The rumours that the Competition Commission will publish its initial findings in the groceries inquiry within days are gathering pace, and indications are that there will be significant implications for retail planning, with a fascia test highly likely to be proposed.
There are articles inthis weekend's FT, Sunday Times, Telegraph and Observer
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has adopted many of the policies proposed by its Commission on Retail Conservation, although bans on upward-only rent reviews and a levy on large new stores were rejected.
An interesting animation by Thomas Holmes shows the spread of Walmart stores in the US. An economist, Holmes suggests Walmart has benefited from significant economies of density, using a dense network of stores. It would be extremely interesting to see a movie for UK supermarkets!
Somewhat critical piece in today's Guardian - would certainly be interesting if they follow up next year.
In a written Parliamentary Answer, Communities & Local Governement minister Yvette Cooper gives the latest position.
Slightly too late for National Markets Week, unfortunately, but this feature on Markets and Market Places is worth a look. It's part of Common Ground's Producing the Goods project - their other work, while not directly related to retail planning, is nevertheless always interesting.
The white paper Planning for a Sustainable future is now available on line here (see page 115-116 in particular) along with a consultation document and press release.
If you' re in London between now and 23rd June 2007, a visit to the exhibition at New London Architecture: SHOP - NEW RETAIL SPACE FOR LONDON is strongly recommended. There's also an interesting series of free breakfast talks.
If you can't make it, have a look at the exhibition catalogue.
The first hints of what is to come in Monday's white paper are emerging. Looks like retail planning will be in the headlines!
Yvette Cooper's recent written parliamentary answer would suggest that the earliest possible date for the Planning White Paper would be May 7th.
This RAC Foundation/British Retail Consortium report, published in December 2006, is worth a look.
An interesting article in the Guardian by the director of research and policy at the British Urban Regeneration Association
The New London Architecture centre, part of the Building Centre, is always worth a visit. At any time there are several exhibitions, which change regularly, and many are relevant to retail planning. In particular, watch out for one devoted to Retail in London running from 3 May to 23 June - we'll post more information nearer the time.
As expected, this morning the Competition Commission have published their emergent thinking on their inquiry into the groceries market.
As well as a press release and main document, there are also several working papers, covering subjects including land holdings and use issues and planning issues. NB all these are pdf files, and press release excepeted, all are large.
At this stage no conclusions are drawn - those follow in later reports - but the commission appears not to find evidence of systematic abuse of the planning system and to be broadly happy with the status quo, including the needs test. Of interest is the much faster time to approval in Wales and Scotland.
