To sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of the five town centres in the District.

To encourage new retail, leisure and mixed use development within or if necessary adjacent to the five town centres.

To improve the environment of the five town centres.

Town centres are important to the quality of urban life and play a key role in achieving sustainable development. Healthy and vibrant town centres encourage urban living, the efficient use of already developed areas and the concentration of facilities in locations most accessible to local people by a choice of means of transport. The Government’s Planning Policy Guidance Note 1 recognises the key role town centres play in achieving sustainable patterns of development. Planning Policy Guidance Note 6: Town Centres and Retail Development establishes a sequential approach towards the location of future key town centre uses, such as retail, entertainment, leisure and commercial offices to ensure that wherever possible these uses are located within or on the edge of town centres. Environmental enhancement measures and traffic management arrangements including creating pedestrian priority areas can also help to reinforce the attractiveness of town centres.

The Wiltshire Structure Plan 2011 identifies the need to maintain and enhance the role of the towns of West Wiltshire within the hierarchy of shopping centres in Wiltshire. In accordance with the aims of the West Wiltshire Development Strategy, this Plan seeks to sustain and enhance the roles of each of the five towns whilst ensuring, in particular, that the historic town centres of Bradford on Avon and Warminster are protected from inappropriate development.

Trowbridge

Major new shopping development in Trowbridge has resulted in great improvements to the town as a retail centre in recent years. With the opening of The Shires Shopping Centre in 1990, Trowbridge has become a major town centre of some importance serving a large part of Wiltshire and north east Somerset. This indoor centre has helped to increase  the range of  goods available in the town and has helped to introduce additional national multiples not previously represented in Trowbridge, as well as boosting the town’s supply of off-street car parking spaces. The Castle Place Shopping Centre has also undergone an extensive facelift and has helped to augment the supply of prime retail premises.

An environmental improvement scheme was carried out at Fore Street in 1987 which has transformed the main shopping street into an attractive pedestrian priority zone and has helped to reinforce it as a primary shopping area. Changes in the traffic flows in the central area have removed a significant proportion of through traffic from the centre of the town and will facilitate further enhancement measures to the shopping area. The completion of the second stage of the Inner Relief Road has helped further in this cause and a new Tesco supermarket is sited alongside County Way, which has been widened to a dual carriageway.

Melksham

Melksham town centre, although primarily serving the town itself, is also an important shopping and service centre for the northern part of West Wiltshire. The development of a Leekes out-of-town department store on Beanacre Road has put the town firmly on the map, with the store  drawing trade from across the region. The existing town centre, which will hope to benefit from trade spin-off, is essentially linear in form comprising Bath Road, Bank Street, High Street, Market Place and King Street. There are three arms off this main shopping area; Avon Place, Church Street and Lowbourne. There are sizeable food stores, Somerfield, Sainsburys and Kwik Save located at either end of the town centre.  Further retail development will be encouraged to locate within the limits of the existing commercial area making better use of existing buildings, frontages and opportunity sites.

Westbury

Westbury has a limited but important shopping and service function. The town serves a mainly local need and is attractive for its accessibility and convenience. The shopping area has a mix of modern purpose-built units and adapted premises, with most shops operated by independent traders.  The town centre is linear in form, comprising three distinct shopping areas, these being Market Place/Maristow Street, High Street/Edward Street and Warminster Road. An environmental enhancement scheme has been implemented in High Street and in Edward Street to help consolidate the primary shopping area, while at the same time enhancing the character and safety of the shopping environment.

The conversion of Angel Mill in Edward Street to include a new shopping mall, offices and flats is an important development for the town centre, on a site which had lain derelict for many years.  Further consolidation of retail uses can help to achieve environmental benefits for the central area. The major extension to Coopers supermarket at Edward Street and the new Pioneer supermarket on Trowbridge Road further augments the local convenience role of the town and helps to retain the vitality of the centre in the face of competition from the larger towns of Trowbridge and Warminster, only a few miles away. Further retail provision has been permitted at the Leigh Park housing development to meet local needs. Further environmental improvement measures at Market Place and Maristow Street could help to provide a network of pedestrian priority routes as well as enhancing the historic central area.

