2. Town Centre Strategy

The town centre strategy sets out how Thanet's town centres will develop, the inter-relationship between them, and how the towns' commercial functions will support and contribute to the overall economic strategy for the district.

The National Planning Policy Framework states that planning policies should be positive and promote competitive town centre environments and set out policies for their management and growth over the plan period. Plans should recognise town centres as the heart of the community and pursue their vitality and viability. A network of centres should be defined that reflects the relationship between them in order to guide future development.

The strategy for Thanet's town centres seeks to reinforce the different but complementary roles of the primary centre at Westwood and of the coastal town centres of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. The objectives of the hierarchy are to:

• Safeguard and sustain Westwood's role in preventing retail expenditure leaking outside the district.
• Enable the coastal towns to achieve and maintain a viable, diverse and sustainable commercial base.
• Ensure the scale of development at the District and Local Centres is sufficient to serve local catchments but not harmful to the function of the town centres.
• Allow residential development in locations that support the function of the town centres.

The Council is required to set out a network and hierarchy of centres. Identifying the existing hierarchy provides an understanding of the role and function of the town centres and their inter-relationship. A major factor in determining the role of the centres is the catchment which they serve. Canterbury is the pre-dominant centre in the wider sub region of East Kent. Thanet's hierarchy of centres is set out in Policy SP08 below:

The retail hierarchy demonstrates an understanding of how town centres interact with one another at district and sub-regional levels. It is not designed to favour one centre over another and does not in itself direct investment decisions.

Thanet currently retains 84% of retail expenditure within the district and given this healthy retention rate there is no need to increase Thanet's market share within the sub region. However, in order to maintain the current market share the following growth will be required over the plan period:

• 24,567 square metres of floorspace selling comparison (high street style) goods. The majority of this is needed at Westwood which requires 16,787 square metres.
• 1,255 square metres of floorspace selling convenience goods and 4,338 square metres of A2-A5 floorspace is needed across Thanet.

Convenience retailing is currently skewed towards the large supermarkets clustered around the Westwood area and this trend is likely to continue. However, the Council would like to encourage more convenience provision within the coastal town centres.

In addition to this, an assessment has been made of other uses that are traditionally found in high street locations and support the retail function of centres - these include uses such as banks, building societies, restaurants, take aways, and drinking establishments and are known in planning terms as the A2-A5 use classes. The assessment concluded that a total of 3,499 square metres of such floorspace is needed in the district to support the retail function of town centres. Much of this is shown to be needed at Westwood although uses such as restaurants would support the tourism appeal of the coastal town centres.

Town centres are hubs of the community and as such are not just retail areas. They contain a number of uses including leisure and tourism. Although no need for major commercial leisure facilities such as cinemas has been identified, there is a need to be flexible within the town centres in order to support the tourism economy.

Table 1 below sets out the retail need for Thanet's town centres (gross floorspace)

*This gives an indication of the quantitative level of retail need and shouldn't be applied rigidly. It should be regarded as a guide rather than a target.

The key issues for Westwood are:

• developing it into a sustainable residential community;
• ensuring safe movement by pedestrians and cyclists within the commercial area;
• reducing current levels of traffic congestion.

Westwood Cross opened in June 2005 consolidating what had become piecemeal retail development in the Westwood area. Since its opening there have been a number of further developments such as the development of the leisure complex and numerous developments at and improvements to the surrounding retail parks. Westwood has proved highly successful in its aims of clawing back retail expenditure formerly lost to locations outside the district boundary. It has secured its place as the preferred location for the large format style of retailing favoured by the national chains. This style and scale of retail was never before available in Thanet.

Figures show that in the region of 17,000 square metres of retail floorspace is needed at Westwood to maintain the status quo. Some of this floorspace is already taken up by recent permissions, leaving no reason to significantly expand the boundaries of the town centre. The remaining floorspace need at Westwood to the end of the plan period can be accommodated amongst the existing town centre development by way of redevelopment and reconfiguration.

The adjacent housing allocation and flexible employment allocation at Eurokent supports tourism and leisure uses as well as B1 uses and will serve to add footfall to the town centre and increase its vitality, viability, accessibility and sustainability.

In addition to the 976 new homes under construction, Westwood is identified as a wider strategic housing allocation to enable its development as a sustainable mixed use business and residential community.

The area currently suffers from poor connectivity between sites, both vehicular and pedestrian. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed in the future development of Westwood.

A relief strategy is in development to address this issue, which the Council is implementing. This requires developer-led solutions. A fundamental objective of this strategy is to realign traffic routes to enable free movement by pedestrians between town centre facilities. The final element of the relief strategy that still needs to be delivered is a link between Margate Road and Westwood Road. The Council will continue to explore options which are available to delivering this link.

