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Application No.: 18/00811/C Applicant: Department Of Infrastructure, Transport Services Proposal: Additional use of school grounds for the parking of up to two minibuses (retrospective) Site Address: Kirk Michael School Main Road Kirk Michael Isle of Man IM6 1AJ Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken: 20.12.2018 Site Visit: 20.12.2018 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 09.05.2019 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The proposed additional use of the site for the parking of minibuses, hereby approved, shall be restricted to within the hatched area shown on the submitted Site Plan date-stamped and received 15/01/2019. This area shall be restricted to a maximum of 2 minibuses parked on the site at any one time.
Reason: To ensure that there is no further loss of parking for the wider use of the site as a school.
This approval relates to amended site plan and additional supporting letter date stamped and received 28/12/2018, and 2 x site photographs and a location plan date stamped and received 02/08/2018.
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following Government Departments should be given Interested Person Status on the basis that they have made written submissions relating to planning considerations:
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties 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):
THE APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE LOCAL AUTHORITY HAVE MADE WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS OBJECTIONS TO THE PROPOSAL AND THE APPLICATION IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site specific to this application forms part of a parking area within the grounds of Kirk Michael School. The existing site is accessed directly from the main road and operates a one way system school layby. There are a number of parking spaces lining either side of the layby and an additional area of parking running along the northernmost boundary of the site and towards the rear side of the school building. - 1.2 Along the main road and outside of the site is a separate bus vannin bus stop/layby. - 1.3 The site is also within the Kirk Michael Conservation Area.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current application seeks approval for the additional use of the school grounds for the parking of up to two minibuses at any one time.
2.2 Included within the application is a statement from the Department of Infrastructure (DoI) which states that the minibuses form part of 'bus vannin' although are operated separately to the big bus section. In total the minibus section operated 33 vehicles ranging between 9 - 16 seats. These minibuses offer services to DESC, DHSC for the transport of school children and students to various sites across the Island, along with adult and elderly patient transfers, the minibuses also provide a commercial service to the Sea Terminal and a demand service to the North. The vehicles are generally out all day but there may be some days when they are not required and could be parked all day. There will be no requirement to wash, maintain or refuel the vehicles at the site. - 2.3 The supporting information provided by the applicant also states that the site has been used as a minibus base since April 2016. - 2.4 The current application supersedes a previous scheme for up to four minibuses being parked at the site.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There have been a number of similar applications submitted for the additional use of sites across the Island for the parking of DOI minibuses, those considered materially relevant to this application are:
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The application site is designated on the Kirk Michael Local Plan as being 'School'. The minibuses are proposed to be located within an existing and established parking area within the school grounds although are not for sole use by the school and therefore not ancillary to the primary function. There are no specific polices within the Strategic Plan that specifically relate to this type of proposal, therefore it is most relevant to consider the general standards towards development as set out in General Policy 2. Given the Conservation Area designation we must also have regard to Environment Policy 35. - 4.2 General Policy 2 states (in part):
"Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:
4.3 Environment Policy 35:
"Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development."
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only. - 5.1 Michael Commissioners - Defer (23/08/2018) and OBJECTION (06-09-2018)
5.2 DoI Highway Services - Do Not Oppose (29/08/2018) - The minibuses would not be maintained, cleaned or refuelled on the site and the proposal would not change the existing access arrangements onto the Main Road. There should be sufficient room on the site to accommodate 4 parked minibuses so the proposal should not create any new highway issues.
5.3 The Police Crime Reduction & Architectural Liaison Officer provided comments on the application dated 20/08/2018 and 20/11/2018, initially the comments raised concern with regards to the increased likelihood of criminal damage and theft of fuel as a result of these expensive vehicles being parked out of hours and during darkness. While the school has some CCTV this is directed to the building and not the car park. The officer suggests that larger town centre car parks with bespoke CCTV should be used. Subsequent comments received from the officer stated that the concerns had been discussed with the DOI and that these risks had been taken into account in their business risk and the rational for the vehicles being sites at government owned locations and that security specs would be explored. The officer indicates that their immediate concerns had been satisfied. - 5.4 The Friends of Kirk Michael School, Michael Primary School, Main Road - OBJECTION (26/09/2018)
5.5 The owners of 57 Broogh Wyllin - OBJECTION (08/10/2018)
5.6 The owners of Tamarisk, Kirk Michael - OBJECTIONS (28 & 29/01/2019)
5.7 The owners of Melrose, Kirk Michael - OBJECTION (29/01/2019)
5.8 The owners of Slieau Dhoo, Main Road, Kirk Michael - OBJECTION (04/01/2019)
6.1 The proposal is for the additional use of part of the Kirk Michael School car park for the parking of up to two minibuses. The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of the application are (i) whether or not the principle is acceptable particularly in terms of the impact on the day to day operations of the school, (ii) whether there would be any visual impact on the streetscene or wider Conservation Area, (iii) whether there would be any highway safety issues and (iv) whether or not there would be any community or safety concerns as a result of the vehicles being parked overnight.
