In this month’s article, we look at opportunities in town centres for small, brownfield redevelopment to existing commercial sites.

This case study is slightly unusual in that it takes place in a Conservation Area and is adjacent to listed buildings. The building was only locally listed but was surrounded by listed buildings. The difference is discussed below.

However, it provides a great example of how with some persistence, careful planning and the right strategy, one can make the planning case for small commercial led opportunities in market towns and other small, town centres that might serve a local niche. This article only looks at the learnings from the planning aspects of this case. Any commercial and financial aspects are not the subject of this article.

Witney High Street – the opportunity
We were introduced to Joseph Jayne Developments in July 2024. They are a South-coast based developer who owned a property in Witney, a small, historic Oxfordshire market town.

The existing building comprised a ground floor car body shop and reconditioning premises with residential above. The ground floor runs very deep and the property backs directly on to the River Windrush to the rear.

The building itself was in a very poor state of repair, as can be seen from the following photographs. It was in unstable and structurally poor condition, would not have complied with modern fire regulations, especially for residential premises above commercial premises.