South Ayrshire Local Plan

Planning Strategy for Ayr Town Centre

Introduction

National Planning Policy Guideline 8 'Town Centres & Retailing' emphasises the need to ensure that the vitality and viability of town centres are maintained and enhanced. One such recommended means of doing so is to develop town centre strategies to indicate the scope for change, renewal and diversification The Planning Strategy for Ayr Town Centre provides an overview of the manner in which the Council wishes to see the town centre develop. The Strategy presents a framework for ensuring that investment in the town centre is maximised and that it is in a manner most able to enhance the vitality and viability of the town centre. This strategy is essentially land based but it also provides a coherent context for investment in the town and is intended to endure to the year 2012.

The Planning Strategy for Ayr Town Centre is a policy document and should be read in conjunction with the Local Plan. The Strategy provides a guiding context for the assessment of proposals against the retail policies of the Plan. The strategy is promotional in terms of encouraging particular types of investment into particular areas and also by providing detail on a range of development opportunities in the town centre.

Ayr Town Centre

Ayr is an historic town, and a recognised Historic Burgh, with many listed buildings and a townscape of considerable quality. Most of the town centre is an Outstanding Conservation Area. The town centre is one of the largest in the West of Scotland, and has a relatively widespread catchment area It contains the full range of retail provisions, represented by both national multiple retailers and small local independent retailers. In terms of other town centre provisions, the town has a cinema, 10 pin bowling, a range of other leisure facilities, and some substantial office areas.The town is accessible by a range of means of transport, having a railway station and a bus terminal and a range of car parking facilities.

The seafront of Ayr is situated 500 metres from the town centre and there is an important close relationship between the town centre and the seafront, providing attractions to tourists, visitors and residents.

Regular surveys are undertaken by the Council on the 'health' of the town centre, using a range of indicators such as vacancy rates, rental changes and pedestrian flows. Monitoring information, gathered in 2002 reveals that there is a relatively, and unacceptably high level of vacancy in the town centre, at 14% of all floorspace. Other indicators also suggest that the health of the town centre has stagnated in recent years and has lost trade to other competing shopping locations such as Glasgow and Braehead. It is evident that there is currently insufficient money coming into the town centre to support the existing level of retail provision. It is intended that the policy framework of this strategy will go some way to improving the 'health' of the town.

It is important to continue to monitor the health of the town in order to assess whether policies remain appropriate and whether new measures require to be introduced. Regular monitoring will therefore be undertaken throughout the life of the strategy.

Vision for Ayr Town Centre

The Strategy has been prepared with a Vision of the town centre in mind. That Vision is as follows:

"That Ayr town centre maximises its potential as a vibrant and attractive centre in which to shop, work, live and spend leisure time, by providing a shopping environment that ensures that the town centre continues to be a significant attraction in its own right, for visitors and tourists to South Ayrshire".

The following statements represent the aims of the Strategy:

	By the year 2012 the town centre will provide a balanced mix of retail, leisure, cultural, tourist, housing and office facilities.
	By the year 2012 the town centre will have a clear and coherent retail core, which will contain a critical mass of facilities that are attractive to shoppers and visitors, and which will be capable of sustaining the vitality and viability of the town centre as a whole.

The following objectives have been framed to assist in realising the above vision and its aims:

	To re-establish Ayr town centre as the premier shopping and leisure destination, outwith of Glasgow, in the West of Scotland.
	Ensure that an environment is created which will attract new investment in the town centre that will reclaim the leakage of expenditure going to other shopping centres.
	To build on the town centre's existing strengths, safeguard and promote its heritage and create a townscape of enduring strength and quality.
	Maximise the linkages between the town centre and the seafront and the close relationship of the resources and facilities provided in each area.
	Enable the town centre to perform as a vital and vibrant town centre in the evening, in a manner that is conducive with protecting residential amenity.

Planning Policy Framework for Ayr Town Centre

Policy for Directing Investment into Ayr Town Centre

Town centres are not only places in which to shop but they also provide the focus for cultural, social and employment activities. Moreover, they are historical centres of services, with established townscapes and infrastructure and are in locations that are accessible to all the community. Recognising all these benefits of town centres, this Strategy seeks to protect town centres from the impacts of out of centre developments, and to direct investment in retailing and associated activities to town centres in preference to any other location. This aim is embodied in a strategic policy of the Plan (policy RET1). It is this protection that is the most significant measure which can assist the vitality and viability of the town, but it is not the only policy measure that needs to be followed.

A vital and vibrant town centre is one that maximises opportunities in which to shop, spend leisure time, to work and to live in. Central to the policy framework is the recognition of the role to be played by the full range of interrelated activities and land uses in the town centre, including shops, leisure and tourist facilities, offices and houses and flats. The role of tourism to the vitality of Ayr town centre can not be underestimated. It is within this context that the following policy framework for the town centre has been prepared.

Policies for a Vital and Vibrant Ayr Town Centre

The area of the town centre, within which the strategy operates, is a relatively extensive area, (1km end to end). Within this area there is much diversity in the town environment in terms of the activities to be found, the scale and type of investment interest and the roles performed by different streets and 'micro areas'. This diversity has evolved through a combination of past land use policies and commercial market pressures. It is thought that, in the most part, this existing land use pattern provides the best template to further encourage similar types of activities, encouraging 'critical mass attractions' that do not detract from the 'shopping experience' and which are convenient for shoppers to visit without walking uncomfortable distances.

