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
