Cornwall Monitoring Report Liskeard Town Report

December 2017

Liskeard Town Report 20171 Liskeard Town Centre Survey 1.1 The annual survey of town centre uses was undertaken for Liskeard in June 2017. A map and tables detailing the town centre uses along with the health check data by street are appended to this report.

1.2 The quantity of units by use class has been surveyed over the last 6 years and is recorded in Table 1 below. There was no change to the number of units counted in Liskeard with the total remaining on 195; the same as in last year’s survey. Since 2013, a total of 7 units have converted to residential use; 4 within the Prime Shopping Area.

Table 1 Liskeard Town Centre Uses

Survey Year A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1a D1 D2 Vacan

tOthe

rTota

l

% Vacanc

y

% Cornwall Vacant

2017 89 35 10 4 6 8 17 4 15 7 195 7.7 9.62016 91 35 10 4 5 5 15 4 19 7 195 9.7 9.42015 88 39 10 5 4 5 16 5 19 8 199 9.5 9.12014 91 41 10 5 4 5 15 5 18 7 201 9.0 8.62013 90 39 12 5 3 6 14 5 21 7 202 10.4 8.42012 80 22 10 5 1 4 6 3 16 6 153 10.5 8.7

1.3 There has been little change to the share of uses within the town centre with A1 uses continuing to be the dominant use representing 46% of the units, (down 1% compared to last year), and remains below the Cornwall average of 50.5%. The number of units within the Prime Shopping Area that are in A1 use rose from 49% recorded in 2015 to 51% which it has maintained for the second consecutative year. Although, again, a below average performance compared to the average of 53.5% calculated for the 16 Cornish towns surveyed.

1.4 For the first time in 6 years the vacancy rate for Liskeard has reduced to below the Cornish average with only 7.7% of the units regarded as vacant. However, despite this improvement A1 uses also reduced and net gains to the town were categorised as being in B1a and D1 use, with the only gain to the retail sector being a takeaway in A5 use.

1.5 New A1 shops to the town were mainly independent retailers such as a vape shop, gift shop, a tanning salon and a clothes shop. Two antiques shops also opened on Baytree Hill one of which now occupies a unit which had been recorded as vacant since 2013. Only one business relocated this survey with Day Lewis moving to a vacant unit along Dean Street leaving an unoccupied unit behind. ATS within the PSA fell vacant and potentially the site creates a retail redevelopment opportunity although the building is being marketed in its existing B1c use - as a vehicle repair garage. Convenience, Comparison and Service uses within the Town Centre

1.6 To measure the diversity of a town centre the A class retail element is split into three main categories; convenience, comparison and service uses. The ‘health’ of a town can be monitored by tracking the proportion of these sectors over time and comparisons with other towns can then be made. This method therefore excludes the non-retail premises such as community and leisure facilities (D2), clinics and surgeries (D1) and B1a offices, hence reducing the number of units included.

1.7 The results from the surveys conducted over the last 5 years can be seen in Table 2 below. The number of relevant units totalled 165 units this year due the following adjustments; 3 units converted to B1a use; a unit became D1 use and 2 units merged into neighbouring units. One unit was gained with the closure of ATS which is now being included as a vacant unit; (formerly excluded being in B1c use) resulting in a net loss of 5 units.

Table 2 Liskeard Town Centre Uses by Sector

Sector 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Cornwall Average

2017

National Average

2017No % No % No % No % No % % %

Convenience 12 7.2 12 6.9 11 6.4 13 7.6 13 7.9 8.2 9.4Comparison 63 38 68 39 65 38 64 38 63 38.2 39.4 39.0Service 69 41 72 41 74 43 71 42 72 43.6 40.8 38.3Vacant 19 11 18 10 19 11 19 11 15 9.1 10.7 12.1Miscellaneous 4 2.4 4 2.3 3 1.7 3 1.8 2 1.2 0.9 1.2Total 167 100 174 100 172 100 170 100 165 100 100 100

