Policy J/RC: Retail and other complementary town centre uses

What this policy does

This policy sets out the strategic approach to retail and other main town centre uses in ’s city, towns and villages, which includes a sequential approach to the location of retail and other main town centre uses in . This policy also sets out requirements for proposals that would result in the loss of retail other main town centre uses.

Policy J/RC: Retail and other complementary town centre uses

1. The will provide for the needs of retail and other town centre uses over the plan period by:

a. Directing these uses to both new and existing centres, proportionate to their scale and function, before considering edge of centre and out of centre sites through the application of a sequential approach;

b. Supporting, protecting and enhancing the vitality, viability and diversity of Cambridge City Centre as the primary retail, leisure and cultural centre for the sub-region;

c. Supporting the development of new town centres at Cambourne North, Waterbeach New Town, Northstowe, and smaller centres at strategic allocations in accordance with their role and function, that complement the vitality and viability of surrounding centres and do not compete with Cambridge City Centre;

d. Supporting, protecting and enhancing the vitality, vibrancy and diversity of ’s network and hierarchy of other designated and non-designated centres, which serve important day-to-day needs close to homes and places of work, and safeguarding key shops and services in smaller villages; and

e. Making better use of underutilised spaces wherever possible.

2. Cambridge’s network of existing and emerging designated city, town, district and local centres and non-designated neighbourhood centres and villages, including the role and function of such centres, is defined under the Hierarchy of Designated Centres, the Hierarchy of Non-Designated Centres and Emerging Centres. Proposals for new retail and other main town centre uses outside of designated centres must be supported by a sequential test, as defined in national planning policy, applying the following hierarchy of designated centres before considering edge-of centre and out- of-centre sites:

i. Cambridge City Centre;

ii. Existing and emerging District and Town Centres;

iii. Existing and emerging Local Centres.

A sequential test will not be required for proposals:

a. that in line with national planning policy, are for small scale rural offices or other small scale rural development;

b. for office development in locations identified as acceptable for employment uses and that meet the policy criteria identified in Policy J/NE; or

c. for other development at employment parks that meets the tests in Policy J/EP.

3. Across ’s network of centres, proposals for the redevelopment, intensification or creation of new retail and other main town centre uses will be supported provided they:

a. are appropriate and proportionate to the scale and function of the centre, as defined under the Hierarchy of Designated Centres and Hierarchy of Non- Designated Centres;

b. maintain or add to the vitality, viability and diversity of the centre;

c. do not give rise to significant detrimental effects, either individually or cumulatively, on the character or amenity of the area; and

d. for proposals at ground-floor level, make appropriate provision for an active frontage, such as a window display, which is in keeping with the character of the centre.

4. In designated centres (excluding the Primary Shopping Area), proposals should maximise opportunities to use non-ground-floor level spaces for both ancillary storage or office uses, or other retail and leisure uses that complement uses on other floors of the building. Residential development in centres will only be supported where:

a. there is no market demand for the existing unit as office, retail, leisure or cultural development, as demonstrated through an up-to-date marketing exercise for at least 12 months, in accordance with the guidance provided in Appendix G: Marketing, local needs assessments and viability appraisals of this showing that the premises are not reasonably capable of being used or redeveloped for an appropriate town centre use;

b. there are no nearby businesses linked to the evening / night-time economy and, or alternative cultural / live music / performance venues, which would be likely to attract noise complaints or have their operations restricted due to the development;

c. the development would not, either individually or cumulatively, undermine the centre’s ability to perform its role and function for the communities it serves;

d. the development makes appropriate provision for an active frontage at the ground floor level, which would maintain the character of the centre and make a positive contribution to its vibrancy; and

e. the development would not give rise, either individually or cumulatively, to a detrimental effect on an area’s character, access or amenity to its residents.

