The Strategy for Bexhill Town Centre is to:

(iii) 'Provide for some 2,500 sqm additional convenience goods and 4,000 sqm comparison goods floorspace, primarily through 'edge of centre' retail expansion on the north side of the railway, as well as effective use of town centre accommodation.'

Paragraph 8.38

Supporting text of Policy BX2 sets out that "north side of the railway" will include the area from Sea Road through to Terminus Road, including the southern end of Beeching Road.

Comments:

Policy EC3 of PPS4 states local planning authorities should set out a strategy for the management and growth of centres over the plan period by (a) setting flexible policies for their centres which are able to respond to changing economic circumstances and encourage, where appropriate, high-density development accessible by public transport, walking and cycling.

We consider that policies in the Core Strategy should be flexible and feasible to meet the short, medium and long term demand.

There is currently no scheme coming forward to develop the identified land at north side of the railway for retail development. The certainty and timescale of delivery for this edge of centre site remains unknown and this site is unlikely to be available in the short or medium term. In order to be consistent with the objectives of national policy PPS4, Policy BX2 should allow retail provision to meet the short and medium term demand, subject to the sequential assessment as set out in PPS4 Policy EC15.

In addition, local planning authorities should also consider setting floorspace thresholds for the scale of edge of centre and out of centre developments which should be subject to an impact assessment under (EC16.1 of PPS4) and specify the geographic areas these thresholds will apply to as set out in EC3d of PPS4.