Policy information sourced from The London Plan 2021
SD9 Town centres: Local Partnerships and Implementation
- Strategic and local partnership approaches should be supported and encouraged to develop strong, resilient and adaptable town centres, fulfilling their potential to accommodate growth and development. These partnerships may be in the form of town centre management, business associations, Neighbourhood Forums, trader associations and Business Improvement Districts, and should be inclusive and representative of the local community.
- The development of Town Centre Strategies is encouraged, particularly for centres that are undergoing transformative change, have projected declining demand, have significant infrastructure planned or are identified as future potential centres in Table A1.1. Town Centre Strategies should be produced in partnership at the local level in a way that is inclusive and representative of the local community.
- Regular town centre health checks should be undertaken to inform strategic and local policy and implementation.
- Boroughs should:
- introduce targeted Article 4 Directions where appropriate and justified to remove permitted development rights for office, light industrial and retail to residential in order to sustain town centre vitality and viability and to maintain flexibility for more comprehensive approaches to town centre housing and mixed-use intensification. When considering office to residential Article 4 Directions in town centres, boroughs are encouraged to take into account guidelines in Annex 1 and Policy E1 Offices as well as local circumstances
- take a proactive and partnership-based approach to bring sites forward for redevelopment, supporting land assembly in collaboration with local stakeholders including, where appropriate, through the compulsory purchase process
- consider the range of mechanisms to deliver housing intensification, mixed-use development and ongoing asset management such as town centre investment models and the contribution of specialist forms of housing investment.
For more information please see The London Plan 2021