RTPI criticises 'outdated thinking on car-based retail development' and fears growth of OFT quasi planning agency

Proposals to make the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) a statutory consultee on whether supermarket developments should get the go ahead will turn it into a quasi planning bureaucracy which may struggle to cope with the huge number of applications it will have to assess each year, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

The Competition Commission handed down its final report into its investigation into competition within the grocery sector. The report includes a recommendation that Local Planning Authorities (LPA) be obliged to consult the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on whether proposed supermarket developments with more than 1,000 square metres of net sales floor space should be given the go ahead. Assessment of suitability would be carried out based on the number of competing retail outlets within a ten-minute drive of the proposed location.

As well as concerns about the OFT’s ability to adequately cope with the volume of applications it would be required to assess the RTPI believes the proposed competition test for the grocery market is based on an outdated car-based retail thinking and is fundamentally unsustainable. The RTPI is urging the government to reject the 'ten-minute drive'model on the grounds that it is both unsuitable for rural areas and clashes with modern planning practice, which aims to encourage less car use and greater utilisation of public transport.

It is also concerned that the introduction of a facia test when assessing the suitability of planning applications undermines a fundamental part of the planning system, which is that planning decisions should be based on the suitability of the type and use of development and where it goes, not on who carries it out.

RTPI Policy Director Rynd Smith said: “I’m not sure the Competition Commission has fully considered just how much extra work the OFT would have to take on. Retailers, local authorities and local residents rightly expect swift decisions on planning applications and the OFT has the potential to become a blockage in the system. I seriously doubt that it currently has the capacity to carry out its proposed extra function. If the government goes ahead and gives the OFT the extra powers then they also have to make sure it is tooled up pretty rapidly for the job, otherwise it could be a disaster. 

Commenting on the proposed competition test Mr Smith said: 'The ten-minute drive test comes straight out of the 1970s. It’s disappointing that the Competition Commission has recommended such an outdated model when for the last ten years modern planning practice has focused on how to deliver environmental sustainability in the interest of reducing the effects of climate change. A drive time based test appears to neglect the need to significantly increase the rate at which people use public transport, walking and cycling to access their shopping, and it also neglects likely future patterns of retail locations and formats that will be necessary to create this shift. It is a business as usual model at a time when we can no longer afford business as usual thinking.'

Commenting on the introduction of a competition element to the planning system Mr Smith, said: 'The planning system is about what and where, not who. There are some weaknesses in the Needs Test but overall it has been an effective way of defending the diversity and vibrancy of town centres and should be maintained. We are not opposed to the introduction of measures which take into account the impact development might have on retail diversity but we must be extremely careful not to undermine the inherent fairness of the planning system.'

The RTPI welcomes proposals to end the practice of placing restrictive covenants on the use of land. It believes practices which have limited the use of land have had a negative impact on competition and have been an active barrier to regeneration and positive development.