Street Trading & Ancillary Retail Kiosks Development Management Guidance Note October 2011 Contents Page Explanation of Terms 1 1 - About this Document 3 2 – Planning Policy 3 3 – Licensing: Street Trading Consent Zones 6 4 - General Requirements for Street Traders and kiosks 7 5- Uses of Street Trading Pitches and Kiosks 9 6 – Licensing 11 7 – Street Events 12 8 – Out of Town Centre Street Traders 13 9 – Markets 14 10 – Semi-Permanent Kiosks 15 11 - Identified Town Centre Sites 17 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading Explanation of Terms Used in the Document Street Trader - The sale and exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street from a temporary stall or vehicle/trailer. Street - Includes any road, footway, or other area to which the public have access. (this does not necessarily mean that the land is publicly owned). Active Frontage - Refers to a part of the street trading pitch/unit or stall that the public can engage in, adding interest, life and vitality to the public realm. For example its opening(s)/service hatch(s) or the goods display area. Vista - A view or prospect, especially one seen through an opening, as between rows of buildings or trees. Visual Amenity - The attractiveness or pleasantness of a place or feature, defined by its appearance. Public Realm - 'Public Realm’ incorporates all areas to which the public have open access. This includes (but is not exclusive of) all pedestrianised areas of the town centre and the street furniture and landscaping within it. Leglibility - Locations, streets, open spaces and places that have a clear image/identity and are easy to understand. For example, a location that is easy to find your way around. Movement -The flow of pedestrians and vehicles. Street Furniture - Anything permanently located on pavements or streets or other external areas to which the public have access, including bollards, railings, lamp-posts, post-boxes, street-signs, telephone-kiosks and benches. Permeability - The ease in which a place/location can be travelled through. Use Classes Order - The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) puts uses of land and buildings into various categories dependent upon the nature of their business or operation. Dead Frontage - The opposite of an active frontage, in that a frontage lacks openings and activity, is often bland and uninteresting and is often not visually pleasing. Kiosk - Purpose built trading unit, which is semi-permanently located in one place within a street or pedestrianised area. A kiosk is fixed in place (i.e. securely attached to the ground by means of suitable fittings) and usually benefits from its own services (this may not simply include having access to a power supply). Pitch - a designated place in a public area where someone who sells things to people goes to sell things or where an entertainer goes to sell things or perform. 1 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading 1.0 About this Document Context 1.1 Street trading pitches and kiosks have the potential to have both positive and negative impacts on the areas in which they are located, especially within town and district centres. If carefully designed and positioned stalls and kiosks can provide active frontages, where a permanent frontage would not be possible, further increasing the level of surveillance and activity in such areas. If poorly thought out they can make areas look and feel unattractive by blocking and cluttering up streets and highways, intruding upon sight lines, blocking shop frontages and producing unpleasant and inappropriate odours, all of which may lead to making permanent shop units hard to let. 1.2 This document aims to ensure that street trading units/pitches and kiosks within Swindon Borough are of high quality, make a positive contribution to the diversity, vitality and vibrancy of the local area and to protect and enhance the appearance and amenity of existing land uses and public realm. It was adopted by the Borough Councils Planning Committee at their meeting on 13th September 2011. 2.0 Policy Basis 2.1 This document is based on the requirements set out in both National and Local Planning Policy. For information and conciseness, the key relevant policies are listed below. National Policy Extracts from Planning Policy Statement 1 - Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1) (2005). Planning shapes the places where people live and work and the country we live in. Good planning ensures that we get the right development, in the right place and at the right time. It makes a positive difference to people’s lives and helps to deliver homes, jobs, and better opportunities for all, whilst protecting and enhancing the natural and historic environment, and conserving the countryside and open spaces that are vital resources for everyone. Planning should facilitate and promote sustainable and inclusive patterns of urban and rural development by: Making suitable land available for development in line with economic, social and  environmental objectives to improve people’s quality of life; Contributing to sustainable economic development;  Protecting and enhancing the natural and historic environment, the quality and character of  the countryside, and existing communities; Ensuring high quality development through good and inclusive design, and the efficient use  of resources; and, Ensuring that development supports existing communities and contributes to the creation of  safe, sustainable, liveable and mixed communities with good access to jobs and key services for all members of the community. 