Bradford on Avon

Bradford on Avon is the smallest of the shopping centres in West Wiltshire, its historic character and topography restricting major retail development. The town centre serves the town and its rural catchment area with convenience goods, such as food, and serves a wider visitor market with antiques, gifts and refreshment facilities. Demand for more town centre shopping facilities has been stifled by the lack of wholly suitable sites and the constraints of an historic built environment. A Budgens supermarket has been developed at Elms Cross outside the town centre, to provide the major food shopping facility for the town, while alternative stores can be found only 3 miles away at Trowbridge.

Warminster

Warminster acts as a shopping and service centre for the town, a wide rural catchment area and for those en route to other holiday destinations. The completion of the bypass has eased the burden of traffic in the town centre and this has benefited the shopping environment. The main shopping frontages in the town centre are based on Market Place and High Street which are broad in character stemming from their earlier function as the town’s market.  East Street and the lower end of High Street are of secondary shopping importance, while George Street and Silver Street also serve specialist shopping needs. Off Market Place there are a number of shopping arcades, the most established being the Three Horseshoes Mall, which is served by the town’s main car park. Safeway has now developed a large store at Weymouth Street, Lidl has a new store at Fairfield Road and Kwik Save has a smaller store within the main shopping area.

Government retail policy contained within Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 encourages comparison and convenience shopping to locate within town centres. Town centres provide the best location to encourage commercial competition from which all consumers are able to benefit and to maximise the opportunities to use means of transport other than the car. The Wiltshire Structure Plan supports the concentration of shopping facilities at the larger towns and the enhancement of facilities in smaller town centres. Town centre commercial areas have been defined for the five West Wiltshire towns where there are a broad range of town centre facilities and services and which provide a focus for the community and for public transport. Within these areas, the primary shopping areas are defined by the Primary Retail Frontages. Policy SP1 therefore aims to concentrate new retail development within existing Primary Retail Frontages. On site car parking provision will be assessed with regard to the town centre location of the proposed development and the existing provision in the vicinity.

Land at Court Street / Castle Street was identified in the adopted District Plan as an Area of Opportunity where the main use proposed was shopping, particularly those areas close to “the Shires” development. Other potential uses identified included refurbishment of existing buildings for workshops / small businesses, offices or dwellings. The District Council has now identified part of this site as suitable for brownfield housing development, and whilst retaining the overall mixed use strategy for the total area, it is now considered appropriate to specifically allocate part of this area for future retail development to ensure that, as part of the sequential approach, positive encouragement is given by the Council to locating new retail development in or on the edge of town centres. The site is particularly well located to provide a future extension to the range of shopping available in “the Shires”. Proposals will be required to meet the criteria identified in Policy SP1.

Recent trends in retailing have resulted in pressures for large, out of town centre stores catering for car borne customers. Whilst the Government wishes to encourage an efficient, competitive and innovative retail sector, Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 states clearly that new forms of development must be provided in accordance with a sustainable development strategy which promotes town centres as the preferred location for new retail development. Once a need for a development has been established, a sequential approach must be followed in determining the most appropriate location for new retail facilities. The first preference should be for town centre sites, followed by edge of centre sites and only then out of centre sites which are accessible by a choice of means of transport. Policies SP1 and SP3 set out this approach for West Wiltshire. For the purposes of retail policy, the town centres are the defined Primary Retail Frontages. The definition of edge of centre varies depending upon local topography and the size of the town centre, but is unlikely to include sites more than 300 metres from the boundary of the Primary Retail Frontages as defined on the Proposals Map. Sites must be suitable and viable for the proposed use, but developers should be flexible about the format, design and scale of the development to ensure that it fits in with the local environment. Out of centre retail facilities should not harm the vitality and viability of town centres. Vitality refers to the liveliness of a town centre, reflected in how busy the centre is at different times and in different parts. Viability refers to the ability of a centre to attract continuing investment, both to maintain its fabric and to allow for improvement and adaptation to changing needs. Proposals will be assessed with regard to the likely cumulative effects of other recently completed developments and of outstanding planning permissions on nearby centres.

PPG6 stresses that variety and activity are the essential elements of the vitality and viability of town centres. Plans may distinguish between primary frontages in town centres and consider their relative importance to the character of the centre. While primary frontages may be restricted to a high proportion of retail uses - in particular A1 uses - there should be scope for more flexibility of use in secondary frontages; in those areas diversification has most to offer (annex B, para 6). The note also states that local branches of banks and other financial institutions should not be allowed to dominate primary shopping areas in a way that undermines the retail function. Accordingly Policy SP4 seeks to ensure that retailing remains the primary function in streets which form the core of the primary shopping areas of the West Wiltshire towns. Along these frontages it is important to retain a strong retail presence in the face of pressures for the expansion of financial and professional service uses, such as building societies and estate agents, as well as food takeaway outlets. There are already a number of A2 and A3 uses here which have become established within core areas. Such uses can be well located in town centres and their diversity can contribute to vitality, but without control of these uses the retail character of a street may be adversely affected and its attractiveness as a retail destination reduced. The primary retail frontages are drawn judiciously to identify only the core areas of retail activity; ample secondary areas are available in close proximity to these areas.