The piecemeal nature of the way Westwood has grown over the years means that it does not form a cohesive town centre as many of the individual component sites face inwards on each other leading to problematic pedestrian connectivity between sites. The Council now seeks to ensure that any new development at Westwood addresses this problem and seeks to encourage active frontages on the intersections between the different retail parks and better pedestrian flows between sites. Ultimately the vision is for the whole area to look and feel more like a single town centre. A supplementary planning document will be drafted to seek to establish this aim following the adoption of the Local Plan. The SPD will consider short, medium and long term solutions and will be presented in three phases as follows:

• Phase 1 – Completion of Westwood Relief Strategy/Improved signage
• Phase 2 – General Pedestrian Improvements/ Pedestrianisation/Stopping up traffic
• Phase 3 – Remodelling the various component sites following redevelopment

In the interim period any new development will be expected to be consistent with these aims.

The vision for Margate is to build on its success as a fashionable seaside resort based on its unique assets of a sandy beach, harbour, rich townscape, and on the success of the Turner Contemporary Gallery and a revived Dreamland Heritage Amusement Park. Margate's economic heart will be diversified through creative and cultural development and the town will no longer suffer disproportionately high levels of deprivation, transience and poor quality accommodation.

Positive signs of this step change are beginning to emerge, with a 14% increase recorded in contacts to the Visitor Information Centre in May 2017 compared to May 2013. Margate has a rich heritage which is important to the vibrancy of the town and as an attraction for visitors.

Margate has a number of commercial areas such as the Old Town, College Square and the upper and lower High Street areas that perform different functions around the town. The upper and lower High Street along with the seafront have suffered from high vacancy rates although this is now beginning to improve.

The Old Town area is a vibrant part of the town which contains many restaurants, cafes, gift shops and galleries. This area is popular with tourists and local people alike. This area of the town lends itself to tourism and leisure uses.

Dreamland Amusement Park is synonymous with Margate as a seaside resort. The park closed after the 2006 season. Since its closure the Council has worked, alongside partners to re- open Dreamland as an amusement park. The Council has compulsory purchased the site and a comprehensive phased development scheme is in place, maximising its potential to contribute to the economic well-being and attractiveness of Margate as a visitor destination.

The run down Lido complex is situated close to the Margate Winter Gardens and Turner Contemporary and, given its coastal location, provides an ideal opportunity for a leisure/tourism related development with uninterrupted sea views. The site is also an important heritage asset but is in need of significant restoration and repair, which the Council considers should be the main focus for any redevelopment proposals

Strategic Local Plan designations that are expected to help deliver the continued regeneration of Margate include Margate's Town Centre and Old Town area, Margate's seafront area, and Dreamland.

Margate has a number of sites which present the opportunity for mixed use redevelopment that potentially include residential. These will also contribute to the overall vibrancy and energy of the town. These sites include Arlington House, the Rendezvous site, the Centre, the Cottage car park and Bilton Square.

The Arlington House site is a highly prominent site in Margate and has permission for a supermarket. Should this development not commence, the Council considers that this site is suitable for mixed use redevelopment.

The strategy for Margate's core area is to support retail uses including banks, restaurants and drinking establishments in the primary shopping frontage centred around the upper and lower High Street. The Old Town area will provide a range of town centre uses including cultural and creative industries. There will also be a designated Margate Seafront and Harbour Arm area that supports and encourages seafront leisure uses that are sympathetic to the surrounding seafront architecture. Evidence shows that in Margate there is a need for an additional 3,049 square metres of retail floorspace to the end of the plan period. Current vacancy levels and the wider town centre designations can adequately accommodate this need.

Seafront areas are important to the vitality and viability of the coastal town centres as they attract tourists and provide a natural leisure focus for the towns in close proximity to the High Streets and main shopping areas. As such, it is important that leisure and tourism uses are encouraged here that are complementary to the town centres and encourage economic growth.

The District Council recognises the need for a new Lifeboat station in the Margate area, capable of accommodating the latest class of lifeboat. It is recognised that there are limited opportunities for such a facility, and the Council will work with the RNLI to identify a suitable location to meet their operational requirements. Key issues that need to be considered as part of that process would be the potential impact on heritage assets (Policies SP36 and HE01 – HE03 apply) and national and international wildlife sites (Policies SP28 and GI01 apply).

The vision for Ramsgate is to maximise its maritime heritage, Royal Harbour, marina, beach and attractive waterfront, and provide an economic base for its vibrant mix of town centre uses, visitor economy and café culture. The former surplus of small shops beyond the town's commercial core has been refurbished to provide quality residential accommodation and there is a viable balance and mix of residential and commercial use including specialist shopping.

