Use Class E - Town Centre Sequential Test and Protected Employment Sites

2021-02-05T13:02:18Z

Hello

Would be interested in people's thoughts on interpreting Local Plan policies (and national policy/guidance) in light of the new Use Class E.

1) Town Centre Sequential Test - where does this stand in light of the new Use Class E - can local and national policy still be applied to 'sub categories' of Class E, for example in the case of out of town retail? Or does the new wide nature of Class E, which includes previous 'non town centre use' effectively undermine the whole principal of town centre first? Effectively allowing retail on out of town business premises seems to suggest so....

2) Protected Employment Sites - where existing Local Plan policies protect existing employment sites for specified uses e.g. B1,B2,B8, how can these be interpreted in light of the new Use Class E and what weight do they now have? Do we just interpret policies by referring to the equivalent new Use Class (E) for the existing B1 protection, and therefore in effect accept any Use Class E as acceptable in principle on protected employment sites? Or again, can we think about 'sub-categories' of Use Class E?

Any thoughts welcome, I'm struggling reconcile the town centre first principles in the NPPF (which don't appear to be being updated in the latest consultation?) and existing Local Plan policies, with the practical implications of the new Use Class Order. Our existing policies relating to town centres and employment sites are clearly in the scope of our Local Plan review but currently trying to understand how best to interpret and apply existing policies in DM decisions in the meantime.

Thanks

Laura