DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/01342/C Applicant: Mr Nathan Kelly Proposal: Change of use from as storage unit to a personal training studio Site Address: Unit F4 Harcourt Drive Balthane Ballasalla Isle Of Man Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken: 05.12.2023 Site Visit: 05.12.2023 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 07.12.2023

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019, the use hereby approved shall be limited to a fitness studio. Reason In the interest to protect the character and uses of the neighbouring Industrial Units.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

Whilst the land is not designated for the proposed use it will provide facilities which are generally encouraged within the Strategic Plan, and given the reasonable size of the unit and the other non-residential uses in the surrounding industrial estate, the change of use to a training studio is not considered to be unacceptable or to adversely impact to the surrounding uses. As such the proposal is recommended for approval.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 17th November 2023;

• o Location Plan
• o Site Plan
• o Location Plan with Visibility Splays
• o Visibility Splays and parking spaces

• o Existing Floor Plan
• o Proposed Floor Plan
• o Planning Statement

This decision also relates to a site plan showing the bike storage and disabled bay dated 8th December 2023 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE PROPOSED USE IS CONTRARY TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

THE SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Unit F4. Harcroft Drive, Balthane, which is situated to the West of the Balthane Industrial Estate. PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for the change of use of the ground floor level from industrial use (Class 2.2) to assembly and leisure (Class 4.4).

2.2 The information provided from the applicant states the following as the hours of operation "Weekday operating hours, 6-8am, 12-2pm, 6-8pm Saturday 8-11am" - 2.3 The classes are also proposed to be limited to 8 per class with there being 2 members of staff.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There is one previous application upon the site which is relevant in this assessment, PA18/00388/B which was for the "Erection of an industrial building with associated parking to replace existing industrial building," which was Permitted with the following, in part, relevant condition; "The building may be used for general industrial or for storage and distribution purposes all as described in paragraph 9.2.3 of the Strategic Plan 2016. Reason: to clarify the extent of the planning approval and to ensure that there is sufficient car parking provision available. There would not be adequate car parking for light industrial use of the premises."

3.2 It is also relevant to note that there has been permission for two other "fitness type" applications within Balthane Industrial Estate; PA10/01179/C - Change of use of existing industrial unit to a fitness centre - Permitted PA20/00671/B - Conversion of industrial unit to provide ground floor storage (class 2.4) and first floor fitness studio (class 4.4) - Permitted. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Industrial/ Business Park" on the Area Plan for the South, Map 4 - Ballasalla.

4.2 Generally there are no policies within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan for the proposal, the proposed use will be a departure from the authorised use of the site, as well as the Area Plan designation.

4.3 Whilst the above is the case, General Policy 2 which sets of "development standards" and Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7 which sets out parking standards, are relevant Strategic Policies due to the proposed alterations to the frontage, the proposed use and the available parking on site, including Chapter 10 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (paragraphs 10.1.1 and 10.3.34) which discusses the positive impact of new recreation or sporting facilities on the Island. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, " After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking, as there is enough parking on-site to provide parking for staff and visitors of the proposals, providing maximum visitor levels using the studio at any one time are conditioned (no more than 8 at a time). (24.11.23) - 5.3 No comments have been received from Malew Commissioners at the time of writing this report.

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - principle
• - loss of industrial land
• - highway safety
• - other

6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 When looking at the proposed principle of the change of use, it is noted that the site is not designated for recreation or leisure purposes whilst this is the case, it can be seen that a variety of recreation and sporting facilities are found within industrial estates around the Island.

• 6.2.2 As stated within section 3 of this report, there have already been leisure facilities within Balthane Industrial Estate, as such whilst not in full accordance with the Development Plan, when assessed against the broader principles of General Policy 2, a change of use to assembly and leisure would not impact on the wider character and appearance of the area, nor would it conflict with adjacent uses of the Balthane Industrial Estate.
• 6.2.3 Given the ability to alter the use within Class 4.4 of the 2019 Use Class Order, of those uses listed (assembly and leisure) few of those would cause a conflict of use on this estate, however it could place additional pressure on parking in the area. In this case it would be appropriate to limit the use of the proposal by a condition to that as per the application and prevent any subsequent change of uses without seeking planning consent. 6.3 LOSS OF INDUSTRIAL LAND

• 6.3.1 Turning towards the loss of the existing industrial land and whether there would be an impact from the proposed off of this industrial land. It is clear that there have been previous approved non-industrial uses within the Balthane Industrial Estate, from fitness classes (20/00671/B) to virtual reality (21/01285/C), to doggy day care (18/00799/B), whilst this is the case, there is still a considerable amount of land designated for industrial purposes, and indeed applications for new industrial units are requested for within the Balthane Industrial Estate and beyond. As such should the demand be there, there are units for this use.

• 6.3.2 The use of industrial units for fitness classes is not uncommon, again as illustrated above, due to the availability of parking compared with some town centre locations and the amount of space available within the unit, suitable for such purposes.
• 6.3.3 It is also relevant that Ballasalla is a recognised settlement (Service Village) in the hierarchy listed in the Strategic Plan where increased employment opportunities may be provided in relevant Area Plans, but despite a considerable amount of dwellings within the village, there are relatively few commercial and community facilities and many have little or no on-site car parking provision.
• 6.4 HIGHWAY SERVICES

• 6.4.1 The site is close to the newly built housing estate in Ballasalla which includes both a walkway and cycle path to a suitable area near the entrance of the Balthane Industrial Estate, there is also a bus network nearby. The overall industrial estate generates a variety of different users to the business in the estate and as such the traffic is usually concentrated to day time and week day. This means that there is likely to be capacity on the roadways and adjacent parking areas to accommodate any vehicles which cannot be accommodated on the site.
• 6.4.2 Whilst the above is the case, a parking plan has been provided which shows 10 parking spaces available to the front of the site, which would allow parking for both staff members and the 8 per class.
• 6.4.3 Highway Services have also considered the merits of the proposal, access to and from the site from the highway, as well as parking and highway safety. As the transport professionals their comments are heavily relied upon and as they do not object, the proposal would be aligned with the principles of GP2 (h&i). It is noted that Highway Services have request that a condition limiting the amount of clients per class.

- 6.5 OTHER

• 6.5.1 The proposed fitness studio is intended to be used during three time periods during the week and one time period on Saturdays, each of a two hour period. The most likely time periods that will be busy are the mornings, evenings and the Saturdays. Whilst it would be possible to restrict the hours to those initially intended there is no reason to do so. Operating outside of these times would not result in any undue impact on amenity or highway safety. Whilst Highway Services would prefer a condition limiting the amount of clients per class, this would be difficult to enforce and unreasonable as clients could car share, come by public transport, walk or cycle. As such, no such conditions are proposed. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 For the above reasons, whilst the land is not designated for the proposed use it will provide facilities which are generally encouraged within the Strategic Plan, and given the reasonable size of the unit and the other non-residential uses in the surrounding industrial estate, the change of use to a fitness studio is not considered to be unacceptable or to adversely impact to the surrounding uses. As such the proposal is recommended for approval. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS
• 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;

• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material. 8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 18.12.2023

Signed : V PORTER Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.