Marple's Performance in Context

Central Government requires that Local Authorities monitor the quality, vitality and viability of its retail centres. This is a necessary undertaking to assess the economic and environmental condition and to determine the impact of other retail developments. This assists us in formulating policies that will affect the future regeneration of the district centres in response to market pressure.

In 1996 the government produced guidance, Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) note 6, which sets out the way in which these assessments should take place. Marple is one of four District Centres within Stockport that is monitored at two yearly intervals as part of a Greater Manchester wide study. The following summarises recent trends across six indicators:

RENTAL LEVELS: Prime zone A rental level in the principle shopping area. (Supplied by the District Valuer) - Rental levels have continued to rise albeit by around a 3% increase. This is a positive indication of investor confidence.

PRIME RETAIL YIELD: These are a measure of the confidence of investors in long -term profitability. (Supplied by the District Valuer) -Yields for Marple has remained static at 9%. This is considered to be lower than other district centres within Greater Manchester of similar size.

Yields are determined expressing the market rent of a property as a percentage of its capital value and are an indication of future growth.

PEDESTRIAN FLOWS: (Provided by the Greater Manchester Transportation Unit GMTU) Pedestrian flows for 2001 are not yet available. However there is expected to be little change to previous findings where flows were found to be similar to other similar centres at low - moderate.

VACANCY RATES: Expressed in terms of % of all units for both primary and total frontages. The total number of shop vacancies has fallen from 16 units (8.7%) in 1999 to 13 units (5.9%) in 2001. This level of vacancy compares favourably with the other centres.

DIVERSITY OF USE: Identifying the different uses within the Central Shopping area of each centre. The findings indicate that class A1 (general shopping), overwhelmingly comparison shops, dominate the centre. The centre is well served by banking and financial / professional services (A2). Food and drink uses (A3 cafés, pubs and restaurants) are underrepresented. There would be a need to address this if development of an evening trade was considered appropriate. Furthermore, A3 uses would help to maximise the potential to draw a greater number of tourists and visitors to the centre.

RETAILER REPRESENTATION: Measured by the number of retail multiples in each centre according to the Retail Directory. The directory records 25 multiples within Marple for 2001, this is an increase of 4 on the 1999 figure. Albeit that these are largely the banking and professional services sector, the presence of the larger players is a positive indication of centre's viability. (* Retail multiple - retailer with 10 or more branches)

It is recognised that on their own none of the above indicators provides a definitive picture of a centre's health and performance and are only of value when considered together. The particular nature and character of each centre also means that these indicators should also be looked at in context. Consequently, PPG6 advocates a further four indicators for assessing the health of shopping centres. These 'other indicators' are outlined below.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
The physical condition and appearance of the centres themselves have a considerable bearing and influence on their viability and vitality. This includes buildings, the space between the buildings - and what they contain, the links between these spaces, noise, air pollution, litter, traffic etc. It is also important to recognise that this invariably includes both private and public property / landowners.

A local Urban Design Analysis (UDA) has been developed to guide a detailed analysis of a number of these issues and provide a consistency of approach across the Centres.

CUSTOMER VIEWS AND BEHAVIOUR
Through face to face on street surveys, feedback from meetings and other contacts not only have general attitudes been established but also valuable data on both trading and shopping patterns.

ACCESSIBILITY
The centre is well served in terms of access by car and public transport and there is adequate car parking provision. The physical layout of the area means that whilst some pedestrian links and elements of pedestrian circulation could be improved, it nevertheless is a relatively convenient compact and level centre. There is however no evident specific provision for cyclists, which is an area that could be explored.