5. Across ’s network of centres (excluding the Primary Shopping Area), proposals that would result in the loss of any retail or other main town centre use or in the reconfiguration of separate planning units through the merging of two or more units or sub-division of a unit will only be supported where:

a. there is no market demand for the existing unit(s) or potential replacement unit(s) of the same size and use, as demonstrated through an up-to-date marketing exercise for at least 12 months in accordance with the guidance provided in Appendix G: Marketing, local needs assessments and viability appraisals of this demonstrating that the premises are not reasonably capable of being used or redeveloped for a town centre use acceptable in the centre; or

b. evidence is submitted that demonstrates the new use or reconfiguration of planning units (through merger or sub-division) would:

i. meet an identified need for alternative community, retail or leisure facilities;

ii. contribute positively to the vitality, viability and diversity of the centre; and

iii. not result in significant adverse impacts on surrounding uses.

6. Outside of ’s centres, proposals that would result in the loss of village shops and services resulting in an unacceptable reduction in the level of provision locally will generally be resisted. In such cases, applications will be considered against the criteria set out in Policy W/CF Community, Sports, and Leisure Facilities.

7. Unless specified in detail in a strategic allocation, proposals for new or amended centres, including a revised network of centres or quantum of retail and leisure space required within an allocation, should be accompanied by a Town Centre Impact Assessment to demonstrate that their scale is appropriate to the development they are intended to serve, and will avoid having any significant adverse impacts on the wider network of existing or planned centres.

8. Proposals for retail and other main town centre uses outside designated centres will only be permitted where:

a. the proposal is in an accessible location appropriate to the users it is intended to serve and well served by sustainable modes of transport, as appropriate;

b. the proposal has, where required to do so, demonstrated the use of the sequential test when considering sites for development, and no suitable alternative sites have been identified for the proposed development; and

c. for retail and leisure proposals where the development exceeds 300m2 of gross internal floorspace, the proposal is accompanied by a Town Centre Impact Assessment to demonstrate that there would be no significant adverse impacts on existing, committed and planned investment or on the vitality and viability of centres that may be affected.

’s Hierarchy of Designated Centres

Cambridge City Centre (including the Primary Shopping Area)

Role and function of City Centre: Primary sub-regional destination for larger-scale comparison retail, services, cultural facilities, and day-/night-time leisure uses.

District and Town Centres

Arbury Court
Cambourne*
Cambridge Retail Park / The Beehive
Cherry Hinton High Street
Histon Road
Mill Road East
Mill Road West
Mitcham’s Corner
Hills Road

Role and function of District and Town Centres: Larger centres meeting day-to-day needs close to where people live and work, including medium- and small-scale comparison and convenience retail, leisure and service needs; may serve a wider city and district catchment.

*Note: additional lower order centres, such as local or neighbourhood centres may also be planned in these new communities to meet local needs.

Local Centres

Arbury Court
Barnwell Road
Cherry Hinton Road East
Cherry Hinton Road West
Newnham Road
Trumpington
Newmarket Road
Railway Station (CB1)
Darwin Green
Orchard Park
Eddington
Marleigh
Springstead Village
Histon & Impington
Sawston
Great Shelford & Stapleford

Role and function: Smaller centres meeting day-to-day small-scale comparison and convenience retail and service needs for local areas by active travel or other sustainable means of travel.

’s Hierarchy of Non-Designated Centres

Neighbourhood Centres

Atkins Corner
Akeman Street
Campkin Way
Carlton Way
Chesterton High Street
Ditton Lane
Fairfax Road
Grantchester Street Newnham
Green End Road
Clay Farm
Brookgate / Hills Road
West Cambridge
Minor Rural Centres

Role and function: Accessible hubs for everyday convenience and service provision, providing walkable provision to small-scale units serving essential community needs or, for Minor Rural Centres, the needs of a wider rural hinterland.

’s Designated Centres

Town Centres

Northstowe
Waterbeach New Town
Grange Farm

District Centres

Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Cambridge East
North East Cambridge

Local Centres

Bourn Airﬁeld

Supporting information

In preparing the , the Councils have taken into consideration the changing nature of ’s settlements, the inﬂuence of the internet on trading, an increasing demand for cultural and leisure services, and the level of forecast employment and population growth across the sub-region. Retailing and town centre visitation has been in a state of ﬂux since the Covid-19 Pandemic and the growth of internet shopping.

