Councils should be given more powers under the planning system to protect corner shops, a report by the London Assembly has said.

The report Cornered Shops, which is due to be published tomorrow by the planning and housing committee of the London Assembly, said that corner shops are in decline in London and should get protected status in local, regional and national planning policies.

The report said the growth of high street offerings by major supermarket chains – such as Tesco Metro and Sainsbury’s Local – was putting extra pressure on corner shops on high streets.

Jenny Jones, deputy chair of the planning and housing committee, said more should be done to prevent internet cafes and betting shops opening in former corner shops.

“People in residential areas need local shops that provide essential services that they can walk to,” she said. “The Mayor [of London] must lead on changing the planning system to empower boroughs to take back control of their high streets and protect local shops from further decline.”

The British Property Federation said other areas of the country might look to follow the report’s recommendations:  “Allowing councils to dictate the mix of their central retail offering seems a very sensible way of ensuring communities can have the right mix of local shops. But we need to be realistic in that a new planning class won’t save unviable businesses,” she said.

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