Fourth Annual Monitoring Report

Other Local Indicators

3.43 Chapter 4 of the Wigan Replacement UDP deals with monitoring and review and specifies the Council's commitment to producing an annual monitoring report. In this UDP chapter a table of indicators and targets outlines the ways in which monitoring of the UDP will be measured.

3.44 The indicators and targets which are not covered in the Core Indicators in the previous section of this report are included here. Each section is headed by an extract from the table in Chapter 4 of the Replacement  UDP showing the particular policy along with the output indicator selected for it. The table then shows the target for that indicator and the actual values achieved for the year 2007/08. A brief commentary follows, where appropriate, to provide a background or explanation to the figures.

Green Belt

3.45 There have been 7 appeals against refusals on Green Belt grounds during the year. Of these, all but one were dismissed.

Safeguarded Land

3.46 There has been one appeal against refusal in Safeguarded Land which was won.

Agricultural Land

3.47 31 planning permissions have been granted in areas designated as being of high quality agricultural land.  The majority of these however (16) were for development in already established developed areas and for minor domestic extensions to existing houses in residential areas.  Others were for changes of use of existing buildings or for uses which would not result in the development of high quality agricultural land.

Land and Buildings for Employment Use

3.48 Further details on employment land take up can be seen in appendix 2 of this document or by requesting a copy of the our Employment Land Availability Report which is published annually.

Tourism

Policy EM2 Tourism

 

 

3.49 * For the period 2007/08, visitor spending and other economic indicators have been calculated using a new formula which provides a more accurate and up-to-date methodology of data collection and reporting.  As a result, the target and actual figures for the year 2007/08 are not meaningfully comparable.  The target figures are to be updated in due course and these will hopefully be revised in the 2008/09 Annual Monitoring Report.

Land for New House Building

3.50 The percentage of new and converted dwellings completed on previously -developed land has continued to exceed the target, as reported under core indicator H3.

Environmental Protection and Enhancement

3.51 Sandyforth Opencast has reached completion up to the landscaping/planting stage, this accounts for the 58.7ha recorded in the above table.  Work has commenced at Bickershaw North and is due for completion in 2010.  The site itself covers 240 hectares, including 207 hectares of operational land associated with the former Bickershaw Colliery. It is the largest site in the National Coalfields Programme. Large parts of the site have been subject to previous reclamation schemes and the current proposal will include the reclamation of a further 76 hectares of derelict land. 

3.52 Air quality met the target and showed a reduction on last years levels for both PM10 and NO2 levels .  Air quality information is provided for the calendar year 2006.

Nature Conservation

3.53 There was only one planning permission granted  within Sites of Biological Importance.  Planning approval was given at Scotman’s Flash sailing club for the continued use of a toilet and changing room accommodation within the sailing club site.  There is therefore no impact from this permission.

3.54 The permissions granted within the Wildlife Corridors were mainly for change of use, conversion of existing buildings, extensions to properties, storage of materials and other uses that will have no impact upon the effectiveness of the wildlife corridor.  None of the permissions have caused severance of a wildlife corridor.

Design

3.55 The Council's Local Development Scheme (LDS) previously included 3 Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) dealing with design guidance. These were those dealing with Landscape Design, Residential Design and Shop Front Design. All 3 documents were produced and adopted in line with the timetable set down in the LDS.

3.56 Only one design SPD was scheduled for 2007/08.  Preparation of the document commenced as scheduled, in June 2007.  However, by the end of the year a decision was taken to defer further work until the Government's changes to householder permitted development rights were confirmed.  These have now been confirmed and came into operation in October 2008.  Suitable amendments will now be made to the draft prior to public participation early in 2010.

Conservation

3.57 There have been no appeals against refusal of Conservation Area of Listed Building consent during the year and all other conservation indicators also met their targets with the exception of the demolition of one Building of Local Interest as indicated above.  The old school house at Church Road, Orrell was unfortunately demolished due to subsidence.   

3.58 There have been several archaeological investigations undertaken, as requested by the GM Archaeological Unit, as detailed above.

Accessibility

3.59 Work was undertaken on a further 27 school travel plans and 66% of schools now have a travel plan in place.  A further 40 schools (30%) are working on their plans.  There are currently over 30 workplace travel plans at various stages of development across the borough.  These include a number in conjunction with planning applications such as Leigh Sports Village, Leigh LIFT Centre and Winstanley College.  iTRACE travel planning management and monitoring software is being developed.

