Retail Briefing Note

In respect of the hybrid planning application at South Quay & Foundry Yard, Hayle Harbour

Application Reference PA/08142

Submitted for Information Purposes

(July 2011)

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Retail Assessment – Briefing Note

1.1 The application site is situated in a prominent position on the edge of Foundry Town Centre at an important western ‘gateway’ to Hayle.

1.2 The Council’s own 2007 retail study identified: “...significant levels of food shopping trip leakage from the local Hayle area” and the need for a new ‘anchor’ foodstore and non-food retail floorspace in the town centre.

1.3 The accumulated survey evidence shows a circa 70% ‘leakage’ of main food shopping trips from Hayle. In other words 7 out of 10 households in Hayle currently travel long distances to undertake their main food shop at out-of-centre superstores in a range of locations, including Camborne and Penzance.

1.4 The Council has already accepted the principle of, and the need for, significant new retail floorspace as an important part of the comprehensive regeneration of Hayle Harbour. Indeed the extent outline planning permission for redevelopment already allows for 13,198m2 of new retail floorspace (LPA reference 08/0613/P).

1.5 The total food and non-food retail sales floorspace proposed as part of this application is equivalent to less than one-third of the total permitted floorspace of 13,198m2.

1.6 The proposed foodstore will have a total sales area of 2,550m2 and will serve the main ‘bulk’ (trolley) food shopping needs of its catchment population.

1.7 The retail scheme has been carefully located and designed in terms of its scale and offer to provide the necessary viable ‘critical mass’ of retail floorspace needed to effectively ‘anchor’ Foundry town centre and the rest of Hayle.

1.8 A foodstore of the size proposed would maximise the potential to ‘claw back’ the significant ‘leakage’ of shoppers and retail expenditure to competing out-of-centre foodstores (principally in Camborne, Penzance, Redruth and Pool), as identified by the survey evidence.

1.9 When assessed against local and national planning policy, as well as other retail proposals in the location, South Quay is clearly the preferred (sequential) site for a new retail and commercial leisure uses. This has been accepted by the Council’s own expert retail planning consultants – GVA Grimley.

1.10 The proposal will help to significantly strengthen and extend Hayle’s retail offer, attraction and performance. It will draw shoppers and visitors to Hayle for more regular and frequent purchases than at present.1.11 The proposed car parks serving both South Quay and the Foundry Yard are strategically located to help maximise the potential for ‘linked trips’; whereby one trip can serve a

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number of purposes. This potential will be further enhanced by the proposed enhancements to the public realm that will create an attractive and safe pedestrian and cycle environment.

1.12 Existing shopkeepers and businesses, along with other facilities and attractions, will benefit from the proposal in terms of increased footfall, visits and expenditure.

1.13 In addition, and even based on more conservative forecasts, it is estimated that the proposed scheme will generate substantial ‘spin-off’ expenditure to existing shops and businesses in Hayle. This will more than offset any forecast trade draw to the proposed foodstore from the town centre.

1.14 The proposal will be fully integrated with the town centre’s existing public transport network (bus and rail) and the existing and enhanced cycle and pedestrian routes will improve accessibility for those living in close proximity to the site. This will be particularly advantageous to those households who do not own a car, including the elderly and disabled.

1.15 The proposal represents a substantial investment by ING and responds to the identified need for a “step change” in Hayle’s retail offer and shopping patterns. It is acknowledged that Hayle suffers from serious economic and social deprivation, and is a priority for strategic spatial investment. This is at the heart of the Council’s vision and policy objectives for the regeneration and development of Hayle Harbour. The proposal will result in significant regeneration, retail, leisure (restaurants), employment, social and community benefits to Hayle and its residents to help meet the Council’s vision.

1.16 In terms of employment, the retail element of the scheme will result in significant new full-time and part-time equivalent jobs. The majority of these new jobs will be taken up by local people. Furthermore, all the foodstore operators that could occupy the proposal have wide ranging and successful employment training programmes; ranging from apprenticeships through to management training. Also, all the major grocery operators have initiatives in place to help the long term unemployed re-enter the workplace.

1.17 The scheme will help to boost local business, resident, consumer and investor confidence in the future vitality and viability of Hayle as a place to live, work, shop and visit for a range of activities at a time of economic recession and uncertainty. Most importantly, along with the development now taking place on North Quay, it will revitalise the harbour which is currently underutilised and derelict; following many years of decline.

1.18 In summary, the proposal provides a stronger basis for sustainable economic and employment growth in Hayle in accordance with national, regional and local planning policy, as well as acting as a catalyst for the planned regeneration of the harbourside.

1.19 When considered against the Government’s key objectives, the proposal will help to:

• address the deficiency in main food and comparison goods shopping in Hayle town centre;

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• promote greater competition with similar foodstores elsewhere, resulting in greater choice, reduced prices and product offers to the benefit of customers and particularly socially excluded groups;
• deliver more sustainable patterns of development, reducing the need to travel by car by local residents and respond to climate change;
• improve the economic performance of Hayle and build a more prosperous community; promote regeneration and tackle deprivation in the local area;
• enhance and promote the overall vitality and viability of Hayle’s town centres;
• and conserve and enhance the historic, archaeological and architectural heritage of Hayle Harbourside to provide a sense of place and a focus for the community.