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Bargate Shopping Centre: Reimagining Southampton’s City Centre

In these uncertain times, responding to market challenges flexibly and pragmatically is vital for the success of our town centres and high streets.

The greatest opportunity to deliver genuinely positive change exists at the local level, and this undoubtedly requires clear local leadership and a commitment from developers and investors. Our recent success in securing planning permission on behalf of Tellon Capital for Bargate Shopping Centre in Southampton City Centre is an excellent example of this working in practice.

Policy to keep pace with change

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis (and associated Government restrictions on most town centre uses) has both impacted and exacerbated the shape and performance of our town centres, with vacancy rates on the up and consumer needs changing. Evidently, this is being driven by shopping habits shifting to online platforms, which in turn impacts the typical retail offer on high streets.

The rapid scale and pace of change is forcing policy makers (national and local) to rethink how best to manage and maintain functioning town centres. At the national scale Government has introduced various legislative changes alongside a new High Streets Strategy. This is at least in part with the aim of enabling a more flexible approach to the town centre to allow for an uncertain market. These changes include the introduction of the Class E and revisions to the existing Permitted Development Rights (PDR) to enable the change of use of Class E to residential uses (Class C3) (in effect from 1 August 2021). These PDR rights have the potential to boost housing delivery in sustainable urban locations, but could also have unintended consequences for struggling high streets if left unfettered.

With shifting policy, a real opportunity exists at a local level to deliver positive change for town centres and high streets. Local councils working collaboratively with developers and investors can drive the change we need. Our recent work on Bargate Shopping Centre in Southampton evidences how successfully this can work.

Bargate Shopping Centre – keeping pace with change in practice

Acting on behalf of Tellon Capital, we secured consent in 2019 for the mixed-use redevelopment of Bargate Shopping Centre. The permission would deliver 287 new homes, a 240 bedroom hotel and over 7,000 sq m of flexible retail floorspace, within Southampton’s town centre.

However, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis the consented scheme was rendered no longer viable. This was on the basis of fundamental changes in the local retail (including the closure of the neighbouring Debenhams) and the leisure and food beverage market, whereby the consented retail provision was too large and the proposed hotel would likely not generate sufficient demand for it to succeed.

A fresh approach was required, which could deliver positive, regenerative change in this key city centre site, whilst remaining viable. Following positive pre-application discussions, the council confirmed their support for taking a more pragmatic and ultimately flexible approach to the proposed mix of uses. The latest scheme will now deliver over 500 new homes (assisting in housing delivery and critically viability), alongside a reduced provision of 2,500 sq m of flexible commercial floorspace within Class E. 

Although this conflicted with Southampton’s retail policies, officers and members of the council agreed that the proposed mix and balance of uses would still be capable of delivering positive regenerative change in the city centre. The council recognised that the proposals would continue to deliver improvements to public realm; a significant number of much needed new high quality homes; and new flexible commercial floorspace appropriate to its context within this changeable market. All of which would ultimately contribute to the success of the city centre in long term.

“Tellon Capital are delighted with securing consent for the redevelopment of the Bargate Centre. The latest proposals are a pragmatic response to what has been a challenging time for the sector which will deliver significant positive regeneration to Southampton’s City Centre. We are grateful to Turley for leading on the planning application and achieving planning permission in what is a very tight project programme.”

Amy Jones, Head of Planning at Tellon Capital LLP

This case study demonstrates the potential benefits of a developer and council working flexibly, pragmatically, and importantly together, to realise substantial regenerative change in a town centre. Albeit via proposals which do not quite align with the perhaps now outdated retail and town centre local planning policy.

For more information on the Bargate project or our work in town centres more generally please contact Catriona Fraser or Sam Brown.  

16 August 2021

Image courtesy of of Architectural Designers Corstorphine + Wright