Officer Report

Application No.: 15/01366/B Applicant: Dandara Commercial Limited Proposal: Erection of an office building for use as corporate headquarters with access road, car parking and landscaping Site Address: Land Adj To Canada Life House And Dandara Group Head Office Vicarage Way Isle of Man Business Park Cooil Road Braddan Isle of Man Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation

Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The site is a parcel of undeveloped land which abuts the estate road through the Isle of Man Business Park. To the north is Vicarage Road, to the east are Dandara/Heritage Homes' headquarters and the new office building occupied by Canada Life and to the south west is open, undeveloped land which is also part of the Business Park. The land rises south to north by around 9m over 135m. - 1.2 The style of development in the area is mixed - modern stylish buildings to the north and south and smaller simpler forms further east including the Horse and Plough public house, the garage, nursery and offices. The development to the south is in a Business Park character, reflecting the requirements of the original planning approval. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the erection of a three storey corporate headquarters building and associated access and car parking (225 spaces) arranged around the site and over two levels at the rear of the building and two sets of 15 bicycle parking spaces within the same area. The building will provide 2350sq m of floor space (2800 sq m nett). There is a shower facility on the first floor and a lift serving all three floors. - 2.2 The building will be 13m tall (the same as Canada Life) and finished in stone cladding for the ground floor and white and grey render above, dark coloured windows and doors, similar to the treatment and profile of the Canada Life building. - 2.3 Drainage will be provided into the existing surface water and main foul sewerage in the adjacent highway as was the Canada Life development. In that application, the applicant clarified that the land into which the surface water will drain - the estate drain is still in their ownership as the highway and drainage are not adopted. This in turn feeds into a pond which was designed to accommodate the surface water drainage from the estate and was intended to be handed over to Braddan Parish Commissioners on completion, which has not yet happened. - 2.4 Planting is proposed around the periphery of the site - hawthorn and blackthorn with smaller shrubs of various types and colours to provide interest all year round. Within the site common alder,

• silver birch, ash and sessile oak will be introduced and a grass verge along the estate road frontage to provide visibility for those emerging from the site. The existing canopy formed by the trees along the Vicarage Road boundary has been shown on the drawings and could be used for tree protection during works, following discussions with the DEFA Forester.
• 2.5 The application includes a Transport Assessment which describes the highway network serving the site as Vicarage Road and Cooil Roads - both Primary Distributor types although they are not part of the Island's Strategic Route Network. The road in front of the site is described as being 7.3m wide with a grass verge on the northern side and a 1.8m wide footway to the south. The road is subject to a 30 mph limit and there is a bus stop close to the site. Traffic information has been provided, using figures from 2010 but supplemented by what are referred to slow growth factors found in the UK National Road Traffic Forecasts 1997. This suggests that the morning peak hour two way flow on the spine road is around 633 and 771 vehicles per hour in each direction between 0800hrs and 0900hrs. The evening peak, between 1700hrs and 1800hrs is between 655 and 723 vehicles in each direction. Guidance on the capacity of such roads indicates that the spine road is operating at 32% or less of its traffic carrying capacity. This does not change significantly when taking into account the proposed development and the development of presently undeveloped land within the Business Park.
• 2.6 The 6m wide access into the site will serve not only the application building but also a small electricity substation and future development to the south west. The access provided is a staggered junction with that of Ballacottier Crescent and the spine road. PLANNING STATUS AND POLICY

3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Braddan Local Plan of 1991 as "Master Plan to be prepared which will include areas of Industrial Use, Science Based Industries, High Density Residential Use, Landscaping and Secondary School of approximately 16 acres". This succeeded a planning application in principle for the development of a business park of 40 acres, which was approved on appeal under PA 89/04166. This required, inter alia that the business park comprise light industrial use, warehousing, development associated with new technology companies predominantly involved in scientific, commercial or industrial research and development or electronic systems, micro-engineering, biotechnology, office accommodation as the corporate headquarters of companies which utilise the new information technologies and service other park users but specifically excluding financial and professional services to visiting members of the public, including banks, building societies, estate agencies and betting offices. The approval also required that buildings should cover no more than 25% of the business park. - 3.2 The Business Park has existing occupants including Royal London 360 mutual life insurance which sits on the corner of the Business Park and Cooil Road, Manx Telecom who have a corporate headquarters and operating centre, the MEA who have similar accommodation as well as Canada Life. There are also training facilities, vehicle repair and servicing, parcel distribution facilities within the park. - 3.3 Business Parks are defined in the Strategic Plan as "development encompassing land for light industrial purposes, warehousing, new-technology companies involved in scientific, commercial, or industrial research or development and office accommodation as the corporate headquarters of companies having multiple and diverse interests (but excluding financial/professional services to visiting members of the public); buildings should be set in parkland which should dominate the landscape." - 3.4 The Strategic Plan requires that business park uses are provided with car parking at a ratio of 1 space per 15 sq m nett of floorspace. PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 Planning permission was granted for the development of the business park as a whole under PAs 89/04166 and 90/04155. Subsequent to that, planning permission was granted for offices on

