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Application No.: 20/00324/C Applicant: Charlie Manson Proposal: Change of use from storage, distribution, and general industrial use ( Classes 2.3 and 2.4) to include additional retail use (class 1.1) Site Address: Unit 14 Cooil Smithy Isle Of Man Business Park Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 2QA Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Refused Date of Recommendation: 28.05.2020 _________________________________________________________________ R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons Reasons for Refusal R 1. The proposed ancillary retail use (Class 1.1.) would be contrary to the land use zoning on the Braddan Local Plan 1991 and specifically Policy 2.4 and 2.5 due to the retail proposed being conducted from an industrial unit. The proposed use is also contrary to Strategic Aim 9 which states that all new retailing must be sited within a town or village centre which has been zoned as such. The proposed use is contrary to Business Policies 5, 9 and 10 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan - 2016 which are all in place to direct retailing development to town centres where the proposed retail could be reasonably sold from within a town centre location, or due to their size and nature from an area zoned as industrial use. The proposed items for sale can be sold from within a town centre location, of which there are several sites on the Island where this is already done. _______________________________________________________________
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Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE
1.1 The application site is Unit 14, Cooil Smithy, Isle of Man Business Park, Douglas, which is a newly built industrial unit to the south of the Former Cooil Smithy site. - 1.2 The unit is within Block B in this development, which is limited to light industrial or warehouse/ distribution use due to PA13/91117/B. With Block B providing 6 units in total, all of varying sizing. The application unit offers approximately 319.05sqm of floorspace including the outer shell voids. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the current use of the unit which is light industrial or warehouse/distribution use to include an additional retail use." - 2.2 The agent has added additional information regarding the reasoning for the change of use as follows, "The applicant has relaunched a business at the application site which has gone into liquidation in June 2019, Waltons. The business was originally established on the Isle of Man in the 1960's. Now called Waltons Direct they are the main service agent for televisions on the Island. Customer's bringing their television sets for repair is the key focus of the business. In addition to this service Waltons offer a range of TV and electrical goods for sale via both warehouse storage and distribution from the premises and a retail element where customers can purchase and collect smaller items immediately." - 2.3 The application unit is in a shallow L shape of which there are 5 separate rooms. To the south east of the application site there is the service reception and the serving department which takes up a floor area of 76.72sqm. To the north west of the site there is retail, warehouse storage & distribution which takes up the most area on the site and a demonstration room which takes up a floor area of 231.16sqm. - 2.4 The area above which is the retail, warehousing storage & distribution is set up in a warehouse situation with the TV's being situated to the lower level and upper level of the storage and the "demonstration" TV's being situated to the middle level. PLANNING HISTORY
3.1 Prior to the current Braddan Local Plan 1991 the applicant site was situated in an area highlighted as proposed predominantly Industrial use. - 3.2 The site as a whole has been subject to many applications of which relevant to this application are PA138/00555/B which was for Erection of twelve industrial and / or warehousing & distribution units and was permitted and subsequently PA13/91117/B which was for Erection of fourteen industrial and / or warehousing & distribution units (Amendments to PA 13/00555/B) and was permitted. - 3.3 Where the site is situated within Cooil Road there has been one previous Planning Application for a change of use application which was PA17/00763/C and was for the "Change of use from Industrial, Warehousing and Distribution to Class 2 (a) (Insurance Broker) at Unit 12, Cooil Smithy. This application was refused for the main reasoning of, "The proposed Class 2(a) use would be contrary to the zoning of the land on the Braddan Local Plan 1991, contrary to Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, which states that on land zoned for industrial use permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage or distribution, and also contrary to the Employment Land Review of 2015 and supplement of
not subsequently been rectified by the allocation of additional land. The proposed Class 2(a) use would result in an unacceptable reduction in the potential supply of buildings for industrial use in the East of the Island."
