Archived press release

Supermarket planning rules must not be weakened, says new report

29 April 2007

Supermarkets are using their power and resources to manipulate the planning system in order to build or expand their stores, a new report by Friends of the Earth reveals today.

The report, Shopping the Bullies, [1] comes as the Government considers a major shake-up of planning rules which could tip the balance even further in favour of supermarkets. The Competition Commission is also considering whether current planning rules restrict competition and may back a weakening of the system. Friends of the Earth says that planning laws should be strengthened - not weakened - to curb the growth in supermarket development.

Friends of the Earth's report examined 50 case studies across the country (see below for examples) and gauged the opinion of 59 local authority planning officers. It found that supermarket manipulation of the planning system appears to be widespread. The report concluded that:

• Supermarket planning application submissions are often inconsistent or substandard and in some cases inaccurate and misleading.

• The mismatch between the considerable resources of supermarkets and those available to local planning authorities gives the retail giants an advantage in the planning system.

• Big chains have the ability to offer `sweeteners' to local authorities, giving them an advantage over other operators. Their ability to fund major developments sometimes allows them to overcome valid planning objections.

• Local authorities are sometimes fearful that supermarkets may appeal against the refusal of a planning application, leading to extra expense and claims for costs. This may influence decision-making.

• Supermarkets are using legal clauses in land deals with local authorities which prevents retail developments by their rivals being considered.

• Supermarkets sometimes disregard conditions attached to planning permissions, even where these are aimed at protecting town centres such as restrictions on the amount of floorspace or range of goods to be sold.

Friends of the Earth's supermarket campaigner Sandra Bell said:

"Supermarkets are using their power and resources to ride roughshod over the planning system. All too often the wishes of local communities get overlooked. The Government's proposals to make it even easier for supermarkets to build vast out of town hypermarkets are not needed and would be a disaster for our town centres and independent shops. The Government should strengthen planning controls, not weaken them."

The report also examined the likely impacts of the Government's proposed changes to retail planning policy. In May the Government is expected to consult on plans to remove the `need test' - which requires supermarkets to justify a new out-of-town store by demonstrating a requirement for additional retail floorspace. Local planning officers surveyed by Friends of the Earth warned that this move would undermine attempts to promote town centres [2]:

Planning officers also warned that removal of the `need test' would make it harder to promote sustainable forms of development and may lead to increased reliance on car-based shopping.

Friends of the Earth has set out nine key recommendations to strengthen the planning system for retail developments and promote a more diverse range of shops providing more vibrant towns and more choice for shoppers. These include:

• Amend national planning policy to remove bias in favour of big supermarkets and strengthen policy areas aimed at achieving a diverse retail mix

• Maintain and strengthen the `need test' so that it promotes local retail diversity and vibrant shopping areas.

• Make more expertise available to local authorities in order to assess, and where necessary challenge, supermarket submissions

• Reform the system of planning gain so that big supermarkets cannot use it to overcome valid planning objections

• Allow store ownership to be considered in planning decisions to reduce local dominance

Notes

[1] Shopping the Bullies (PDF† format - 613K)

[2] see `New threats to the planning system' in the above report (from page 33)

Examples of case studies and views:

Inadequate and inaccurate supermarket submissions

On the standard of supermarket submissions a planning officer from a North East authority commented:

"Most of the time assessments are poor, misleading or inaccurate. Assumptions are subject to personal interpretation and conclusions are relatively weak…the whole issue is mired in deceit."

Planning Inspectors have also found fault with the submissions that supermarkets make in support of their new stores - Friends of the Earth has found Inspectors referring to an Asda submission that contained "numerical mysteries on a grand scale" and concluding that "I do not feel that I can have the necessary confidence in their figures to support the proposed development"

The quality of supermarket submissions is a problem because local planning authorities often lack the resources to be able to challenge them. Dr Alan Hallsworth of the University of Surrey sums the problem up: "There are nowadays many large authorities with virtually no-one who can read a retail proposal and make sense of it. Of course, that also incentivises any developer who has a controversial scheme to make it as complex as possible - in the hope that Planners will simply give up in despair".

Supermarkets' ability to offer sweeteners and fund major developments

A Tesco development was given the go-ahead in Streatham, London despite previous objections on the basis that it had revised its plans to include the rebuilding of local leisure facilities. The Mayor of London had demanded that Lambeth council refuse the application and said that it was "contrary to good strategic planning for greater London", "did not reflect sustainable development principles" and had "inadequate design quality". But these concerns were pushed aside when Tesco signed an agreement to rebuild the leisure facilities.

In Coventry Tesco's largest store in Europe (at that time) was granted permission on the basis of being part of a bigger mixed-use development including a football stadium. A local councillor admitted that "If it turns out that there were not to be a stadium, just this superstore… it would be really, really bad for Bedworth… Even if the whole development goes ahead it will have an effect on Bedworth, but that's almost acceptable because of the whole package."

Fear of costs being awarded against the council

In Peasedown St John in Somerset, Parish councillors were shocked that the risk of costs being awarded against the local authority was put to them before they took a decision on whether to grant permission to a new Tesco store. Parish Councillor Mary Kennedy is sure that this influenced the decision commenting that "You could feel the atmosphere change from one of support for us to one of away from us and to the developers. Even the discussion before this remark was to refuse the application". Mary Kennedy feels that the resources of supermarkets like Tesco gives them a huge advantage in these cases "The feeling is our village is that because the likes of Tesco have an army of people involved in getting planning application through, volunteers like myself, a Parish Councillor, have no chance against them"

Supermarkets using legal clauses in land deals to restrict rivals development

Friends of the Earth has found several cases where supermarket chains have imposed restrictive clauses on land sale agreements with local authorities which have prevented the authority selling land to rival chains.

In Sheringham in Norfolk the council signed an agreement with Tesco over the sale of land which included a clause which prevented the council from promoting any competing development or planning application. The council's interpretation of this clause has led it to withhold the sale of council owned land to a rival retailer wishing to develop a smaller and more centrally located site. It also appears to have influenced the council's consideration of the planning application for the new Tesco store.

In Liverpool Tesco pushed the council into agreeing a restrictive clause which prevented retail use on a former school site (which Asda had expressed an interest in) in the city for five years. The council was concerned that if it did not agree to restricting retail use on the school site Tesco would withdraw from the site it was planning to develop and "the City Council will lose substantial income". A resolution by the council not to sell the land was not good enough for Tesco which insisted on a Deed of Covenant.

Supermarkets try to avoid planning conditions imposed by local authorities

Local planning authorities attach conditions to planning permissions for sound reasons such as avoiding disturbance to residents; improving the appearance of developments and protecting town centres. Friends of the Earth have found that, on a number of occasions, these have been disregarded by major supermarkets. The case of Stockport is probably the best known where Tesco built its store larger than the planning permission allowed for - in this case Tesco was allowed to get away with the breach of planning permission with no penalty - astonishing local residents.

But supermarkets commonly use staged applications in order to try to get planning permission for a larger store. Local planning authorities normally restrict the size of supermarket developments or restrict the range of goods sold in order to protect existing shops in the town centre. But big supermarkets do not seem to respect this. In Ruthin, Denbighshire Tesco applied to increase the size of its store by over 50% a week after the store had opened. In Carlisle, Cumbria Tesco applied to increase the floorspace of the store by 78% before building had even started.

And in Sheringham, Norfolk Tesco has disputed a long list of conditions which the council had voted to impose on its store should permission be granted including conditions clearly aimed at ensuring visitors to the store could also shop easily at the existing high street stores.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust