Delivering adequate shopping provision

The following objective is from the core strategy.

A healthy and vibrant city centre is essential to Plymouth’s economic well-being. We also want to ensure that everyone has access to the range of local shops that meet their needs. This means addressing the gaps in provision across the city.

Like the rest of the country, retail outlets in Plymouth have been badly affected by the recession and some centres have experienced more shop closures than others.

There are a number of facts and figures that we monitor to help us build up a picture of what is happening in the city. This information is used to help decide what development proposals and policies would help shops in the city.

Did you know that:

• Drake Circus opened in 2006 providing over 26,000 square metres of retail floorspace.
• Since 2006 there have been 6,182 square metres of retail floorspace built in the city.
• The retail vacancy rate in Plymouth City Centre is 10.9 per cent compared with a south west average of 14 per cent.
• Plans have been approved for new retail centres at Devonport, Millbay and Plymstock Quarry

Find out more by looking at the following sections:

• New retail capacity
• New retail centres
• Vacancy and non A1 use

This page of the annual monitoring report was last updated December 2011.