B ria n Ma d g e L tdi c ha rte re d T o wn Pla n n e r . 2 0 W e s ten e a d R o a d, Su tto n , Su rre y , SM I 4.1 T C e r i 2 0 14 1 ) O S A 1 4 1P U L Planning Department ; Development Control Crawley Borough Council, Town Hall, The Boulevard, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 lUZ Dear Sir/Madam, RECERIED 08 JUN 2012 HOUgr ENVIRONMENT AND 7'h June 2012 The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) Caffe Nero at 11 The Martlets, Crawley, RH10 1ER Change of use of the ground floor to a mixed A1/A3 Use Please find enclosed the planning application for the above. It includes: 1. The application form 2. A site plan 3. A floor plan/details of the premises prepared by Bedrock Designs Consultants Ltd 4. This letter/planning statement addressing the policy, planning, design and access issues 5. The statutory fee. The proposal is to authorise the change of use of the ground floor of the premises to a mixed Al1A3 use with associated ancillary space. This application relates solely to the change of use. The nature of the use is both to serve coffees for consumption on the premises and for sales off the site. Hence the mixed Al/A3 use. Gaffe Nero has over 500 premises operating across the country, the majority of which are accepted as either Al or mixed A1/A3 uses. The Changes of Use of Buildings and Land: Circular 03/2005, confirms in paragraph 36 that such premises can be mixed uses. The sale of coffee for consumption both on and off the premises accounts for 60% of the company turnover. Other cold drinks account for 10%, sandwiches 15% and cold food 15%. A small proportion of food is reheated but no primary cooking occurs. Where it has been necessary to pursue matters related to this company and the mixed use definition through the appeal process, the Planning Inspectorate have consistently found the nature of the use to be mixed A1/A3. Te le p hon e (020) - 8 64 2 - 8 75 3 - Mo b ile 0 79 7- 3 9 1 3 - 0 25 - E- Ma il B m a dge 22 4 @ao l. co m Regis tered in Eng la n d No . 4 4 2 3 82 7 V AT reg • 782 3 1 02 4 7 Director Brian Madge BA . MA . MR TP1.
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Brian Madge L tdi chartered Town Planner .
20 Westenead Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM I 4.1T
Ceri 20141) OSA 141PUL
Planning Department ; Development Control
Crawley Borough Council,
Town Hall,
The Boulevard,
Crawley,
West Sussex, RH10 lUZ
Dear Sir/Madam,
RECERIED
08 JUN 2012
HOUgr ENVIRONMENT AND
7'h June 2012
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended)
Caffe Nero at 11 The Martlets, Crawley, RH10 1ER
Change of use of the ground floor to a mixed A1/A3 Use
Please find enclosed the planning application for the above. It includes:
1. The application form
2. A site plan
3. A floor plan/details of the premises prepared by Bedrock Designs
Consultants Ltd
4. This letter/planning statement addressing the policy, planning, design
and access issues
5. The statutory fee.
The proposal is to authorise the change of use of the ground floor of the
premises to a mixed Al1A3 use with associated ancillary space.
This application relates solely to the change of use.
The nature of the use is both to serve coffees for consumption on the
premises and for sales off the site. Hence the mixed Al/A3 use. Gaffe Nero
has over 500 premises operating across the country, the majority of which are
accepted as either Al or mixed A1/A3 uses. The Changes of Use of Buildings
and Land: Circular 03/2005, confirms in paragraph 36 that such premises can
be mixed uses.
The sale of coffee for consumption both on and off the premises accounts for
60% of the company turnover. Other cold drinks account for 10%, sandwiches
15% and cold food 15%. A small proportion of food is reheated but no primary
cooking occurs.
Where it has been necessary to pursue matters related to this company and
the mixed use definition through the appeal process, the Planning
Inspectorate have consistently found the nature of the use to be mixed A1/A3.
Te lephone (020) -8642-8753 - Mobile 0797-39 1 3-025 - E-Mail Bmadge224@aol. com Registered in England No. 4423827 VAT reg • 782 3 1 02 4 7 Director Brian Madge BA. MA . MRTP1.
Moreover, the appeal decisions have also consistently found the uses to be
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The use operates during retail hours providing an opportunity for customers to
relax without the need to resort to other, alcohol related, premises.
In planning terms the use being mixed Al/A3 does not fit easily into many
planning policies. There is a mix between take-out (similar to a sandwich bar
or bakery) and eat-in business To retain the appropriate character for retail
areas other Councils have imposed conditions regarding the use being mixed
opening hours (as may be agreed), no primary cooking on the premises and
no alcohol sales. Notwithstanding the last changes to the Use Classes Order
these conditions prevent the use changing to that less appropriate for a
shopping area.
Turning to the specifics of Crawley, customer visits are predicted (based on
similar towns and stores) to be 2500 per week. At this stage the predicted
split between the Al and A3 elements suggests 25% of the trade being Al
and 75% being A3. Thus the prediction of around 625 customers is for the Al
use. A number of Inspectors on Caffe Nero appeals have specifically noted
that many pure Al uses of this floorspace in this type of location would not
generate this level of activity The use thus attracts customers to this location
The Core Strategy is adopted but in being a strategic document is silent on
matters of detail such as the change of use of a single shop. However, Policy
TC3 promotes diversity in the town centre. It states:
TC3 Additional retail tloorspace within the Main Shopping Area will be
permitted if it:-
• Adds to the range and quality of shopping facilities in the Town Centre,
enhances its vitality, viability, attractiveness, and enhances the retail circuit.