Outside the primary retail core areas Policy SP5 provides a more flexible approach to allow for a diversity of retail, non-food retail and service uses, activities important to town centre commercial areas but which do not necessarily require a prime site in the retail core of a town. PPG6 (1996) stresses that variety and activity are essential elements of the vitality and viability of town centres. Different but complementary uses, both during the day and in the evening, can reinforce each other, making town centres more attractive to local residents, shoppers and visitors. The location of small businesses, houses or offices in or near town centres and the occupation of flats above shops can increase activity, while ensuring that buildings are kept in good repair. Vacant office or retail premises may be particularly suitable for conversion to flats (para 2.15).

Proposals for local shops to meet local community needs outside the West Wiltshire town centres, and particularly in the villages, will be supported. These should be located within local or village centres. These centres include local supermarkets and other small shops designed to meet only local convenience shopping needs and to serve the less mobile population and those without cars.  Local centre shopping facilities, within the proposed major new housing development at Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury, are proposed in Policy SP6.

Village shops provide for essential day-to-day needs, as well as representing an important element of village life and its social cohesion. The loss of village facilities, including public houses and post offices is a matter of serious concern to the District Council (see para 3.7.5-3.7.6). The District Council will seek to resist the loss of village shops through the development control process insofar as this is reasonable.

To sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of town centres, particularly after normal shopping hours, key leisure and entertainment uses should be located within, or if necessary, on the edge of existing town centres. Potential exists within the five town centres for conversion of existing premises to small scale arts, civic and leisure provision. However, the West Wiltshire towns are currently lacking major commercial leisure facilities such as a multiplex cinema and associated uses which have in the past looked to out of centre sites. These facilities are best located in town centres, maximising accessibility by public transport and on foot and making use of existing town centre parking facilities. Policy LE1 seeks to direct new commercial leisure facilities to town centre locations, in accordance with the government’s sequential approach. The definition of edge of centre varies depending upon local topography and the size of the town centre, but is unlikely to include sites more than 300 metres from the boundary of the Primary Retail Frontages as defined on the Proposals Map.

The Tesco foodstore at St Stephens Place closed in 1993 and is currently vacant. Re-use or redevelopment for retail uses would be appropriate given the site’s edge of centre location, subject to the requirements of the sequential approach. Alternative uses for the site could include commercial leisure provision or major arts and civic uses, complementary with the neighbouring civic hall.

Although some upper floors of shop premises are currently in use for office, business or residential uses there remain many upper floors which are not used or are under-used at present. These premises can add to the variety and vitality of town centres, while providing for uses which do not necessarily need to have a ground floor frontage. The retention of residential uses in central areas can help to keep these places alive outside business hours, an issue addressed in a Council policy brief entitled ‘Living over the Shop’.

The District Council is aware of the problems experienced in the District’s town centres as a result of increased traffic movements, such as road traffic accidents, congestion, and a deteriorating environment. It recognises the need to maintain and enhance the environmental character of the District’s town centres to sustain their primary retail function. The District Council will seek to reduce the level of traffic in its town centres and give priority to pedestrians in whole or in part of some town centre streets to make the town centres safer and more attractive places to shop. To achieve these aims, the District Council will examine new traffic management and environmental enhancement measures, in conjunction with the County Council, and in consultation with all interested parties. Within Trowbridge town centre in particular the long term aim is to extend the existing pedestrian priority areas and to further restrict motorists. In October 1992 the District Council completed a traffic management and environmental enhancement scheme for Westbury High Street in conjunction with Wiltshire County Council. Other schemes outside the town centres will also be considered, subject to the availability of resources, such schemes should respect the character of, and make a positive contribution to, the streetscape. The District Council has a responsibility towards local air quality, which is an important issue within those town centres effected by congestion.Where air quality falls below targets set by the National Air Quality Strategy, air quality management areas will be designated and action plans prepared, which will establish how air quality is to be improved.