The Conservative Party has pledged to reverse Labour’s PPS4 national planning regulations that have favoured out-of-town retail development if they are returned to power.

In its policy green paper Open Source Planning, the party promised: “We will undo Labour’s changes to planning rules which have weakened councils’ ability to stop unwanted out-of-town development. We will ensure that a needs test is readopted, and will enable local councils to take competition issues into account when formulating their local plans.”

The proposals have delighted the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), which has long criticised Labour’s slackening of the planning regime. ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This announcement is an indication that politicians are listening to the concerns of local shops and is another milestone in a long-running ACS campaign to ensure that the planning system is fit for the future challenges facing retailers and communities.

"The removal of the needs test was a backward step in retail planning policy that is vital to the unique identity of our town centres. Much of the new PPS4 is to be welcomed, but the removal of the needs test was a mistake, and we would like to see the Conservatives, if elected, insert the needs test into this policy.”

But ACS believes there will be pressure to stick with the prevailing regime. Lowman said: “In order to encourage investment in new retail space at the end of a recession, there will be a strong temptation for councils, under pressure from self-interested large developers, to free up out-of-town development. Government policy should promote retail diversity where there is room for large and small competitors, specialist retailers and independently owned stores.”