3.4 Adjacent to the Cooil Road site is Eden Park site, which is 2011 put in Planning (under PA11/01232/B) for the "Erection of a light industrial development comprising 4 individual buildings providing 24 separate units with planning and landscaping." Since this initial Planning Application there have been several subsequent applications to change the use from light industrial. - 3.5 One of which one of them had the additional factor of retail sales and was the change of use of Units A1 to A6, Block A, of which PA14/00443/B states "Conversion of existing building for light industrial to assembly of electrical components/showroom/trade counter/storage/distribution and ancillary offices (Sui Generis) for Units A1-A4 and light industrial (Use Class 5) for Units A5-A6." The officer who write the report was very specific in the requirement for the retail use not to include domestic items and stated the following in his report, "6.41 The applicants have also indicated that they are willing to accept a condition saying that "No domestic appliances will be sold from these premises". This would help to ensure the development does not become a retail use, which could potential impact on the vitality and viability of the Douglas Town Centre. However, the proposed condition is not precise enough. It is recommended that the following condition is imposed:
"The net floorspace area for the showroom/trade counter must not exceed 112 square metres and must be devoted to the sale of electrical goods in connection with the construction industry, and not domestic appliances or domestic goods (unless agreed otherwise in writing by the Department) and for no other purpose (including any other purpose within Class 1 of Schedule 4 to the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 or in any provision equivalent to that Class in any statutory document revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modification.)"
3.6 Other changes of uses have been approved at the Eden Park site but haven't included a specific retail use within the changes of use. PLANNING POLICY
4.1 The site lies within a site designated as an area of land where a masterplan for the development of the site should be formulated to incorporate a mix of uses including residential, industrial, science based industry and a secondary school on the Braddan Local Plan 1991. The area was the subject of applications (PAs 89/04166, 90/04155) for the development of residential development at the northern edge and for a business park on the remainder of the site which includes some retailing (cars, carpets, timber and building products), Douglas Corporation's waste management headquarters, training facilities (Restart and Red Cross), and corporate headquarters (Manx Telecom, MEA, Celton Manx, Royal London). Planning approval was granted for the erection of the application building under PAs 13/00555/B and 13/91117/B as industrial and / or warehousing & distribution units. - 4.2 The Braddan Local Plan 1991 has three policies which is relevant to this assessment, Policy 2.4, Policy 2.5 and Policy 7.5 which state the following.
4.3 Given the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider Strategic Aim 9, General Policy 2, Business Policy 1, 5, 9 and 10 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, which state the following.
5.1 Highway Services have Do not Oppose this application and state the following, "The level of parking is above the current standard of four at one space per 100sqm and adequate to cater for the proposed type of activity and likely number of staff and customers." (23.04.20) - 5.2 Braddan Commissioners have considered the proposal and have no objection (6.04.20). - 5.3 Douglas Corporation have requested a time extension to enable any comments to be received by the Council's Environmental Services Committee, (30.03.20), no further comments have been received to date. ASSESSMENT
6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of the planning application is the principle of the use of retail use in question being operated from the site, whether there would be an impact on Douglas, or another town Centre and whether there would be any traffic/parking issues with the potential of the retail addition generating more parking. PRINCIPLE - 6.2 Whilst the Braddan Local Plan 1991 identifies the site as a site that should incorporate a mix of uses including residential, industrial, science based industry and a secondary school and it also clearly indicates that no retail use will be permitted in industrial areas (Policy 2.4 & 2.5), however the policy regarding retailing on industrial areas is superseded by the policies within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan which was adopted in 2016. - 6.3 When looking at the principle of the site the main Strategic Plan Policy is Strategic Policy 9 that is clear in its statement that all new retail development must be sited within town and village centres on land zoned as such. In assessing whether the proposed sale of TV's, accessories and white goods would be considered 'new retail development,' the site in which the proposed sale of the goods is currently an existing site was approved for the use of industrial and / or warehousing & distribution and whilst the current sale of TV's, accessories and white goods could be regarded as ancillary to the operation it is a new and unauthorised retail development. - 6.4 As such the key issue would be relating to Business Policy 5 (a) which states, "The items to be sold could not reasonably be sold from a town centre location because of their size or nature." The aim of this policy is to direct retail development to existing shopping centres which are easily accessible to a wide range of people by a variety of forms of transport. The policy goes on to provide an exception to this but only where the retail use by virtue of the product(s) sold are incompatible to the existing shopping centres. It is therefore necessary to consider whether this proposal is for the retailing of items which could not be sold from a town centre location because of their size and nature. - 6.5 The agents of the application have given the following information on what the business currently sells/does "Now called Waltons Direct they are the main service for televisions on the island. Customers' bringing their television sets for repair is a key focus of the business. In addition to this service Waltons offer a range of TV and electrical goods for sale, via both warehouse storage and distribution from the premises and a retail element where customers can purchase and collect smaller items immediately."