Hierarchy and Role of Centres

Vitality and viability of town and local centres

3.60 Measuring the vitality and viability of town and local centres is valuable in monitoring the health of centres.  Key indicators for monitoring are described by National Planning Policy 6 ‘Planning for Town Centres’ and include retailer representation, diversity of uses, rents and yields, and vacancy rates.  These are all reflected below.  Other indicators of vitality and viability are monitored regularly for the Wigan Borough retail studies; such data for 2006 can be found in the Wigan Borough Retail and Leisure Study 2007. 

3.61 Unless otherwise stated the information given has been taken from our Town and Local Centre Database.  Town and local centre surveys are undertaken annually to ensure this information is kept up to date.  However, caution most be taken when making comparisons due to alterations to centre boundaries from 2001 – 2005.  The local centres where introduced to the UDP in 2003 and as such, 2003 is the base year for monitoring of the local centres. 

Retailer Representation

3.62 Retailer representation is a measure of the national multiples trading in a given centre.  A list of multiple retailers in the UK is taken from the Retail Directory for the year required for monitoring and a checklist is carried out from the data held in our town and local centres database.  Information was collected from the 2007 survey and is shown in the table below.

3.63 The data for retailer representation has not previously been included in the Annual Monitoring Report, so no trends can be identified.  Unsurprisingly, Wigan and Leigh as the two largest centres in the borough have the most multiple retailers.  The number of multiple retailers in Ashton and Atherton are indicative on the strong retail role of these centres for their respective catchment areas.

3.64  Diversity of local uses data covers a wide range of shop types as defined by the Use Class Order.  The uses provided are those which are mainly found in local centres and include A1 (shops), A2 (financial and professional services), A3 (cafes and restaurants), A4 (pubs and bars), A5 (hot food takeaways).  Supplementary information is also shown on the mix of convenience (food), comparison (non food) and service retail.  Other key uses include B1 (offices), C3 (residential), D1 (non-residential institutions) and D2 (assembly and leisure).  The data provided does not include upper residential and/or office accommodation as this has proven difficult to measure accurately.

3.65 The data from 2003 to 2007 shows the main trends emerging are a general increase in A3 ‘café and restaurants’ and A5 ‘hot food takeaways’ uses within local centres and also a small increase in A2 ‘financial and professional services’ uses, which include estate agents and betting shops.  The concentration of hot food establishments will continue to be considered against Policy S1D ‘Local Centres’ and our Supplementary Planning Guidance on ‘Hot food establishments.’  The tables above also show an increase in A1 service provision such as hairdressers and beauty salons and this continues to follow national trends.  A few local centres have also seen an increase in the number of comparison retail.  There is an evident decrease in unit numbers for convenience (food) shopping which will require continued close monitoring under Policy S1D of the Replacement UDP. 

3.66 This continued trend in the loss of convenience units in local centres is a key issue for which the Local Development Framework will look to address.  Convenience stores provide an essential local service and are a key use within local centres.

Prime Shopping Rents and Retail Yields

3.67 The four largest town centres in the Borough are monitored for this purpose.  Both the rents and yields data has been provided by the District Valuer for the 1st April of the year ending (i.e. for 2006/07 it is taken at 1st April 2007). 

3.68 The rental data is for Zone A rental values (i.e. the most valuable shop frontage zone).  The factors which determine rental levels are varied but are mainly determined by the flow of pedestrians passing a shop front and their spending power, together with the availability of suitable retail floorspace.

3.69 Prime retail yields are a useful measure of retailer and investor confidence in a centre.  Lower yields tend to indicate expected future growth in rental values whereas a high yield often indicates a peripheral or declining centre.  The above yields are ‘all risks yield’ which is a useful tool for establishing benchmarks for general market levels. 

3.70 Uncertainty in the commercial property market, arising from the 'credit crunch', has had an impact on the data for 2007/8, as the full effect of the economic slowdown is yet to be seen.  Wigan is the only centre that has seen rental growth in the past year, perhaps following the completion of the Grand Arcade shopping centre. Leigh has seen a slight decline and Ashton and Hindley have remained static.  It is worth noting that values are still far higher than the baseline data (2001).  Yields in all centres have increased in the past year,  this is indicative of a decrease in the confidence of investors.

Vacancy Rates

3.71 The table below shows the total amount of commercial vacancies (ground floor) against all ground floor units for both town and local centres.  However, there must be caution when comparing the number of vacant units for each of the town centres as the town centres themselves have been subject to boundary changes since 2001.