• the site under PA 99/02059 and 04/00790. The latter was approved subject to a condition which stated, "The proposed building may be used for office accommodation as the corporate headquarters of a single company which utilises the new information technologies and services other users of the Ballacottier Business Park (but specifically excluding users offering financial and professional services to visiting members of the public, such as banks, building societies, estate agencies, and betting offices).
• 4.2 Also of relevance is an application relating to the site which is now occupied by Dandara's headquarters, alongside the application site. This was the subject of an appeal which sought to remove part of the condition of use which related to the corporate headquarters of a company which utilises the new information and technologies and serves other users of the business park on the basis that this constrains the marketing and take up of the development opportunities. This was refused at appeal on the basis that the wording would prevent the loss of the vitality and viability of town centre commercial areas through the migration of offices to business park locations (PA 00/01996). As the owner of the remaining undeveloped part of the Business Park, it could be said that Dandara serves the Business Park and has indeed been responsible for the design and applications for the development of the Manx Telecom Headquarters and then now Royal London 360 headquarters buildings as well as other, smaller buildings to the east - Island House and Conister House.
• 4.3 The Canada Life building was approved under PA 13/91058/B and 14/01223/B with additional applications for its signage. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Department of Infrastructure Highway Services indicate that if the application is to be approved the following conditions should be attached:

• 1. Prior to any construction the access shown on drawing no A01 dated 12/11/2015 shall be constructed and the visibility splays shall remain unobstructed at a height of 1.05m thereafter. Reason: In the interest of highway safety
• 2. Prior to the occupation of the building the car parking and manoeuvring areas shall be provided and remain free from obstruction thereafter. Reason: To ensure that the strategic plan car parking standards are met in the interest of highway safety (15.01.16).

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The issues in this case are whether the development accords with the original planning approval and the subsequent requirements set out in the Strategic Plan for such developments. The critical issues are the design and appearance of the building, the setting of the building and the provisions for access and drainage.

6.2 The planning requirements for business park development are that the buildings occupy no more than 25% of the site - this development occupies 13% of the site. Whilst it may have been envisaged that the buildings would be set in significantly landscaped grounds, the additional requirement for car parking at a ratio of 1 space for every 15 sq m of nett floor space results in development which has resulted in considerable areas of developed sites to be dedicated to car parking, as in this case. This results in the proposed landscaping being all the more important where it is proposed. In this case the proposal incorporates the introduction of large trees around the site as well as smaller species and shrubbery which collectively, with the retention of the trees along the Vicarage Road boundary, should result in a development which sits comfortably in its setting. - 6.3 The proposal involves a building of similar design, finish and mass as the completed building alongside and as such its appearance is considered acceptable in its context.

6.4 The proposal involves the provision of 225 car parking spaces which exceeds the amount required by the Strategic Plan. It is important that the sites within the Business Park provide sufficient car parking as the estate roads are not suited to on-street parking nor would this contribute to the landscaped and open setting of the Park itself. - 6.5 The proposal is considered to be acceptable and is welcomed as a further development of a designated development site in accordance with its design requirements.

PARTY STATUS

7.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
• (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material, in this case Department of Infrastructure Highway Services and (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless otherwise directed by that Order.

Recommendation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 18.01.2016 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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. The accommodation hereby approved must be only office accommodation as the corporate headquarters of companies having multiple and diverse interests (but excluding financial/professional services to visiting members of the public) as defined in the Strategic Plan. REASON: to accord with the land use designation and requirements of the Strategic Plan.
• C 3.

All planting, seeding or turfing comprised in the approved details of landscaping must be carried out in the first planting and seeding seasons following the completion of the development. Any trees or plants which within a period of five years from the completion of the development die, are removed, or become seriously damaged or diseased must be replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species.

REASON: the landscaping of the site is an integral part of the scheme and must be implemented as approved.

• C 4. Prior to the occupation of the building the car parking and manoeuvring areas shall be provided and remain free from obstruction thereafter and must be available for those using or visiting the building.

Reason: To ensure that the strategic plan car parking standards are met in the interest of highway safety.

• C 5. Prior to the commencement of any development on the site including excavation, the existing trees bordering Vicarage Road must be fenced off along the line of the existing tree canopy as shown in drawing A03 and during the construction period this fence must be retained and the area to the north prevented from being used for storage, vehicle parking nor should there be any building or excavation undertaken within it. REASON: to protect the existing trees in the interests of the appearance and character of the area.
• C 6. Prior to any construction the access shown on drawing no A01 dated 12/11/2015 shall be constructed and the visibility splays shall remain unobstructed at a height of 1.05m thereafter. Reason: In the interest of highway safety.

This decision relates to drawings A/PL/000, A/PL/001, A/PL/002, A/PL/003, A/PL/004, A/PL/005, A/PL/006, A/PL/007, A/PL/008, A/PL/009, A/PL/010, A/PL/011, A/PL/012 all received on 15th December, 2015.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 18.01.2016 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Senior Planning Officer

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