Bromsgrove Town Centre Health Check
The main purpose of a Town Centre Health Check is to monitor the
vitality and viability of Bromsgrove town centre. This report
follows the methodology for health check process in
Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic
Growth. This report will be used to inform the review of site
allocations and town centre policies, particularly the Town Centre Area
Action Plan. The report also enables early signs of change of
town centres to be identified and informs the type of action that
should be taken.
The report is divided into two parts. The first part gives an
overview on Bromsgrove in terms of the local economy, economic
performance, the population and workforce, the labour market and
the labour and property markets. Data is collected via desktop
surveys such as online data from the Office of National Statistic
(ONS), the
Valuation Office Agency (
VOA
), Worcestershire County
Council, West Midlands Regional Observatory and Property Mall
Control Panel’s websites and also Bromsgrove’s Annual Monitoring
Report.
The second part of the report covers the town
centre health check indicators. The following works were undertaken
for data collection:
- Residents’ questionnaire in relation
to the Bromsgrove Town Centre Area Action Plan was sent out in
summer 2008 and a report on the findings was produced by the
Worcestershire County Council in November 2008. A total of 1,200
completed questionnaires were returned.
- Street surveys were undertaken for
the town centre primary, secondary shopping streets and other
streets within the town centre zone during July 2011. The type of
business using the premises and vacant shops were recorded in the
survey.
- Pedestrian flow surveys were
undertaken throughout July 2011. Four locations in the primary
shopping area were monitored from 0900 to 1000, 1200 to 1300 and
1500 to 1600, with each location being observed for 10 minutes. The
counts were based on the total volume of people travelling on the
street, including people travelling by the counter more than once
in either direction.
- The amount of floor space in primary shopping
area and part of secondary area are obtained from Goad Plan. It
only shows the footprint floor space and therefore should not be
read as a definitive report of floor space.
- Commercial yield of shops and zone A rent in
Bromsgrove town centre are supplied by a local estate agent.
Previous Health Checks
If you have any queries regarding the
Bromsgrove Town Centre Health Check please do not hesitate to
contact us by either emailing us at ldf@bromsgrove.gov.uk or by
calling the Strategic Planning Team on 01527 881328.