3.72 Comparisons can be made for vacancies within town centres from 2005 onwards and for local centres from 2003 onwards.

3.73 The change in the percentage of vacancies in centres is a key indicator relating to their performance. 

3.74 In town centres the percentage of vacancies has declined since 2001, with the exception of Pemberton and Golborne which have seen slight increases.  Between 2006 and 2007, most centres saw an increase in the percentage of vacancies.  Standish was the only town centre that saw a decrease in the amount of vacancies.  There was a large increase in vacancies in Wigan between 2006 and 2007; this is mainly due to the opening of the Grand Arcade and temporary vacancies that have arisen due to relocations.

3.75 For Local Centres, the trends have largely been the same.  Lower Ince, Platt Bridge and Worsley Mesnes were the only centres that saw a decrease in the amount of vacant units between 2006 and 2007.  Borsdane, Scholes and Worsley Mesnes continue to have a high percentage of vacancies.  Higher Ince also has a significant number of vacant units.

Principal Shopping Areas

 

3.76 In Principal Shopping Areas, most centres have seen a decline in A1 uses.  This is due to a rising vacancy rate, rather than units changing to different use classes.  This is particularly the case in Wigan town centre, with vacancies arising following the opening of the Grand Arcade.  The Grand Arcade is not included in the Principal Shopping Area.

Pedestrian Flows

3.77 Pedestrian flows refer to the number and movements of people on the streets, in different parts of the centre at different times at the day available for businesses to attract into shops, restaurants or other facilities. 

3.78 Pedestrian flows were undertaken in 2006/07 for the Boroughs nine town centres, as part of the Wigan Borough Retail and Leisure Study 2007.  The information collected from the pedestrian flow surveys have been used within the study as one of many indicators for assessing vitality and viability of the centres.  Unfortunately, these are stand alone results as this information has not been recorded for 2007/8 or for previous years. 

3.79 However, It is worth noting that many external factors can affect the results of pedestrian flows (i.e. the weather, market days, road works, redevelopment etc) and as such it is questionable in any event whether robust comparisons can be made.    

Development of Allocated Sites

3.80 Of the two sites allocated for shopping development in the UDP, the Grand Arcade development at Station Road, Wigan and the shopping centre opened in March 2007.  Planning consent has been given for 2 more phases adjoining the Grand Arcade and includes a mix of commercial and residential uses, but work has not commenced on these.  The allocation for retail development at Leigh East has planning permission, work has not yet started. 

Leisure and Community Facilities

3.81 The Open Space, Sport and Recreation Assessment produced standards for the borough based on provision per 1,000 people.  Where the aspirational figure is shown to be less than the current figure, this is where the aspirational figure is the same as the current figure and it is lower because it is based on forecast population growth.  The Assessment provides a baseline figure for this Annual Monitoring Report.

3.82 The Open Space, Sport and Recreation Assessment provides data for each township, for the categories of Open Space that are identified in Planning Policy Guidance Note 17.  The standards are shown in full in the Open Space, Sport and Recreation Strategy and Action Plan.

3.83 The Open Space, Sport and Recreation Assessment also provides data that can be used as a baseline for the other Policy C1 indicator, which is the deficit of playing pitches in target areas identified in the Playing Pitch Strategy.  The Assessment provides data for the surplus and deficit of playing pitches in the borough on a township basis.  This provides baseline data to monitor Policy C1.

3.84 The surplus and deficiency of playing pitch provision are derived from the existing provision, additional provision to meet current unmet demand and additional provision to meet demand in the future.  Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union all have surpluses at adult level and deficits at junior level, suggesting senior pitches can be adapted for junior use.  The figures for cricket are more difficult to quantify given the varying lengths of cricket matches.

Green Flag Parks

3.85 The borough now has two parks that are at Green Flag Award standard.  These are Alexandra Park in Wigan and Pennington Hall Park in Leigh.  The Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust have prepared a Parks Regeneration Strategy, which sets out the aspiration's of the trust in managing the borough's parks.

Mineral Working

3.86 There have been no appeals against refusal of permission for mineral working and no permissions for peat extraction on remnant mossland.

Waste Management

3.87 The four approvals for waste management facilities relate to waste transfer/ recycling operations, mostly on a fairly small scale.

Planning Obligations

3.88 Of the 82 Section 106 Agreements completed during the year, 62 were Unilateral Undertakings and 20 were agreements.