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Application No.: 18/00548/B Applicant: Progress Shaving Brush (Vulfix) Ltd Proposal: Erection of an industrial unit Site Address: Cronkbourne Business Park Ballafletcher Farm Road Cronkbourne Douglas Isle Of Man Planning Officer: Mr Owen Gore Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 10.12.2018 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area in accordance with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Reason: To ensure that the development accords with the car parking requirements in accordance with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Thereafter the car parking and manoeuvring areas shall be retained and remain free from obstruction.
Reason: To ensure that the strategic plan car parking standards are met in the interest of highway safety in accordance with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This planning permission relates to the following plans and documents: Drawing No.(03)002 - Location Plan
Letter dated 07 August 2018 Drawing No.(03)001 Rev A - 'Proposed Site Plan' Date-stamped as having been received 09 August 2018 Agent's Email and additional plan dated 16 October 2018 _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following organisation should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
Manx Utilities as they do not own or occupy property that is within 20m of the application site and the development is not automatically required to be the subject of an EIA by Appendix 5 of the Strategic Plan, in accordance with paragraph 2B of the Policy and they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use of land owned or occupied by them and in relation to the relevant issues identified in paragraph 2C of the Policy, as is required by paragraph 2D of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status July 2018). _____________________________________________________________________________
Officer’s Report THE SITE
1.1 The application site is part of a commercial/industrial estate between the Central Creamery to the south and the Meat Plant to the north; the application site and both of these sites are all located on and gain access from Ballafletcher Farm Road. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal is to erect an industrial unit for use as 'General Industrial Use'. PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site is shown on the Braddan Local Plan Order 1991 map No.2 as being within the local plan area and the property is designated within an area that is 'Predominantly Industrial'. The site is not within a Conservation Area. Local Area Plan - Braddan Local Plan 1991
Site Designation - 'Predominantly Industrial' The following policies are particularly relevant to this proposal:Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 General Policy 2 (GP2) - Development within land-use zones Business Policy 1 (BP1) - Growth of Employment Opportunities Business Policy 5 (BP5) - Land Zoned for Industrial Use Transport Policy 7 (TP7) - Parking Standards PLANNING HISTORY
REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.
4.1 The initial representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division was received in the letter dated 25 June 2018. The comments continue: -
'The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states "A general policy of one space per 50 square meters of nett will be required with additional space for manoeuvring where larger vehicles may be using the site, although an increased standard may be needed for users which generate a high level of traffic, including light industrial and research and development business." The general industrial standard of 1 car parking space per 50sqm can be used to assess the site parking demand provided that a planning condition is included on any future decision notice for the proposed industrial unit to not be used for light industrial or research and development purposes, otherwise the 1 space per 30sqm should be used instead which is appropriate for these uses. The applicant is requested to confirm if they would accept this planning condition so the correct standard can be used to assess the site parking demand.
The 16/00415/B planning approval for the existing 8 units on the site has a planning land use class of general industrial use only to accord with the site parking and access requirements as specified in planning condition no.2. The existing site access arrangements, including highway visibility, were agreed as part of that application and would remain unchanged for the current proposal in this application. The site access road includes a turning head to allow heavy goods vehicles to turn around on the site.
The applicant is requested to confirm the proposed gross floor area for the proposed industrial unit no.9 including both the ground and mezzanine floor, as the proposed site plan states 255sqm and the application form states 435sqm.
The previous application included 43 car parking spaces for the 8 units on the site. The proposed site plan shows 41 spaces in a partially revised site layout. The areas in front of the roller shutter doors cannot be counted as parking spaces as indicated on this plan as this would prevent delivery access to the units by larger vehicles and it did not form part of the 16/00415/B planning consent. There is highway concern that the current proposal would result in the loss of 2 spaces and generate additional site parking demand from the proposed unit with no further parking provision. This could lead to overspill parking on the site access road and adjacent routes, and partially block the site turning head making it difficult for heavy goods vehicles to be able to turn around on the site. This application should maintain the same
level of site parking as the previous planning permission (43 spaces) and provide further parking for the proposed unit to the appropriate parking standard as outlined above.
Some of the parking spaces in the amended part of the site layout, the spaces numbered 27 to 51, need to be revised to ensure they are at least 2.5m x 5m in size to comply with the minimum bay size in the 'Manual for Manx Roads' design guide. The aisle widths adjacent to the spaces should be increased to at least 6m to enable cars to manoeuvre in and out of the bays'.
4.2 Following discussions and revised plans additional representation from the DOI Highways Division was received in the letter dated 28 August 2018. The comments continue: -
'The earlier highway response requested that the applicant confirmed the proposed gross floor area for the proposed industrial unit no. 9, including both the ground and mezzanine floor. The revised proposed site plan states it would have an area of 425sqm and the application form states 435sqm. Based on the worst case scenario of 435sqm, this would require 9 additional car parking spaces for the development for general industrial use (at 1 space per 50sqm) and 15 spaces for light industrial use or research and development purposes (at 1 space per 30sqm) according to the parking standards in 'The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016'.