• Can be demonstrated that there is a clear need for the development over
and above the capacity of Town Centre North, or that it
• Complements Town Centre North by providing opportunities for small,
independent stores.
Leisure, culture, health, employment and other community facilities,
particularly those supporting Town Centre residents, workers and visitors, will
be supported provided the vitality and viability of the primary shopping area is
not undennined. The positive role the evening economy can play in
enhancing the Town Centre 's vitality and viability is recognised, provided that
concentrations of such uses and the possible effect on local amenity is
controlled.
Gaffe Nero introduces a complementary leisure use to the shopping location.
Detailed planning policy is still founded in the saved policies of the local plan
along with the town centre SPD. The relevant saved local p lan policy
concerning the Core Area states:
Policy SH9
At ground floor level within the Core Shopping Area, planning permission for
non-retail uses will not be granted unless the following cnteria are met:
(0 the use is within Class A3 (Food and Drink) and A2 (Financial and
Professional Services);
(ii) the development would not result in more than 15% of the total length of
the frontage in the particular sector (i. e Queens Square, Queensway, The
Mattlets, Broad Walk/The Broadway, and County Mall Ground Floor) being
occupied by non-retail uses; and
(iii) the development, whether on its own or in association with other existing
non-retail uses, would not be so prominent or dominant within the frontage so
as to senously erode its attractiveness.
Caffe Nero is one of the accepted uses identified in Criterion (i) and The
Marlets retains its Al emphasis with the continued presence of The Works,
Phone 4 You, Waterstones, Topshop, Vodaphone, Jessops, CEX, H&M, Sole
Trader, T Mobile, Sports Direct and HMV. The last published survey of The
Martlets was the Crawley Retail and Impact Capacity Study 2010 which
included an analysis of town centre streets showing the Al emphasis to be
92%
The Town Centre SPD increases the permitted percentage of non retail use
to 30% noting on page 19:
Non-retail uses (A2/A3) should not exceed 30% of any one frontage. Impact
in terms of prominence and dominance within frontage will be considered. In
determining these issues, account will be taken of the width of the unit
frontage and overall frontage length. The number of existing/extant non-retail
uses will also be considered
The Caffe Nero passes this test Notwithstanding the above, the policy is not
easily applied as Caffe Nero is a mixed A1/A3 use and the Al element is
likely to attract 625 customers per week. Additionally, the use has consistently
been found, in all studies and decisions to date, to add to the vitality and
viability of that centre. The introduction of Caffe Nero to this site will draw
customers to this location, to the benefit of existing nearby retail premises. A
mixed A1/A3 use would be appropriate to a Core shopping area by providing
a continuous flow of customers. This would maintain vitality and an active
frontage Given the character of the premises, this part of Crawley, and given
that Caffe Nero will attract 2500 customers per week we would contend this
mixed use adds significantly to the attractiveness of this part of the town. Both
Inspectors and other Local Planning Authorities are consistently agreed this
use adds to the vitality and viability of the centre in question. The significant
Al element draws customers to this part of the street enhancing its viability.
Moreover it adds to the attractiveness of the centre by encouraging
customers to make longer visits to the shopping centre. Countrywide surveys
of Caffe Nero premises show that over 56% of their customers visit more than
once a week and 68% of customers plan to visit the premises It has also
been confirmed that more people visit that part of the relevant street after a
Gaffe Nero has opened, enhancing the opportunities of the neighbouring
shops.
Gaffe Nero combines shopping with a sit-in cafe and therefore provides an A3
use as an addition to Al use. The site is well placed for town centre parking
and does not adversely affect residential amenities. There is no need for any
extract ducting related to cooking as no primary cooking is involved.
Many Local Authorities accept the use to be Al and thus changes of use do
not arise. Indeed, planning applications have been sought in only about 100
of over 500 stores.
The use is non-alcohol based operating largely in normal retail hours; it would
thus have no impact outside those times. Residential amenity would therefore
remain unharmed. Parking in the area would remain as currently exists.
Other Councils see the use as mixed Al/A3 and appropriate to shopping
areas, irrespective of their status. A few Councils have initially concluded that
the use is A3. However all of these Councils have either lost this issue upon
appeal or withdrawn their position in the lead-in to a public inquiry. In part the
nature of the use depends upon how the particular store trades. Whilst each
Gaffe Nero provides the same offer in all of its stores the extent of eat-in (A3)
and eat-out (Al) varies considerably. This branch is predicted to achieve a
75/25 split between eat-in and take-out trade.
Coffee shops form a part of the jigsaw that make up people's minds to visit
particular centres. Few retailers will on their own form the basis of a decision
to visit a town, it is the combinations of retailers that create the strength of a
centre. The increasing amount of 'shopping as leisure' requires there to be
high quality places for shoppers to take a break. Additionally, the extent of
take-out trade varies between units.
Since the Company began trading, only ten stores (less than 3%) have had
planning permission refused and/or enforcement action taken. Nine of these
cases have been won on appeal. Chiswick (2002), Morningside (2005),