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RETAILING, SERVICES AND OFFICESINTRODUCTION Cookstown is the primary commercial centre serving the District. It has a well developed and vibrant town centre where the majority of retail, service and other business uses within the District are located. The main shopping area stretches from Oldtown Street through William Street to James Street and is complemented by the shopping facilities on Burn Road and Molesworth Street. There is also a superstore in the southern part of the town, at Sweep Road. Local shops are also found in a number of locations outside the town centre. The larger villages of Coagh, Moneymore, Pomeroy and Stewartstown provide an important commercial focus for their extensive rural hinterlands. There is also a substantial number of isolated local retail and service facilities located in the smaller villages and wider rural area of the District, particularly close to the Lough Neagh shore. Cookstown is also the District’s administrative and financial centre. Within the town centre’s principal shopping area there are several banks, building societies and other financial services operating from ground floor premises. There is also a number of other offices operating from small premises often above existing shops. The District Council Offices are located close to the town centre as are other Government Offices. Over the plan period, it is anticipated that there is scope for increased employment opportunities within the service sector. REGIONAL PLANNING CONTEXTThe Regional Development Strategy (RDS) emphasises the need to sustain attractive vibrant town centres performing a multi-functional role as prime locations for retail, services, administrative, leisure and cultural facilities. Cookstown is identified as a main hub, which has an important role to play in the life and economy of Rural Northern Ireland. The RDS aims to:
The Department’s regional planning policies for retailing in Cookstown District are currently set out in Planning Policy Statement 5 (PPS 5): Retailing and Town Centres. Regional planning policies for office development in Cookstown District are currently set out in A Planning Strategy for Rural Northern Ireland. The Department published in January 2003 a public consultation draft revision of Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS 4): Industry, Business and Retailing, Services and Offices Distribution. The Department for Regional Development is currently revising PPS 5 and working towards publishing a public consultation draft. Relevant supplementary planning guidance is contained in the following series of Development Control Advice Notes (DCANs):
Cookstown town centre provides the most convenient and attractive location for a range of retailing, commercial and other facilities within the District. The Department considers that it is important to promote this location as the main focus for new retail and other commercial development in the town for the benefit of the community at large. Development proposals within the town centre will be processed in accordance with prevailing regional planning policy currently contained within PPS 5: Retailing and Town Centres. The town centre is identified on the Cookstown Town Centre Map No. 36b.
The Primary Retail Core consists of the town centre’s main shopping attractions. These include a supermarket and a wide variety of smaller convenience and comparison goods shops. There is also a healthy mix of professional and financial services, such as banks and building societies, which are complemented by a cinema and a number of restaurants, cafes and public houses. This part of the town centre also hosts a Saturday Street Market and is within easy access of the town centre car parks and the bus station. In order to ensure that the town centre remains attractive and convenient to shoppers it is important to maintain a compact and easily accessible retail core. Development proposals within the Primary Retail Core will be processed in accordance with prevailing regional planning policy currently contained within PPS 5: Retailing and Town Centres. The extent of the Primary Retail Core is defined on the Cookstown Town Centre Map No. 36b.
Secondary Shopping Frontages are important to the overall vitality and viability of the town centre, often providing lower cost retail units for specialist shopping and retail services. They also provide important linkages, as in Molesworth Street, which links the bus station within the retail core. Accordingly, in order to ensure that these frontages do not become ‘dead’ frontages and lose their vitality and viability, it is important to ensure that uses complement the retail function of the town centre. Complementary uses include professional and financial services, restaurants, hot food takeaways, betting shops and amusement arcades. The Secondary Shopping Frontages are identified on the Cookstown Town Centre Map No. 36b. There is a number of other shops within the town centre but outside the Primary Retail Core and Secondary Shopping Frontages. Some of these units may prove difficult to let for retail or retail related uses and as a result a more flexible approach to land use is appropriate. In some instances such units may provide suitable accommodation for business starter units and light industrial uses.
In order to promote the vitality and viability of
Cookstown town centre, and provide land for commercial growth, a number
of Opportunity Sites is designated. These comprise a mixture of
under-utilised and vacant sites, some of which were previously used for
industry. Also included is the existing agricultural mart, which if
relocated would present a major redevelopment opportunity in the heart
of the town centre. The Opportunity Sites are identified on the Cookstown Town Centre Map No. 36b.
The Department seeks to ensure that all housing zonings in Cookstown are reasonably accessible to the town centre, which provides a full range of shops. There is also a number of convenience shops beyond the town centre that helps meet the daily shopping needs of local residents. These shops are particularly important for the elderly and other people whose mobility is impaired. Where housing zonings do not benefit from ease of access to existing shopping facilities, the Department considers that there would be significant benefits to local residents by the provision of local convenience shopping. Part 3 of the Plan identifies those housing zonings to which this policy applies.
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