The previous application included 43 car parking spaces for the 8 existing units on the site. The proposed site plan shows 43 spaces for 9 units in a partially revised site layout. The areas in front of the roller shutter doors would be free from parking spaces to facilitate delivery vehicle access, and there would be aisle widths of at least 6m to enable cars to manoeuvre in and out of the parking bays. The spaces would be 2.5m x 5m in size which complies with the minimum bay size in the 'Manual for Manx Roads' design guide. A new cycle parking area would be provided which is welcomed but does not offset the lack of car parking.
There is highway concern that the current proposal would generate additional site parking demand (9 to 15 spaces) from the proposed unit with no further parking provision. This could lead to overspill parking on the site access road and adjacent routes and make it difficult for heavy goods vehicles to be able to turn around on the site. To achieve highway support for the development, this application needs to provide further parking for the proposed unit to the appropriate parking standard as outlined above. It may be possible to achieve this by purchasing additional land adjacent to the site.
Highway Services opposes the current application due to a lack of site parking provision which does not comply with the parking standards in 'The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016''.
4.2 Braddan Commissioners have commented on this application and stated that they do not object, in the email dated 20 June 2018. - 4.3 Manx Utilities have commented on this application and have stated that they do not object, subject to two conditions regarding discharge of surface water into foul drainages systems and future connection to existing services, including necessary surveys and fees. A note is also included to confirm other consents required in accordance with the Sewerage Act 1999.
ASSESSMENT The principle of development
5.1 The proposal is for a General Industrial Use, which is defined in the Strategic Plan as 'an industrial building other than a light industrial building or a special industrial building'; the surrounding area is within the same use and is in keeping with the wider site designation. Therefore the principle for the new industrial building is acceptable, subject to the considerations below. Character and appearance
5.2 The proposal would not unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building or the character of its surroundings. In this respect, the proposal complies with policy GP2.
Impact on neighbours
5.3 The proposed development would not result in a significant adverse impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring residents. In this respect, the proposal complies with GP2. Parking and highway safety
5.4 Highway Services opposes the current application due to a lack of site parking provision which does not comply with the parking standards in appendix 7 of the Strategic Plan. Based on the approved floor areas of the existing 8 units, including the mezzanine floors (total 1800sqm) and the proposed floor area of the new unit (435sqm) the number of parking spaces required for a general industrial use (1 car parking space per 50sqm) would be 45 spaces (rounded up from 44.7); the applicant has also included cycle parking. - 5.5 The previous applications both included 43 spaces, which was an overprovision of 7 spaces based on the floor areas and the parking requirement for general industrial. The current proposal, as amended, shows the same provision for 43 spaces. Both applications 16/00415/B and 16/00032/B included condition 2 which stated that the buildings may be used only for general industrial purposes as defined in paragraph 9.2.3 of the Strategic Plan, to 'ensure that the development accords with the car parking and access requirements of the Strategic Plan'. - 5.6 The previous 16/00415/B planning approval for the site was based on general industrial use and secured via planning condition no. 2 on the decision notice. The applicant's agent has confirmed that the proposed use of the new industrial unit is for 'general industrial' as per paragraph 9.2.3, which can form a condition on the current application as it was used previously and therefore a rate of 1 space per 50sqm is appropriate for the car parking. - 5.7 There is therefore a shortfall of parking of 2 spaces for the site, although the applicant's agent has argued that the toilets should be excluded from the calculation; the standards do not allow for any exclusion as it would be difficult to control the internal layouts of the buildings. Paragraph 11.5.3 of the strategic plan states that 'The long term target is to…seek to develop more sustainable staff and visitor transport plans including improved public transport, staff buses, shared and pooled cars, cycling and walking. Consideration should be given to the provision of cycle parking for staff and customers in non-residential development'. Within Appendix 7 - Parking Standards is states that 'these standards may be relaxed where development:
5.8 As stated above, the applicant has included cycle parking within the scheme and a bus route runs along Johnny Watterson's Lane and through Cronkbourne village outside of the application site. Although the parking does not comply with the standards set out in the appendix 7 - Parking Standards, such a shortfall is not considered to be significantly harmful enough to warrant refusal and the standards can be relaxed in this instances, due to the existing accessibility of the site via public transport. The proposal is therefore is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7.
6.1 The proposal would not unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building or the character of its surroundings. The proposed development would not result in a significant adverse impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring residents. The proposal therefore complies with General Policy 2.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 17.12.2018 Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
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