Ramsgate has been adversely affected by the decline of the traditional resort holiday. However, with its rich heritage adding vibrancy to the town, Ramsgate has been quick to recover. A café culture has developed around the harbour area and this needs to be further encouraged.

The key issue for Ramsgate town will be to maintain and improve the vitality, diversity and economic vibrancy of the town centre, secure enhancement of historic buildings, support development of the visitor economy including cultural creativity, attract more economically active residents and strengthen the range of local services.

Ramsgate contains many separate commercial areas. As well as at the traditional focal point of the High Street, commercial development has stretched to the upper High Street and the length of King Street. Over recent years as with all high streets, Ramsgate has seen an increase in vacancies and commercial development has become somewhat sporadic and in some cases run down. The strategy of the Council has been and continues to be to draw commercial development back to the commercial heart of Ramsgate and allow the more peripheral areas of the town centre to revert to residential use. This strategy has been showing results and Ramsgate is benefitting from an improved public realm and so it is appropriate for this policy approach to be continued.

Ramsgate has a need for an additional 4,537 square metres of retail floorspace. The current vacancies and scale of the town centre boundary can adequately accommodate this in the plan period.

Retail development will be focused in Ramsgate's core area with complementary town centre uses accommodated within the wider town centre boundary. Leisure and tourism uses will be particularly encouraged around the marina area.

Land at and adjacent to Ramsgate harbour is identified for a mix of uses including leisure, tourism, retail and residential purposes. Any proposals should have regard to the Ramsgate Maritime Plan or any future plan for the port and Royal Harbour.

The Royal Harbour and historic waterfront are important for both leisure and commercial users which is important for the vibrancy of the town. The seafront area already has a thriving café culture. The Royal Harbour is a Grade II* listed structure and is at the heart of Ramsgate Conservation Area. The regeneration of Ramsgate depends on the continued attractiveness of the Royal Harbour and new development in this area will need to preserve and enhance its character and appearance. It is a tourism and leisure attraction with significant potential and already offers much to smaller pleasure craft. Commercial fishing and ship repair are also carried out in the Royal Harbour.

The growth of the Port of Ramsgate is supported as a source of employment and as an attractor of inward investment. The Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-2030 safeguards the port for the importation of minerals into Kent (Policies CSM6 and CSM7 apply). In addition to the potential growth of port trade including passenger ferry operations, there is additional employment associated with marine engineering, including the use of the port as a base to assemble and maintain offshore wind turbines, and other businesses benefiting from a port location.

Further development will be permitted at Ramsgate Port that supports the aims of the Ramsgate Maritime Plan or any future plan which the Council as Port Authority adopts. The Maritime Plan is a non-statutory operational plan that seeks to set out the strategy for the Port and is updated from time to time. Any business plans and supplementary guidance will have regard to the need to make optimum use of the existing port land to protect and support diversification of its function.

Recognising the proximity of the port to the Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast SSSIs, SPAs, Ramsar Site, Marine SAC and Thanet Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), development proposals for growth would be subject to the Habitat Regulations and will need sensitive consideration in relation to nature conservation and landscape. Proposals would need an acceptable environmental assessment of their impact on the Harbour, its setting and surrounding property, and the impact of any proposed land reclamation upon nature conservation, conservation of the built environment, the coast and archaeological heritage, together with any proposals to mitigate the impact.

Broadstairs is an attractive town with a thriving town centre and is a popular location for visitors and residents who enjoy its heritage, Dickensian past, beaches, local events and picturesque waterfront. Broadstairs has a strong commercial and visitor economy and has been resilient during the economic downturn. It is important to maintain and enhance the town's attractive character and economic base.

Broadstairs is a popular shopping destination characterised by small independently owned shops. The town has many independent shops interspersed with cafes, restaurants and drinking establishments that have enabled the town to buck the trend of high vacancy rates. The town has a particular demand for retail premises selling high street style goods (comparison goods).

There is a need for 4,954 square metres of additional retail floorspace to the end of the plan period. The prime focus for retail is centered around the High Street but with supporting town centre uses along Albion Street and the upper end of High Street towards the railway station. The town centre is largely linear in character and there is little scope for physical expansion and development. In order to accommodate retail need in the future it will be necessary to be flexible and allow some development on the edge of the town centre as close as possible to the High Street.

Broadstairs promenade and beach front is an important part of the town and is an attraction in itself, drawing families to the area. It contains a mix of cafes, restaurants and drinking establishments as well as residential uses and areas of open space. It is important that existing commercial premises are retained in order to maintain the commercial function of this area as a link between the beach and the High Street. Development in this area should contribute to and support the vibrancy of the town centre but also respect its peaceful and unique character.

The town is linear in style with separate beachfront and town centre areas and the town would benefit from improved pedestrian connectivity between these two areas.