New tough planning rules will help councils better protect small shops through the current economic difficulties and create more vibrant town centres, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced.

The new proposals strengthen Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for town centres (PPS6) - the Government's 'town centres first' policy - and give councils more scope to refuse out of town development proposals that threaten the survival of high streets and small shops, are published today for consultation.

The policy has already helped revive town centres. There is more retail development in and around town centres than at any time during the last decade. But the Government wants to do more now to protect local shops at the heart of communities - particularly when we know that many are currently experiencing tough times on the high street.

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These revised planning rules keep the important 'sequential test' that requires the most central town centre sites to be developed first.

A tougher 'impact test' is being introduced which will give councils a better tool to prevent big developments that put small shops and town centres at risk. Using this test, Councils will now examine more factors including retail diversity, consumer spending, loss of trade, impact on town centre investment, scope for regeneration and job creation to ensure the vibrancy of town centres and high streets is protected against harmful development.

The revised policy will also remove the blunt and simplistic 'need test', which has unintentionally stifled diversity and consumer choice, by only assessing whether there was enough consumer expenditure capacity to support new retail floorspace such as an out of town supermarket. This has led to some new retail schemes on the fringes of the town centre - which could benefit the centre - being ruled out because out of town developments already fulfil that function.

Ms Blears said: "Town centres are the hearts of our communities. I want to see our town centres and independent shops busy and thriving and I'm absolutely committed to help defend their future.

"That is why we need to ensure that our policies maintain their effectiveness and they are responsive to future challenges. We need a policy which provides the right degree of protection for smaller retailers who are facing very challenging trading conditions and increased levels of competition."

(CD/JM)