Source: CC Town Centre Surveys: 2013 - 2017 GOAD National Average 2017

1.8 Convenience uses within Liskeard remained on 13 units despite the closure of its Polish Food shop due to the opening of an e-cigarette retailer. The sector remains just below the Cornwall average. The comparison sector retains 38% of the capacity share, as in previous years, although again this remains slightly below both the Cornwall and national averages. Its service sector represents 43.6% of the centre share, slightly higher than the Cornwall average and 5.3% above the average nationally. The number of units vacant is the lowest recorded with 15 units representing 9% of the centre share. For the first time Liskeard has a lower vacancy score than the Cornwall average, and is 3% lower than the national average.

1.9 Using the vacancy rates in Table 2 a graph can be plotted to track the changes to the vacancy rate over the last 7 years and compare it with the Cornwall average. The graph below shows how the % vacant has remained above the average for Cornwall but the margin between the two rates has narrowed over the previous 3 years with it falling below this year. It also shows

how Liskeard suffered prior to 2011 with a vacancy rate of more than 18% and how both Liskeard and the Cornish average improved post-recession.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 201702468

101214161820

Proportion of vacant Units in Liskeard compared to the Cornwall Average

LiskeardCornwall Average

Survey Year

% vacant

CC data 2011-17 (Health Check Data)

1.10 Of the 13 vacant units 6 have become vacant in the last year and 4 units have been vacant for two years or more. The size of the vacant units varies from 17-419sq m. The 3 adjoining units on 23-25 Baytree Hill which were vacant last year were all re-occupied this year.

Retailer Representation

1.11 The number of major multiple retailers within Liskeard remains low with only two represented and this is unchanged on last year. The town has Boots and Superdrug stores and ranks 12th alongside Hayle and Saltash in Cornwall’s retail hierarchy in terms of the major multiple retailers as identified by Experian GOAD.

Out of Town Centres

1.12 Liskeard has an out of town Morrison superstore (2461sqm net, which was extended by 399sqm to 2,860sqm net in 2015) on Plymouth Road and an Aldi on Charter Way which opened in 2013 with a gross retail provision of 1,392sqm. South of Morrison is the Bubble Retail Park, home to Argos, Pets at Home and a B&M store which replaced Homebase in February 2015.The map below shows their position relative to the town along with significant retail and housing schemes discussed in the next section.

2 Significant Decisions made in the last year

2.1 In July of this year, a mixed use permission was granted on land at Clemo Road/Pengover Road under PA17/04823 on a 14 ha site northeast of the urban boundary. 0.93ha of the site is permitted for A1, A3 and B1uses. The site has been allocated under Policy H4 within the submission draft of the Liskeard Neighbourhood Plan.

2.2 Weatherspoon gained permission to construct a public house on the site of the former Taylors Garage, Barras Street under PA15/03887. The former petrol station site has remained vacant and boarded up for a number of years. The site is in a prominent central location within the Conservation Area and Prime Shopping Area. Construction work on the pub commenced this September and it is expected to be open in time next year’s survey. Other chains due to open in Liskeard include a Domino’s Pizza (within the former Royal Café) and a Subway; provision for the food outlet is being created to the rear of the Spa shop on Dean Street.

Former Taylors Garage site, Barras Street

2.3 Liskeard cattle market has been identified as a potential site for redevelopment and options are being explored for the potential use of the site including the car park and adjacent buildings.  This is likely to be a mixed use scheme to include retail, residential and community uses.  Although no formal application has been submitted, public consultation events were completed last July, on three potential schemes which can be viewed by visiting the consultation website using this link.

2.4 The Fountain Hotel which has stood vacant since 2010 has a permission pending to convert the former 19th century pub into 3 residential units under PA17/07236.

2.5 The Railway Inn, on Barn Street on the southern boundary of the town has permission to convert to a total of 9 residential units under PA13/09499.