This uncertainty reinforces the need to protect the varying sizes of town and local centres to allow them to recover and evolve. The policy directs the development of new leisure and cultural facilities, hotels, and other visitor accommodation to ’s network of centres to support a broader range of activities and underpin the sub-region’s role as a visitor and cultural destination.

The strategic approach to the development of retail and other main town centre uses prioritises the delivery of such uses in identiﬁed centres, proportionate to the role and function of that centre. ’s hierarchy of centres comprises of its larger Designated Centres (including Cambridge’s Primary Shopping Area) set out in Hierarchy of Designated Centres and the Hierarchy of Non-Designated Centres, some of which are anticipated to emerge through the development of new towns and urban extensions, and smaller ‘Non-Designated’ Centres, set out in the hierarchy of non- designated Centres.

The geographical extent of existing designated centres and non-designated centres has been deﬁned on the Policies Map. New settlements and other allocations will also deliver their own network of Emerging Centres to meet the needs of future occupiers, set out in the Emerging Centres. These centres will be deﬁned at the later stages of the planning process, and they will be included on future iterations of the Policies Map. Upon delivery of an emerging centre, they will be considered an active location within the sequential approach set out within this policy.

Across ’s network of centres, proposals for the redevelopment, intensiﬁcation or creation of new retail and other main town centre uses should enhance the environment and economy within these centres with proposals of a size and scale that is commensurate to the centre’s function. The Hierarchy of Designated Centres deﬁnes the role and function of different tiers of the hierarchy, to guide the appropriateness of proposals. Investment is strongly supported at all levels of the hierarchy to enhance the range of businesses and facilities available locally.

The policy also actively supports proposals that maximise the re-use of space, in particular non-ground ﬂoorspaces which may be otherwise not be contributing to the vibrancy of the centre. This policies prioritises the provision of ancillary spaces which support the ongoing viability of town centre uses in the ground ﬂoor or the provision of complimentary retail or leisure uses on other ﬂoors, but does not preclude proposals for other complimentary main town centre uses or other uses meet with the requirements in this policy and other policies elsewhere in this (for example, Policy WS/CF Community, Sports and Leisure Facilities).

In relation to proposals for residential uses, national planning policy encourages housing in town centres to support their vitality and viability and diversify uses beyond traditional retail. Residential may therefore be appropriate in certain circumstances, subject to the additional requirements set out in the policy, which are designed to secure a high quality of development that would avoid conﬂict between potential future residents and existing/future businesses and maintain the character of the centre, ultimately safeguarding and prioritising the its primary role and function.

Such an approach is supported by the Cultural Strategy (2025), which recommends guarding against forms of development adjacent to venues that might put the live music offer at risk of noise complaints and other challenges to their operations. This element of the policy does not apply in the PSA, which is subject to separate policy stipulations in J/SA reﬂecting its unique, sub-regional role and function.

Cambridge City Centre performs an important sub-regional role by providing a wide range of uses, including leisure, entertainment, cultural venues, museums, and faculty and student accommodation. In Cambridge City Centre, sub-regional facilities such as large retail shops, performance venues and other popular leisure activities will be directed to this location including those uses which attract large volumes of people, given its numerous transport connections.

District and Town Centres are important in providing for day-to-day needs close to where people live and work. They are the second tier of the centres hierarchy and are characterised by the range of shops and facilities they offer that would appeal to a larger catchment than Local Centres. In Town and District Centres, food stores and other town centre uses will be supported that are of a scale commensurate to the size and catchment area of the centre. Smaller retail units will also be supported to encourage independent shops, cafés and restaurants along with other local service providers.

Local Centres are important in providing shops and facilities that can be accessed by foot and bicycle rather than having to travel by car, but their catchments and the services and facilities on offer within centres are more limited. Typically, they provide a cluster of shops and services. Settlements identiﬁed as Rural Centres in the settlement hierarchy have also been identiﬁed as “Local Centres” because Rural Centres are the largest, most sustainable villages in , offering employment opportunities, and a variety of services and facilities that can be accessed using good public transport services.