6.2 The minibuses are intended to serve a range of purposes and are not specifically for use by the school, although will provide services to The Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC), which operates the Island's schools and the University College Isle of Man and The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) which includes healthcare as well as social services for adults and for children and families. Alongside this the minibuses will also provide an on demand commercial service to the general public and ports services. The minibuses are to be located at various sites across the Island and within close proximity to the route which they will likely serve and in reasonable distance from their driver's home. This operation is likely to reduce the need for long journeys (both staff and vehicles) and expected to help create a more sustainable and energy efficient process. - 6.3 The existing school car park and layby area provides space for staff and visitors and a pick up and drop off location for parents. The site is also understood to be used as a community space (youth club) outside of these school hours. The demand and use of the car park varies throughout the year and is reflective of the day to day demands of the school and community uses, ultimately the proposal must not adversely affect or jeopardise the primary school use. - 6.4 There were no mini buses on site during the site visit, although there was a small mobile bus offering banking services to the local community (since the closure of the Isle of Man Bank in Kirk Michael). This bus was manned and had left the site before the end of the site visit. - 6.5 Information provided as part of the application indicates that the largest minibus expected at the site is 7.3m long and approx. 1.9m wide. The application has been revised to propose the parking of up to two vehicles at the site only, and that their parking here alongside the school layby within the site shown hatched on the most recent drawing (dated 15/01/2019) would, depending on their parked location, result in the loss of between 4-6 car parking spaces of the overall 28 spaces on site. - 6.6 Objecting comments refer to a public car park situated within the village which could accommodate the proposed minibuses. DOI state that the spaces within this car park are 4.8m long and not sized to accommodate the large minibuses and that parking here could result in large obstructions to other motorists and the possibility of damage to both public and DOI vehicles. Although this risk is also possible at the school site and a number of spaces here within the hatched area are of a similar 4.8m length and perpendicular arrangement. On the contrary the public car park could also be utilised by those visiting the site if the school parking is at full capacity (parent evening, school sports day or weekend community events). - 6.7 The minibuses are to operate their services during the day, therefore it's unlikely that they will be on site during core school hours or during the pick-up and drop of times of children, although the application must be determined on its worst case scenario. The previous scheme proposed 4 minibuses potentially resulting in the unacceptable loss of up to 12 car parking space risking cutting available school and staff parking to by nearly half. The current scheme proposes only 2 buses which is considered on balance to be acceptable should both ever be parked on site during school hours although in any such case it would be in the
6.9 The existing area is already established and utilised as a car park where there is a general level of acceptability for the parking of vehicles. The proposed minibuses are larger than the average motor car and will undoubtedly be more noticeably within the site from the road, their parking here is not expected to result in such an adverse visual impact as to warrant a concern or refusal and their containment within the school grounds limits the spread of development. The Conservation Area is characterised more so by the historic building stock lining both sides of the main road. While the buses will be visible, they are not permanent or fixed features and would not be so far removed from existing vehicles parked or passing through the area. The parking here is likely to have a negligible impact on the general character and appearance of the Conservation Area. - 6.10 A number of nearby residents have commented on the impact of the buses on views from their property and the consequential impact on property value. In planning terms rights to a view and property values are not material planning considerations.
6.11 The proposal does not result in any changes to the existing site access arrangements and the buses would be parked accommodating existing car parking spaces as to reduce any obstructions to vehicles moving through the site. While traffic coming into and out of the site may marginally increase this is not expected to result in any detriment or adverse impacts on general traffic flows or highway safety. The revised plans also reduce the area for parking and ensure that this is beyond the zebra crossing, helping to avoid any visibility issues of pedestrians using the crossing. In this respect the proposal is considered to be acceptable.
6.12 A representative from the Police initially highlighted concern for the vehicles being left unattended overnight and being susceptible to criminal damage or theft. Subsequent comments indicate that discussion had been undertaken between the Police and DOI stating that this element of risk had been taken into consideration and that security would be explored by the DOI. The parking area is not controlled and access can be achieved at all times, the parking of the minibuses is not expected to cause any community safety issues, and that minibuses parked here would be done so at the applicants own risk. - 6.13 The parking of vehicles in front of access gates should be avoided and is generally not best practice particularly those used for emergency purposes. The hatched areas on the plan are understood to already be designated parking spaces and it is expected that these would not be designated if they would result in safety issues in access the playground or the community playing fields.
7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 The number of minibuses included in the description is a maximum that could be parked on the site at any given time and not necessarily the expected number of vehicles at all times. On balance the proposed additional use is considered to be acceptable and not to cause such an unacceptable level of harm to the established school use of the site as to warrant a
8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:
8.2 The decision maker must determine:
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 28.05.2019 Signed : L Kinrade Presenting Officer Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required.
YES/NO
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