Agreed, I have just written to reject that proposal in the con doc. I'm a customer / consumer rather than a business in the high street but have noticed rumblings of landlords with a grip over properties in HOP high street asking for unreasonable rents and failing to market properly. If landlords do this, shops remain empty for a long period, and voila, landlords have created the scenario allowing them to argue that the parade is in decline and attempt to convert to residential despite it being detrimental to the area. I'd rather see strenghtened rights for prospective tenants to appeal a landlord's demands at the council to ensure that good prospective tenants/businesses have more of a chance. After all, if Britain is 'open for business', it should start with supporting local economies and businesses rather than facilitating comversion into residential. Conversion from business to residential is a huge change and will have a huge impact. It's simply reckless to contemplate this being faciliated in the absense of a proper/full planning application.