6.6 Further to a request for more information the agent gave the following information from the applicant, "Yes we sell cables, soundbars, DVD and a small range of audio products to compliment the TV range. We also offer a small range of Home Appliance goods which are again large and bulky. A rough guide to the business split would be 80% TV and associated products and 20% Home Appliances." - 6.7 When looking at the Island as a whole there are very few out of town shopping centres, of which the main shopping centre close to the application site is Douglas. There are several examples of not only white goods being sold within the town centres on the Island but also bulky goods which you wouldn't necessarily assume could be sold from a town centre site. - 6.8 Within the Douglas town centre you have Coleburn's who are the most relevant to the proposed application, who have been situated on the same site since 1924. Coleburn's sell a wide range of goods including but not limited to TV's, computers, laptops, cookers and white goods. These retail goods can be seen either going online and arranging delivery or by going to the shop itself and arranging delivery there. Due to the company being in a town centre site for such a long time period selling the goods with are proposed on the application site, this proves that the goods can be sold from a town centre location. - 6.9 Also within Douglas town centre there are companies which sell bulky goods such as furniture and additional white goods from there stores, these shops (Next, M&S, TKMaxx) are stores in which you can collect from the store or depending on the item have home delivery. Whilst these are not necessarily the items which are proposed within this application they do prove that bulky goods can be sold from within a town centre site. - 6.10 Outside of the Douglas town centre site within both Peel town centre and Ramsey town centre there are bulky furniture sites. Within Peel town centre is Paradise & Gell which have three floors of bulky goods within a town centre site and have been within the site for a long established standing time. Within the Ramsey town centre there is Millichap's who again have a large site within the town centre selling bulky goods for a long established time. Both of these sites with the above prove that bulky goods can be sold within a town centre site. - 6.11 Also noting the information given by the agent, the most bulky of the goods sold, the white goods account for a small amount of the overall sales and as such the sale of these goods in itself does not account for enough of the business to viably be sold from an out of town premises. - 6.12 It is noted that there have been exceptions in the past with the selling of TV's, accessories and white goods being sold in out of town centre locations. From the details given the selling of the proposed goods takes up a modest area within the current site and with several sites within the closeted Douglas town centre being up for sale or rent of the same size/larger premises, and the already functioning sites within town centres selling the proposed goods, it is therefore considered reasonable that such items could, and should, be sold from a retail premises in Douglas, or another town centre on the Island. IMPACT ON TOWN CENTRE - 6.13 It is possible that with the sale of the TV's, accessories and white goods from the proposed site, where they could have otherwise been sold from a town centre location is likely to contribute to a reduced footfall in the town centre and therefore in the reduction in the vitality and viability of the town centre which is the main reason for Strategic Policy 9, "Viable and vibrant town and village centres not only provide the opportunity for economic success, but also provide convenient and accessible amenities for all members of the community and an opportunity to obtain renewal of our poorer built fabric."
6.14 As such it is considered that the retail use in question would be unacceptable in terms of its impact or potential impact on the Islands town centres. PARKING AND/OR TRAFFIC IMPLICATIONS - 6.15 The additional information received within the application state that "the applicant's lease arrangement includes dedicated use of 9 parking spaces." The overall space of the site is approximate 319sq m. When accounting for the car parking standards in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 there isn't anything which gives a specific space per size for retail as such if you base the whole site as requiring on space per 50sqm then the 9 parking spaces would be adequate. - 6.16 It should be noted that if there was retail at this site then the proposed 9 parking spaces might not be sufficient enough when looking at the range of services given and with the potential of additional staff required. The site is situated on a bus route, of which the bus stops
7.1 In summary, the sale of TV's, accessories and white goods of this type could reasonably be sold from within the town centre. Having this type of retail in an out of town premises is contrary to Strategic Policy 9 and Business Policy 5 & 10 and is considered detrimental to the viability and vitality of Douglas or another town centre. The application is therefore recommended for refusal. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
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.
Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
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