2.6 Outline planning permission was granted in September 2016 for an urban extension site on 14ha at Tencreek Farm PA15/09821. The site has approval for 275 homes, 6.2ha of employment space including 1,115sqm A3 and A4 retail. The development is to include 15,500sqm B1 and B8 use, 1,858sqm D2 use including a 5-screen cinema, a D1 doctor’s surgery 720sqm and a care home/retirement village. Other major housing schemes relevant to Liskeard amount to a further 700 homes. This includes the site at Addington with over 115 homes already completed and three further phases under construction. Development on land north of Lake Lane nears completion with the site south of the lane yet to commence.

3 Local Plan Retail Capacity Targets

3.1 The Local Plan retail capacity targets for Liskeard are shown in Table 3 below for the Local Plan period. These were prepared by GVA as part of the Cornwall Retail Study Update 2015. The projections take into account the extension to the existing Morrisons store and the new ALDI store which will have further increased the supply of floorspace within Liskeard. They also include the Barras Place site (Topfoto Ltd) as a possible location for a convenience goods store towards the capacity targets. Although the permission (PA12/00308) for the redevelopment of this site to A1 retail expired in April 2015 it remains a potential future opportunity for a convenience store on the northern fringe of the town.

Table 3 Local Plan Capacity Targets (sq m net)

Year 2014 2019 2024 2030Convenience 1015 855 1157 1485Comparison -740 -333 919 2536

3.2 The projected figures show a need for around 1500 sq m net of convenience floor space by 2030 and the GVA study recommends that additional provision for convenience capacity should be provided within the town centre in order to better compete with the highly successful out of centre Morrisons store.

3.3 The table also shows that there may be surplus capacity for comparison goods by 2030 and the retail capacity study recommends that the Council encourages new comparison goods floor space within the town centre as opposed to allocating an out of town location.

Appendix

Table 1 Use Class by Street

Street A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1a D1 D2 Vacant Other TotalBarn Street 3 1 1 2 7Windsor Place 6 2 1 9Dean Street 2 5 1 1 3 1 13The Cattle Market 2 1 2 5Fairpark Road 2 1 1 4Barras Street 6 7 1 1 1 1 17Pig Meadow Lane 2 1 3The Parade 5 8 1 1 3 3 4 25West Street 2 1 1 1 1 6Barras Place 1 1 2Greenbank 1 1 1 3Pound Street 1 1Pike Street 10 2 2 1 1 1 1 18Market Street 6 1 1 1 9Lower Lux Street 1 1 3 5Castle Hill 1 1Church Street 1 2 1 1 2 1 8Well Lane 2 2Pond Bridge Hill 2 1 1 4Marthus Court 1 1 2Fore Street 21 4 1  1 1 1 29Bay Tree Hill 15 5 1 1 22Total 89 35 10 4 6 8 17 4 15 7 195Percentage 45.6 17.9 5.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 8.7 2.1 7.7 3.6 100

Table 2 Retail Sector by Street

Street Convenience

Comparison

Service

Vacant

Miscellaneous

Total

Barn Street 3 1 2 6

Windsor Place 1 4 3 8Dean Street 1 1 7 1 10The Cattle Market 2 1 3Fairpark Road 2 1 3Barras Street 2 3 9 1 15Pig Meadow Lane 2 2The Parade 1 3 10 4 1 19West Street 3 1 4Barras Place 1 1Greenbank 1 1Pound Street 1 1Pike Street 8 7 1 16Market Street 1 3 4 8Lower Lux Street 1 1 3 5Castle Hill 0Church Street 1 4 1 6Well Lane 2 2Pipewell Lane 0Pond Bridge Hill 1 3 4Malthus Court 1 1Fore Street 6 12 10 1 29Bay Tree Hill 1 12 8 21Total 12 63 72 15 2 165Percentage 7.9 38.2 43.6 9.1 1.2 100