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19/00403
Planning and Building Control Directorate Murray House Mount Havelock Douglas Isle of Man IM1 2SF
Monday 25th March 2019 Dear Sir or Madam, Re Business case to support the change of use on the Old Chapel, Main Road, Onchan, IM3 1AL
This document is in support of the attached change of use application of the above property from "Offices" to "Performing Arts Centre". The property was in use as a Theatre School from 1987 until 2009 when the current designated use was implemented.
It is our intention to convert this space into a community space in line with other such buildings in the area, such as The Hub Community Centre, Kenyans Youth Centre, the band rooms on Stoney Road, Onchan Library and the nearby shops.
Proposed Use
At present, The Arts Hub runs a wide variety of classes in all aspects of the Performing Arts. These include but aren't limited to classes in Musical Theatre, Singing and Speech, Dance and Drama. These group classes are taught at weekends and in the evenings. We also offer 'Broadway Babies' classes for Mums and Tots which are smaller group classes of 10 students which run once a week during the day. We've been running these classes at The Hub in Onchan and many of the parents that have attended these classes come from Onchan and they've proved to be a popular opportunity for parents and their children to get out and about and socialise with other local families. The Arts Hub also offers Private Coaching in Singing, Dance and Drama.
Community Choir
The Arts Hub started life in the Onchan Community Centre in 2015 and we enjoyed being part of the Onchan Community, with many students attending from the surrounding residential areas. Many of our students also live in the surrounding towns of Ramsey, Laxey and Douglas. The Arts Hub have many community projects that have been running over the last year. Our weekly Community Choir is a free choir for adults aged 16+ (on our register we currently have over 70 members) and it is hoped that many residents in the Onchan area might come along and join our Community Choir! We have also worked with local charity 'Live At Home' holding fundraising concerts at Christmas to support this fantastic charity. We are still in contact with 'Live At Home' and have future plans to support the work they do at The Arts Hub by offering their patrons musical and social events at The Arts Hub.
Specific details about the property
During our search for a property, we've been observant of other businesses in our industry and the impact that they've had on the local area in terms of traffic generation and noise pollution. One of the reasons we chose the former Chapel was due to its uses as a former place of congregation and then Theatre School. The building is built in traditional Manx stone and this contains sound very well. Within the building there is an air flow control system to circulate area during the warmer months which along with the natural cooling effect of
a Manx Stone building and floating floor should remove any need to open windows and thus leak sound to the surrounding area.
We were also pleased to discover that the Chapel has a significant covering of double-glazed windows, especially in the side of the property nearest to Nursery Avenue and therefore the residential property.
Due to the nature of our work, the majority of our sessions contain "Voice" work, which is mainly singing rather than dance work and the associated requirement for loud music.
There are two designated parking spaces at the rear of the property, both of which will be used by teaching staff during the Arts Hub Proposed session times. During the buildings former use as an office, the staff at the office would have utilised 10/15 parking spaces on Nursery Avenue, due to the number of staff employed by the company, along with any clients that may have been visiting the premises.
The majority of our sessions involve "pick up" and "drop off". This will involve parents of the children that attend our younger classes discharging their children at the side of the road, specifically at 09:00 and 10:30 on Saturday morning which is unaffected by the rush hour effect of the working week. These pick up and drop off times are also restricted to 10/15 minutes during the start and end of our sessions.
The sessions attended by older children and young adults should generate much less traffic. A large number of our students will travel to class on foot or via public transport, as the property is served well by Isle of Man transport due to its location on Main Road Onchan.
We also intend to strongly encourage our parents to use nearby local parking facilities. These facilities include the large car park at the Onchan Community Centre which is located a very short walk away at the top of Nursery Avenue. As well as this there is also the nearby Village Walk parking facilities which can be used by parents.
We previously started our business on the Onchan Community Centre when we formed in 2015. We found that our classes soon generated a community feel about them, with parents of our students becoming regular customers of nearby hospitality and retail outlets.
If you would like to see more details information about our classes and their content, this can be found on our website: https://theartshub.im
I hope this provides you with the necessary information required for our change of use application. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Bridson Director The Arts Hub
Tel: 07624409080 Email: [email protected]
Company Registration Number - 0254646 Registered Address - 30 Thorny Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 5EE
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