White Cliffs Business Park, Dover – 2025 Planning Overview

Overview

Simply Planning Limited has worked with and continues to work with major household names to deliver large projects quickly and efficiently. The White Cliffs Business Park in Dover represents just one of these schemes, and a demonstration of the application process.

This project secured full planning approval via delegated authority for a Lidl Foodstore in an out-of-centre location on the outskirts of Dover. The proposal represented an investment in excess of 7 million pounds and created over 40 full-time and part-time jobs. However, owing to the site’s out-of-centre location, a robust sequential assessment was required, which proved a major point of contention.

By way of background, the National Planning Policy Framework seeks to locate new retail development in town centre locations. However, this desire to locate retail schemes in town centres may not always align with occupier requirements. Where a retail scheme is proposed in an out-of-centre location, councils will request a full sequential assessment and retail impact assessment. These assessments are required to demonstrate there are no suitable sites in sequentially preferable locations and that the impact of a proposal will not harm the viability of town or city centres.

For the White Cliffs Business Park, we demonstrated that just 0.49M of trade would be directed from Dover Town Centre and that this trade would be diverted from two major competitors instead of harming the centre itself. In addition, our expertise meant we had no issues discounting all other sites which may have been suitable for the scheme.

Simply Planning punch well beyond our weight with regard to retail planning. We are trusted by the largest retails names to secure planning permission without fuss. Choose the best by choosing Simply Planning Limited’s expert team of planning and retail consultants.