2 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading Design Good design ensures attractive usable, durable and adaptable places and is a key element in achieving sustainable development. Good design is indivisible from good planning. Planning authorities should plan positively for the achievement of high quality and inclusive design for all development, including individual buildings, public and private spaces and wider area development schemes. Good design should contribute positively to making places better for people. Design which is inappropriate in its context, or which fails to take the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of an area and the way it functions, should not be accepted. Good design should: Address the connections between people and places by considering the needs of people to  access jobs and key services; Be integrated into the existing urban form and the natural and built environments;  Be an integral part of the processes for ensuring successful, safe and inclusive villages,  towns and cities; Create an environment where everyone can access and benefit from the full range of  opportunities available to members of society; and, Consider the direct and indirect impacts on the natural environment.  Extracts from Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth (PPS4) (2009) Local planning authorities should proactively plan to promote competitive town centre environments and provide consumer choice by: Supporting a diverse range of uses which appeal to a wide range of age and social groups,  ensuring that these are distributed throughout the centre Planning for a strong retail mix so that the range and quality of the comparison and  convenience retail offer meets the requirements of the local catchment area, recognising that smaller shops can significantly enhance the character and vibrancy of a centre Supporting shops, services and other important small scale economic uses (including post  offices, petrol stations, village halls and public houses) in local centres and villages. Identifying sites in the centre, or failing that on the edge of the centre, capable of  accommodating larger format developments where a need for such development has been identified Retaining and enhancing existing markets and, where appropriate, re-introducing or creating  new ones, ensuring that markets remain attractive and competitive by investing in their improvement Taking measures to conserve and, where appropriate, enhance the established character  and diversity of their town centres 3 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading Extract from the Swindon Local Plan 2011 (2006) Policy DS6 (Standards of Design and Amenity) Consistent and high standards of design shall be required for all types of development, whilst at least maintaining existing amenity. Particular scrutiny will be given to proposals within the town centre, and will be refused where they are prejudicial to town centre regeneration in design and amenity terms. Development proposals shall: a) be well laid out and sympathetic to the local context, character and site coverage; b) be assessed in terms of scale proportion, shape, mass, vertical or horizontal emphasis, patterns of opening, materials, colour and siting, (including any associated advertisement), and any proposal which is unsuitable in terms of these criteria will be rejected; c) be designed to minimise opportunities for criminal activity; d) be compatible with, and protect the amenity of, nearby land uses in terms of visual intrusion, privacy, noise disturbance, smell, pollution (including light pollution), and safety, or demonstrate compatibility with an approved development framework, masterplan or framework plan; e) respect and accommodate any existing features of acknowledged importance including trees and hedgerows on, or in the vicinity of, the site; f) demonstrate suitable access, including provision of access for disabled people (in accordance with Policy ENV8), vehicle parking (in accordance with the Council’s adopted parking standards) and service facilities within a safe and convenient layout, that shall not prejudice the provision of such facilities for existing developments; Policy S16 – Hot Food Vending Vehicles Proposals for the stationing of vehicles for the sale of food shall be permitted where they would not; a) cause demonstrable harm to the amenity of nearby occupiers; and b) have an adverse effect on the character or appearance of the area in which it is located; and c) cause detriment to highway safety. 4 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading Extracts of the Swindon Central Area Action Plan (2009) Policy CAAP1 - High Quality & Innovative Design High quality design will be required of all new development in Central Swindon. Applications will be expected to demonstrate that the design of the development proposal satisfies each of the criteria set out below. The design should: Incorporate active frontages especially where the development forms part of the Town Centre; ensure entrances are emphasised and designed to complement the public realm onto which they front; respect and satisfactorily address order and unity, expression, integrity, siting, massing, scale, proportion, rhythm, materials and landscaping include any necessary provision for the screening of service plants where the existing design is good and much appreciated, respect the context of the site and the character of the part of Central Swindon within which it is located embody the principles of inclusive design and access for all; preserve or enhance the character, appearance and setting of Conservation Areas or Listed Buildings; deliver the sustainable construction requirements set out in Policy CAAP, including the provision of space for the storage of waste; and incorporate Secured by Design principles on all major new developments. Policy CAAP3 – Public Realm The Council will facilitate the delivery of new and improved primary routes and spaces in Central Swindon in line with the principles outlined above. Development of sites on or in the vicinity of these primary routes or spaces will be expected to help deliver the public realm improvements as an integral part of development or provide developer contributions which will allow the Council to deliver projects at the earliest opportunity. Development proposals must not prejudice the delivery of improvements to these primary routes and spaces. Policy CAAP5 – The Transport & Movement Strategy Development proposals and highway schemes will be assessed in terms of how they fit into the aims and objectives of the Vision for Transport, the Strategy for Transport in the Town Centre, the Local Transport Plan and the overarching transport and movement strategy. Regard will be had to the individual and cumulative impact of such proposals on highway capacity and performance, traffic management, car parking, public transport and provision for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as environmental quality in the Town Centre. 