Officer Report

Application No.: 18/01248/B Applicant: Corlett Sons & Cowley Ltd Proposal: Erection of detached single storey timber clad office building for use in conjunction with site Site Address: Corlett Sons & Cowley Depot Main Road Union Mills Isle Of Man Planning Officer: Mr Nick Salt Photo Taken: 11.12.2018 Site Visit: 11.12.2018 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 09.01.2019 _________________________________________________________________

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. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification), the building hereby approved shall not be used other than as an office.

Reason: The Department has assessed the impact of the proposal on the basis of the specific use

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings date stamped as received on 28th November 2018:

• o 419/1/1 - Location Plan
• o 419/1/2 - Site Plan
• o 419/1/3 - Plans as proposed
• o 419/1/P - Photographs of site _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the following 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 Authority (Drainage) as they do not refer to the relevant issues in accordance with paragraph 2C of the Policy and 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 Policy. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS BROUGHT BEFORE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE A DEPARTURE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.

1.0 SITE - 1.1 The site is the curtilage of the Corlett Sons & Cowley Depot on Main Road, Union Mills. The site is an industrial grain store with a number of large warehouses and sheds on the site. To the south west of the site adjoining the boundary is Burnside Cottage, a traditional stone cottage. There are a number of residential dwelling to the west and open fields to the north. The chapel to the south on Main Road is also owned by the applicant. - 1.2 The area of the site is mainly concrete hard standing, and there is a large steel fence with gate at the western access to the site from Maitland Terrace Lane. There is car parking both on the site and immediately to the west of the curtilage. Car parking on site is currently 5 spaces.

2.0 PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the erection of a detached single storey timber framed and clad office building for use in conjunction with the site. The office would be situated in the north west corner of the site, adjacent to the boundary fence/gate and the field to the north. - 2.2 The proposed office would measure 6m long (north-south), 3m wide (east-west), with a flat roof at approximately 3m height from ground level. The building would contain the main office space, a small WC and kitchenette within a total floor space of 18 sq.m. - 2.3 One window is proposed for the north side elevation facing towards the field, finished with anthracite grey uPVC. On the front (east) elevation there would be a glass entrance door with side screens approximately 2.3m across and also framed with grey uPVC. The building would be clad in Siberian Larch vertical boarding, with a horizontally boarding fascia.

- 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The site has been subject to a number of planning applications over past years. Permission has been granted for the installation of a grain drier adjacent to the grain store (87/04038/B), a 5000 gallon oil storage tank/storage compound (88/01916/B), the provision of toilet facilities (90/00176/B), Approval in Principle for the extension of a warehouse (99/00326/A), The erection of An agricultural shed (04/02530/B). - 3.2 The Chapel adjacent to the site has been used as office accommodation by the applicant following approval (88/00154/B).

- 4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The Braddan Local Plan 1991 designates the site as within an area zoned for Predominantly Residential use. - 4.2 Given the land use designation of the site, General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 (IOMSP) is relevant:

"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:

• (a) is in accordance with the design brief in the Area Plan where there is such a brief;
• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape;
• (d) does not adversely affect the protected wildlife or locally important habitats on the site or adjacent land, including water courses;
• (e) does not affect adversely public views of the sea;
• (f) incorporates where possible existing topography and landscape features, particularly trees and sod banks;
• (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;
• (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;
• (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways;
• (j) can be provided with all necessary services;
• (k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan;
• (l) is not on contaminated land or subject to unreasonable risk of erosion or flooding;
• (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and
• (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

4.3 In addition, Business Policy 8 is important to consider: "New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings and should accommodate parking space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 7 of the Plan." - 4.4 Transport Policy 7 also covers parking: "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards." - 4.5 Appendix 7 of the IOMSP states that for out of town office spaces, there shall be one parking space provided for each 15 sq.m. of floor space (in the case of this proposal, 2 spaces would be required).

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Braddan Commissioners have no objections to the application (17.12.18). - 5.2 Manx Utilities requested a deferral on this application (14.12.18). Subsequently, Manx Utilities confirmed on 21.12.18 that they had no comments of issue.

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The key considerations in the determination of this application are:

• o The principle of the development

• o The impact on residential amenity of neighbours
• o The visual impact of the building
• o Parking provision on site and highway safety

6.2 The principle of the development

• 6.2.1 The site, whilst zoned in the Braddan Local Plan as predominantly residential, is industrial and commercial in nature and features a large number of warehouses, sheds and associated equipment and structures. The addition of a relatively small timber office building would therefore not be out of keeping with the use of the site or the pattern of the area.

6.3 The impact on residential amenity of neighbours

• 6.3.1 As the proposal would be close to neighbouring residential dwellings, the impact on these dwellings must be considered.

• 6.3.2 As the building proposed would be within a site used for industrial and commercial purposes, there is an existing impact in terms of machinery and vehicles entering and leaving the site. The erection of an 18swm office on the site would not result in any increase of noise pollution or other polluting impacts on Orrisdale and Fair View (the closest houses to the proposal). Burnside Cottage would also not be affected, the timber building would not detract from its traditional appearance.
• 6.3.3 With regard to any overlooking or other risk to residential amenity, there would be no window opening facing any residential property, therefore this risk would be null.
• 6.4 The visual impact of the building

6.4.1 Visually, the proposal is relatively modest, with a timber clad construction and small scale. The area at present is an unattractive concrete hard standing yard bounded by a steel fence. The building would not be highly visible from the Main Road through Union Mills, only seen by the small level of traffic using Maitland Terrace Lane. For this reason, the visual impact would be limited.

6.5 Parking provision and highway safety

• 6.5.1 The applicant has stated that 6 parking spaces would be provided - in excess of the minimum requirement of 2 spaces for a non-town centre office building with 18 sq.m. of floor space. The site contains a large amount of open concrete yard area which would be suitable for parking. The proposal therefore would provide adequate parking, reducing the risk of on street parking on Maitland Terrace Lane and preserving highway safety as a result.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 In summary, the proposal is considered to comply with the aforementioned policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and is therefore recommended for approval. - 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:

• (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
• (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
• (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. 8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and

• o whether there are other persons to those listed in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

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: 21.01.2019

Signed : N SALT Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below

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