduced consumer spending, increased business failures and rising vacancies have resulted in ‘fragile’ business, consumer and investor confidence. All centres and businesses – large and small – have felt the full force of the economic storm. Even some of the modern new shopping schemes that have opened recently are struggling to attract operators. At the same time a number of high profile schemes planned for centres across the country have either been shelved or frozen. This conference will provide an update of the current economic and retail development ‘climate’ and comment on the challenges for attracting new investment and development to our town centres.
The conference will also assess the early impact of PPS4 and the new coalition Government on retail planning and town centre development, including the potential impact of the proposed scrapping of the regional planning regime. More emphasis is now being placed on Local Planning Authorities to prepare sound spatial visions and strategies for the management and growth of centres through robust evidence-based studies. The emphasis is on flexible and deliverable policies that are able to respond to changing economic circumstances by making full and effective use of the available planning tools to achieve their vision and strategy, working in partnership with the private sector and key
stakeholders. This is meant to provide developers with greater certainty to bring forward development proposals once the economic climate improves. But are planners, operators and developers “up for the challenge” and what lessons can be learnt from the past?This conference will address the following:
1 What are the implications for regional planning bodies and local planning authorities of PPS4 guidance on plan-making and the assessment of planning applications for retail and town centre uses?
2 For developers, occupiers and investors, does PPS4 potentially “open the door” for new edge and out-of-centre development now that the needs test is being scrapped?
3 What are the main trends affecting retailing at present and what does the future hold for town centres and the high street?
4 Have we experienced the passing of a “Golden Age” for retail-led regeneration with little prospect for major new development in the near future, or are we at the “dawn” of a new era of town centre development and investment?
5 What practical policy and financial initiatives can the public sector undertake now to keep momentum going on existing
regeneration projects and/or instigate new projects?
6 What practical policy and financial initiatives can the public sector undertake now to keep momentum going on existing regeneration projects and/or instigate new projects?- Speakers & Topics
9.00 Coffee and registration
9.30 Welcome and introduction by the chair
Steve Norris, Partner, Strategic Partnerships LLP9.40 Retail-led Development: The end of an era, or a new dawn?
• An overview of the impact/benefits of retail-led regeneration over the last 15-20 years
• An update on the impact of the economic downturn on developer, investor and retailer activity
• The future for urban regeneration initiatives and our town centres?
Steve Norris10.20 The economic recovery – what does it mean for consumers and retailing?
• What type of recovery is in store for the UK economy and how is this impacting on consumers and the retail sector?
• What does the impending fiscal tightening mean for consumers and retailers?
• Key risks to the retail sector
Sunita Bali, Senior UK Economist, Experian11.00 Coffee and networking
11.20 Update on Government’s future policies
• The potential impact on town centres and retail planning
• Reinstatement of the ‘needs’ test
• The effect of the ‘Decentralisation and Localism Bill’12.00 The impact of PPS4
• Has it produced greater clarity in decision-making
• Has there been no real change?
Sasha White, Barrister, Landmark Chambers12.40 Panel discussion
1.00 Lunch
2.00 Economic vision for recovery
• Place making and shaping for town centre improvement
Keith Thomas, Senior Director, AECOM2.40 Making town centres happen – the local authority perspective
• The Newbury 2025 vision and parkway retail development opening in 2011
Nick Carter, Chief Executive, West Berkshire Council3.20 Making town centres happen – the development perspective
4.00 Panel discussion
4.20 Close of conference
Chair speaker:
Steve Norris set up Strategic Perspectives LLP in March 2008. Strategic Perspectives LLP forms part of the wider ‘Perspectives Group’, comprising Planning Perspectives LLP (established in 1996) and Environmental Perspectives LLP (established in 2006). Providing national coverage, Strategic Perspectives LLP has unparalleled experience of working in partnership with both public and private sector clients to help deliver creative, robust and sustainable strategies to help unlock the investment and development potential of the UK’s cities, towns, smaller centres and complex sites.
