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1998 Retail Development Survey

8. Sequential Approach

8.1 One of the key policy guidelines contained within NPPG8 (Revised 1998) is the requirement for planning authorities to adopt a sequential approach to selecting sites for new retail, commercial leisure developments and other key town centre uses. Town centre sites are identified as the preferred location choice, followed by, edge of centre and out of centre sites.

8.2 Table 13 sets out the level of planning applications, approvals and refusals on the basis of the sequential approach, across Scotland.

8.3 The table indicates that approximately 56% of approvals were in town centre or edge of centre locations, totalling some 257,000 sq. m. By contrast, 44% of all approvals, totalling over 199,000 sq. m was approved in out of centre and out of town locations. Most refusals were in out of centre locations, and there were no refusals in town centres where there was no prospect of appeal/inquiry.

8.4 Table 14 (below) shows the 'sequential' location of approved planning consents in each local authority area. Table 15 sets out the same information for structure plan areas.

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8.5 Tables 16 and 17 provide a detailed breakdown of greenfield / brownfield development by planning stage and the four locations defined by the sequential approach. They highlight the prominence of brownfield sites at most planning stages and sequential locations. An exception is the number of approvals in edge of centre locations, which includes 19 greenfield approvals (82,000 sq. m) against a single brownfield approval.

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8.6 Tables 18 and 19 set out the varying frequency and size of different retail formats across each planning stage and sequential location.

8.7 The tables show that, in general, "mixed retail development" was most common in town centre locations. "Convenience" retailing was the most frequently recorded type within edge of centre areas, whilst "comparison" was the dominant type of retailing recorded across out of centre and out of town locations.

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