The Guidance chapter is very vague on what is meant by scale, in particular by large scale. This should be clarified, and examples of desirable large scale development provided. The Code should also state what type(s) of large scale developments will not be welcome. For example, a single large retail unit, occupying a full block, or a large part of a full block in the Abbey Quarter, would be highly undesirable.
Indeed, the Guidance statement "While large scale uses will be required as potential drivers for the area..." is debatable, and it could be inferred from such a statement that one or more "large scale" developments are an objective for the Abbey Quarter Development Partnership. In the absence of strong guidance in the code as to what large scale developments might or might not be desirable, the vagueness in the Code on this topic will diminish its crediibility.
The statement in the paragraph (p12) on Retail, Services and Hospitality i.e. "Due to their form, large scale retail stores, such as supermarkets requiring extensive open areas of floorspace together with adjacent car parking, are not appropriate in this area given the vision of the Masterplan, the mix of uses identified, and the extensive site area such a use would require. It does not preclude however a large retail user within one of the blocks in the context of the scale of uses outlined in section 2.4 of the code." should be strengthened to explicitly rule out a large retail store.