News on OPDC

Focus on: Town Centres

Town centres are often the core of thriving communities and this article is focused exclusively on them as outlined in the OPDC draft local plan. Town Centre uses is a technical planning term, but it broadly covers the businesses you would expect to find on a high street: cafes, shops, cinemas, banks etc. It does not include residential and industrial uses of an area.

What we want to find out through this consultation is how these possible uses can help to meet the needs of those living, working or visiting Old Oak and Park Royal and how they can help to create the identity and feel of the place. We want Old Oak and Park Royal to be a place that the whole community – and surrounding neighbourhoods – want to come to meet friends, do their shopping, have a coffee and generally want to visit and see as an asset to the area.

If you are enjoying the technical part of this consultation, then Town Centre uses are defined as:

“Retail development (including warehouse clubs and factory outlet centres); leisure, entertainment facilities; the more intensive sport and recreation uses (including cinemas, restaurants, drive-through restaurants, bars and pubs, night-clubs, casinos, health and fitness centres, indoor bowling centres, and bingo halls); offices; and arts, culture and tourism development (including theatres, museums, galleries and concert halls, hotels and conference facilities).”

The section on Town Centres contains 7 policy options covering the following: (Click on any of the policy headings to find out more and leave your thoughts and feedback on the plans)

TC1: Strategic Policy for town centre uses

Supporting uses that will kick-start the area and town centre to serve the community needs

Delivering a network of vibrant town centres that complements nearby existing centres

TC2: Town centre hierarchy

Designating Old Oak High Street as a major centre

Designating North Acton and Park Royal as two smaller Town Centres

Outlining the approach for assessing the acceptability of out of centre retail

TC3: Vibrancy

Supporting uses that add to the vitality of town centres and that create and activate the streets and open spaces

Promoting the establishment of Small and Medium Enterprises and retailers

Controlling the negative impacts of betting shops, payday loan shops, games arcades and takeaways

TC4: Retail and eating and drinking establishment needs

Identifying the need for these businesses

Identifying how they should be distributed across the town centres

Ensuring that there are strategies in place to minimise the impact on surrounding centres

TC5: Culture, sports and leisure facilities

Supporting the creation of a cultural, sporting and leisure destination at Old Oak, serving both the local community and appealing to a London-wide catchment as well

Ensuring that any negative impacts of these uses are minimised for the surrounding neighbourhoods

Securing affordable pricing structures

TC6: Visitor accommodation

Supporting the creation of hotels in designated areas

Requiring this provision of hotels to meet a range of affordabilities and access

TC7: Evening night time economy uses

Controlling the hours of operation of night time business activities so that any disturbances are minimised

Consultation Questions

For each of the policy areas in the OPDC Local Plan, we need your views on the preferred policy option and/or whether any alternative options should be considered. Your input is crucial to Old Oak and Park Royal’s future.

So please provide comments on these policies online .

We also ask some specific questions against certain policies and we would like your thoughts on these issues:

TC3 Vibrancy : What restrictions should be identified for betting shops, pay-day loan shops, games arcades and takeaways?

TC5 Culture, sports and leisure facilities : What culture, sports and leisure uses do you think OPDC should look to attract to the area?

TC5 Culture, sports and leisure facilities : Where should such uses be located and why?

TC7 Night-time economy uses : If OPDC were to adopt the proposed alternative policy, what locations might be suitable for more flexible hours of operation for businesses that operate in the night?

Posted on 1st March 2016

by OPDC Team