Richmond Council's plans to protect Teddington high street and other town centres in the borough could be ended with a letter from the government, Nub News has learned.

Under new government laws, shops can be turned into houses without the consent of the Council - by using Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) to change the building's class of use.

In response,the Council made an Article 4 Direction which would block the use of PDRs to change the use of buildings from "business, commercial of service" (class E) to "dwelling" (class C3).

But the Direction needs to be approved by the Secretary of State before it comes into force on July 2022.

And in an interview with Nub News, Teddington Councillor Martin Elengorn pointed out that the government has the power to overrule this.

Councillor Elengorn, the vice chairman of the borough's Richmond's Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Committee, spoke to our reporter Rory Poulter in the video interview above.

He said: "We are subject to the Government being able to annul any such direction if they think it is reversing the trend of the policy they have in mind.

"We have to be very careful about this.

advertisement

"We have to notify them of any such direction and they just have to write a letter saying 'No, sorry, we don't' give permission for that'.

Councillor Elengorn also stressed the importance of protecting our local shopping streets and parades, adding: "The Government has been addressing the present situation by deregulation.

"Our fear is that this will lead to an erosion of our shopping streets…particularly if shops get converted to housing.

"It may cause visual harm, but also a loss of integrity of the shopping street if every few shops are suddenly becoming residential.

"The whole vitality of the place and the amount of foot traffic might diminish."

Councillor Elengorn said many other councils around the country are taking the same approach using the Article 4 Direction.

Richmond Council has drawn up a list of 67 shopping streets and parades in the borough that it aims to protect with the Direction.

These include the centres of Teddington, Hampton Wick, Hampton Hill, Fulwell and Hampton, and most local shopping parades.

advertisement

Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, defended his policy.

He said: "By diversifying our town and city centres … we can help the high street to adapt and thrive for the future."

What are your thoughts on the new planning laws? Is there a local parade that you'd love us to feature? Let us know: [email protected]

Have you signed up for our weekly newsletter yet? Sign up HERE for the top Teddington stories in your inbox each Friday!