However, it is also recognised that there is potential to introduce a wider range of activities into particular areas, especially where there is evidence of stress in the local environment and where the objectives of the Town Centre Strategy are best able to be realised. Recognising these differing characteristics, and to provide a policy framework that assists in realising these aims, the town centre has been categorised into 'Core Areas' and 'Peripheral Areas' (as defined on the Strategy Map)

A. The Core Retail Area
The core retail area is that area which is clearly recognisable as being the heart of the town centre. It is where most of the comparison shops can be found (e.g. shoe shops, clothes etc) within a short walk from each other and where the concentration of these shops is not reduced by competing uses. In essence, this is the areas that shoppers and traders regard as the core of shopping activity and as such, command the most prestigious properties and rental incomes. Within this areas there is a concentration of national multiple retailers such Marks and Spencers, BHS and Next. The policy for the Core Area is to encourage investment for town centre uses, including shops, restaurants/cafes, public houses, hotels, other leisure and offices. Policy RET 4 of the Local Plan provides criteria against which proposal for such uses will be assessed.

Guidance for Micro Areas of the Retail Core
Within the core area there is a mosaic of micro-areas. Reflecting existing patterns, and the desire to create areas providing 'critical- mass' attraction, and also having regard to the ability of areas to absorb different use types, three types of areas have been identified. Within each of the areas, the following guidance has been developed to assist in directing development proposals to the most appropriate areas, capable of accommodating such a use. All of the three areas referred to are detailed in the map appended to this Strategy. This guidance is not intended to be prescriptive, and there will be scope for diversity and the accommodation of other uses within each area. It is the intention of this guidance to detail the preferred development for each area and to provide a context for considering planning applications against the criteria of policy RET4.

Guidance Area 1 - The High Street & Kyle Centre
The guiding principle for this area is to retain shopping as the predominant use type, particularly in the High Street and in the Kyle Centre. However, a limited presence of uses such as restaurants, cafes and bars that could further enhance the vitality of the area, may also be acceptable.

Guidance Area 2 -Kyle Street, Alloway Street, Sandgate, Burns Statue Square, Nile Court, Lorne Arcade & Smith Street
The guiding principle for this area is to encourage the full range of the town centre uses specified previously. However, where there is evidence of a decline in the local environmental quality arising from the over concentration of similar types of uses, for instance public houses, then further proliferation will be discouraged in favour of other uses or activities.

Guidance Area 3 - Newmarket Street, Hope Street & Arran Mall
All three of these streets are pedestrianised areas, are relatively remote from residential areas and are considered to have potential for restaurant and café uses. In view of the historic townscape quality of Newmarket Street and Hope Street it is considered that these streets are particularly suitable for restaurants, cafes and public houses. A range of other town centre uses may also be acceptable.

B. The Retail Periphery - All Other Areas of the Town Centre
Whilst the retail core is that area that generates highest rents, arguably the area with most character is the retail periphery. It is considered that this area functions as an integral part of the town centre but it is recognised that there is potential for a range of other complementary functions, such as residential, tourist and leisure uses. The introduction of such uses may also assist in extending the life of the centre beyond regular shop hours and encourage 'natural surveillance'. Within this area a diverse range uses will be encouraged as defined in Policy RET5.

Development Opportunity Sites

Although the monitoring evidence mentioned above suggests that as at 2002 there is an over-provision of floorspace relative to money currently being spent in the town centre, it is nonetheless essential to the continued vitality and viability of the town centre to encourage further ongoing investment in the town centre. This includes, not only investment in existing provisions but also the encouragement of opportunities to develop new and modern forms of retailing that are capable of offering new choice to customers, and therefore recapture trade that is leaking to other town centres. It is considered that there are five such sites that offer opportunities for new large scale town centre development. Each of the sites are annotated in the Map appended to the Strategy. These sites will be promoted as development opportunities, and schedules providing details of assistance to developers will be available from the Council.

Beresford Terrace - A site of 1.0 hectares, at the extreme southern end of the town. The site is in the ownership of two parties that are willing to redevelop the site for town centre use. Given the scale, dimension and location of the site the opportunities for the comprehensive redevelopment of the site will be safeguarded. In particular, a large foodstore or a town centre retail warehouse park are appropriate opportunities that will be encouraged.

Mill Street - A site of 1.6 hectares, well located to the centre town and the Core Area. The site is in single ownership. Given the scale, dimension and location of the site the opportunities for comprehensive redevelopment of the site will be safeguarded . In particular, a large foodstore or a town centre retail warehouse park are appropriate opportunities that will be encouraged.

Afflecks - A site of 0.2 hectares, well located in the heart of the town centre, that is currently a derelict building over four floors. The building is in the ownership of the Council. The site could be developed for a mixed use development, in a traditional built form.

Kyle Centre Extension - Planning consent has been granted for retail floorspace of 2200m2 involving the redevelopment of the existing car park and the development of the former Carrick Street Halls.

Damside North - A site of 0.6 hectares at the extreme northern end of the town, outwith but adjoining, the defined town centre. The site is adjacent to a twin retail warehouse development currently operated by a discount food operator and a non-food user. The site is also considered to be suitable for a retail warehouse development of one or two units.

Environmental Improvements

Ayr town centre has a townscape of considerable quality, however there is evidence of stress at some locations, and at significant 'gateway' locations. Whilst environmental improvements will be encouraged throughout the town centre, a priority area has been identified at South Harbour Street. As well as the historical and architectural significance of the buildings in this area, and the important visual impression of the street at this key gateway location, it is also considered that this area has an important role to play in linking the recent, and ongoing, developments at the Citadel (located on the seafront), with the town centre. It is, therefore, proposed that this area be considered as a priority for environmental improvements that will enhance the visual environment and the linkage between the two areas.