5 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading Swindon Core Strategy & Development Management Policies (emerging) (2011) Following the recent announced abandonment of Regional Spatial Strategies by the Government the Swindon Core Strategy is currently under review, however as with the current draft it will include some important policies, which are applicable to street trading, some being more explicitly related than others. Although this DMGN document will be adopted prior to the adoption of the core strategy for Development Management purposes, primarily due to the complexity of the Local Development Framework process, Swindon Borough Council consider this Development Management Guidance Note to fully support and inform the Swindon Core Strategy once adopted. 2.2 Accordingly the guidance in this document, which amplifies National Planning Policy, the Swindon Local Plan 2011 (2006) and policies within the Swindon Central Area Action Plan (2009), will guide the consideration of all street trading and kiosk proposals. Any proposal that fails to satisfy the requirements of this guidance is likely to be resisted. For the purposes of conciseness the policies relevant to this document, namely PPS1, PPS4, SBC Local Plan and the Swindon CAAP have been reproduced only in so far as to refer to the relevant criteria only. 6 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading 3.0 Licensing: Street Trading Consent Zones 3.1 From April 1st 2010 various streets within Swindon town centre became prohibited for street trading as resolved by Swindon Borough Council’s Licensing Committee on the 12th November 2009. Figure 1.1 illustrates the streets within the town centre (as defined by the Swindon Central Area Action Plan – Proposals Map (2009)) that are permitted for street trading from a licensing perspective. This does not apply to Kiosks, which are not subject to licensing requirements. Figure 1.1 3.2 In light of the above, in order to take a consistent approach across the Council, any proposals for street trading within the town centre that lie outside the demarcated zones 7 Development Management Guidance Note – Street Trading illustrated within figure 1.1 will not be supported by the Local Planning or Licensing Authority. Please note that consent will also be required from the landowner and any forthcoming planning applications should be supported by a letter from the landowner giving consent. 3.3 Please note that the area defined at the crossroads with Bridge Street, Canal Walk, Regent Street and The Parade is for street performers and artists only. 3.4 Please note that an application for a street trading pitch or kiosk within the consent streets will not automatically be supported. It will also need to meet the other criteria outlined within this document. 4.0 General Requirements for Street Traders and Kiosks Active Frontages 4.1 Pavement trading units, pitches, stalls and kiosks should preferably be situated against existing dead frontages in order to increase vibrancy and vitality of that area, however they should not obstruct or detract from existing shop frontages or views of them, emergency exits from buildings or any thoroughfares. This also includes vacant shop units as to block them may lead to potential occupiers being discouraged from purchasing or taking on units if street trading is negatively impacting upon them. 4.2 Proposals for pitches situated in the centre of streets and on main pedestrian thoroughfares where the backs of the street trading units are on view and/or which could obstruct vistas, frontages of permanent shop units and/or that cause obstruction to the free flow of pedestrian movements will be resisted. The backs of trailers/stalls/units create a dead frontage in themselves, which will negatively impact on the vitality and natural surveillance of an area, where appropriate in all other aspects, this could be over come by positioning trailers/stalls/units back to back. Design, Appearance and Materials 4.3 The appearance of stalls and displays are important considerations and therefore applications should be submitted with full details of the proposed design, appearance and materials. Those applications that provide insufficient information in this regard are likely to be refused. 4.4 Street trading units should be complimentary and ancillary to the public realm and main retail and shopping function of centres, as such stalls, units or kiosks should be designed to reflect this and should be designed so not to have a dominant overbearing appearance in terms of size, bulk and scale. Units should also be sited so not to obstruct CCTV surveillance systems. e.g. The appearance of purpose built mobile units is typically that appropriate to fairgrounds and county shows or is a cosmetic make over of a functional, mass produced box structure. These may be suitable on industrial estates but are unlikely to be considered compatible with the character, aesthetics and form of a town or local centre. 4.4 The design and appearance of a street trading pitch does not need to be a hi-tech expensive trailer unit. Simple traditional market stalls or gazebo type structures are considered 8