Neighbourhood Centres are particularly valuable in providing for the everyday needs of smaller communities. In Cambridge, Neighbourhood Centres are small parades of shops that are identiﬁed on the policies map.

In ’s Minor Rural Centres are also identiﬁed as Neighbourhood Centres in the centre’s hierarchy, reﬂecting the level of services present compared with other, smaller villages in the area. They often perform a role in terms of providing services and facilities for a small rural hinterland. However, speciﬁc Neighbourhood Centre areas have not been identiﬁed on the Policies Map within Minor Rural Centres, as the services and facilities in these villages are often dispersed across the settlement, and instead the Minor Rural Centres’ Deﬁned Extent will be considered the extent of the Neighbourhood Centre in each case. While smaller villages could also beneﬁt from a mix of more locally available dispersed services, these should be of size that will not undermine nearby shops and services.

Where the development of main town centre uses is proposed outside of a designated centre, sequential testing and Town Centre Impact testing will be required in line with national planning policies and guidance and the thresholds established in the policy. This will help to ensure that such development is, wherever possible, focused in established centres, supporting their vibrancy and vitality, whilst reﬂecting that smaller developments can still play a role in supporting the sustainability of individual communities, particularly smaller villages. In all cases, applicants will be required to demonstrate that the proposed location is accessible to the users the development it is intended to serve and well served by sustainable modes of transport appropriate to those users, which may include walking and cycling as appropriate.

In some cases, sequential testing would not be appropriate for out of centre proposals, and the policy makes clear when this will not be applied. National policy speciﬁcally exempts small scale rural developments, including ofﬁces, from the application of the sequential test so as not to unduly restrict proposals that would support the economic vitality and sustainability of smaller communities, which may be some distance from ’s network of centres.

Additionally, a speciﬁc exemption is made for ofﬁce proposals that otherwise accord with the locational preferences and other requirements set out in Policy J/NE, reﬂecting ’s successful network of science parks and campuses which provide a range of appropriate locations for such development outside of identiﬁed centres. To support the vibrancy and sustainability of employment parks and campuses, a speciﬁc exemption is also made for town centre uses (other than ofﬁces) in these locations, should they be of a scale that only meet the need derived by their employment operations and not undermine the viability of other centres. While sequential testing would not be applied to such proposals, they will instead need to adhere to the requirements of Policy J/EP.

Most retail and leisure proposals outside of centres will be required to demonstrate through a Town Centre Impact Assessment that, in line with national policy and guidance, there would be no signiﬁcant adverse impacts on existing, committed and planned investment or on the vitality and viability of centres that may be affected. The preparation of a Town Centre Impact Assessment should follow the government’s guidance on impact tests as set out within the Town Centres and Retail planning guidance (or successor guidance documents).

In , this will be required for all such proposals exceeding 300m2 of gross internal ﬂoorspace. This reﬂects the recommendations of the Retail and Leisure Study (2025) which identiﬁed a threshold of 300m2 as an appropriate means of identifying proposals that would be more than “just local” in nature and scale, with a stronger consumer trade draw and therefore higher potential impact on existing ﬂoorspace. The requirement to test proposals above this threshold will help to reinforce and protect ’s network of centres. Proposals solely for other town centre uses (i.e. excluding retail and leisure) will not be required to undertake Town Centre Impact testing.

In addition, Town Centre Impact Assessments will also be required to test the impacts of new centres on existing designated centres, including a new or revised ‘local’ network of centres. This includes some of the emerging centres expected to come forward as part of the Plan’s proposed site allocations, as in some circumstances it will not always be possible for retail evidence prepared during plan-making to be able to accurately quantify the amount of retail and commercial leisure ﬂoorspace that a large development will generate, or identify a network of centres for the allocation, reﬂecting the longer timeframe over which some of these sites will come forward.

