Policy information sourced from the Islington Local Plan
R6 Maintaining and enhancing Islington’s unique retail character
- The Council views the retention of small shops as a baseline and places great weight on the need to retain any retail unit which currently or potentially could be utilised by small retailers. In order to encourage new provision of small retail units, the Council will seek to secure small retail units (generally considered to be units of around 80sqm GIA or less) suitable for occupation by small retailers by:
- requiring proposals for new retail development to incorporate small retail premises, proportionate to the scale of the proposal and/or;
- requiring proposals for the redevelopment of small retail units to incorporate adequate re-provision of small units to compensate for any loss, particularly for essential services and/or;
- requiring proposals for major housing developments to incorporate small retail units where there is no accessible provision of essential daily goods available within a short walking distance (within 300m); and
- where appropriate, attaching conditions to permissions for small retail units, requiring planning permission to be sought for the future amalgamation of units into larger premises; specifying a certain level of convenience goods in order to protect and promote essential services; and/or making planning consent personal to a specific individual/organisation.
- In order to maintain Islington’s retail character, particularly the prevalence of small retail units, the Council will resist the amalgamation of individual E use units. Amalgamation of retail units may be suitable where development proposals demonstrate that the intensification of use would not:
- detrimentally affect the street scene and/or character of the local area; and/or
- cause unacceptable adverse impacts on the local environment and/or amenity, including impacts from altered/intensified delivery and servicing arrangements.
For more information please see the Islington Local Plan