To achieve this objective, the SCCA strongly supports state and local government planning policies which encourage retail development in designated centres of population and commerce with good public transport links. By seeking to concentrate retail and commercial activities and public facilities in a network of urban centres with public transport access, ‘centres’ policies not only ensure sustainable development but also:

• protect the private and public investment in existing centres and encourage full use of infrastructure

• provide greater certainty for investment decisions on shopping centre development and redevelopment

• ensure there is a level playing field for all retail developments

In advocating a level planning playing field for retail development, the SCCA considers that retail development at airports should be subject to the same planning rules and developer contributions as retail developments on non-airport land.

We are also concerned at the increasing trend for non-bulky goods operators to seek to locate in industrial/bulky goods zones because of the lower cost of land in these zones compared to commercial/retail land. This is, of course, completely unfair to those shopping centres and retailers who have located in, and paid the higher price for, appropriately zoned retail land.

In both these cases, inappropriate out-of-centre development can only undermine existing centres and the public and private investment in them.