Changes in consumer trends, transport improvements and other retail developments within the development’s catchment area will affect demand for new shops and other town centre services, which cannot be fully addressed through the . This is most likely to be encountered when a development’s scheduled start date is not expected until the later part of the Plan period. Where impact testing is necessary in such situations, we would expect the detailed approach to impact testing to be agreed with the local planning in advance of submitting the application, and for the following speciﬁc requirements to be met:

the completion of a household survey covering the catchment area of the proposed development, which may include areas beyond the boundaries of ;
an assessment of the settlements that may be affected, including their current economic performance, vitality and vibrancy;
the use of industry recognised economic data modelling and analytics to quantify the need generated by the development proposal; and
where a network of centres is proposed, details justifying their number, size and compatibility with ’s Hierarchy of Designated and Non- Designated Centres as outlined in Policy J/RC: Retail and Other Complementary Town Centre Uses.

Making the best use of sites in existing and emerging centres reduces the pressure for the development of new sites, including new sites in out-of-centre locations. The number and size of units in each of these centres should maintain a healthy balance between small, medium and larger units for retail and other services. Generally, independent retailers prefer smaller units and bring a more varied mix of retail options while chain store operators prefer larger units which help attract people to the high street, driving footfall that can draw people to less well-known smaller shops. This mix of retailers can create both a vibrant and diverse shopping experience which cannot be so easily derived from online shopping. Sites should therefore be retained in main town centre uses wherever possible, as they provide important services to residents and visitors.

The Local Planning Authorities will therefore resist proposals that seek the loss of retail, leisure and other main town centre uses across its network of centres, particularly within designated centres, unless compelling evidence is presented that demonstrates there is no market demand for the site’s existing use, or that the proposal would demonstrably meet an identiﬁed community need. The sub-division of any retail unit should ensure the remaining units retain sufﬁcient ancillary storage/ofﬁce space to remain commercially viable. Proposals for the merger of any retail units should take into consideration the availability of alternative, similar sized retail units in the same centre and any nearby centres. Low vacancy rates in these centres would indicate the current range of units is meeting an identiﬁed need, and therefore any re-conﬁguration of these units and their sizes should be resisted.

Cambridge City’s Primary Shopping Area is deﬁned separately on the Policies Map due to its special multi-functional role within ’s economic network and the wider sub-region. This policy’s requirements regarding the loss of ﬂoorspace or changes to unit sizes for main town centre uses do not apply to proposals within the Primary Shopping Area as these are dealt with separately in Policy J/SA.

Changes to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted ) Order have resulted in various planning uses that were previously distinct being categorised under Use Class E (commercial, business and service). Change of use between the different types of planning uses listed under Class E does not, in itself, constitute development, and subsequently does not normally require planning permission. Whilst recognising the beneﬁts and ﬂexibility that Class E can bring, it also increases the risk of main town centre uses emerging in inappropriate edge-of-centre and out-of-centre locations, which could harm the vibrancy and vitality of ’s network of centres and eventually lead to the loss of retail and other town centre uses.

Similarly, valuable retail, leisure and other main town centres uses could in some cases be changed to other uses within Class Use E. The policy seeks to minimise this by establishing clear criteria for most development involving main town centre uses outside of ’s existing and emerging designated centres. However, the councils may apply other planning controls to safeguard main town centre uses in the most appropriate locations in the hierarchy of centres and reduce the proliferation of such uses elsewhere, including applying conditions on new development limiting the ability to change key retail or leisure ﬂoorspace to other uses within Use Class E without the need for planning permission. Other Permitted Rights may also be subject to restrictions dependent on local circumstances.

Outside ’s network of centres, reﬂecting the vital role of small shops and community spaces located in smaller villages, proposals requiring planning permission that would result in the loss of a local community facility, including shops mostly selling essential goods, will be resisted in line with the requirements in policy WS/CF: Community, Sports, and Leisure Facilities.

Policy J/RC: Retail and other complementary town centre uses

Consultation runs from: 1 December 2025 9:00am - 30 January 2026 5:00pm

What this policy does