DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/00425/D Applicant: Tevir Group Proposal: Installation of non-illuminated signage Site Address: Villiers Square Fort Street Douglas Isle of Man Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken: 14.05.2019 Site Visit: 14.05.2019 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.05.2019 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice. Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents. Plans/Drawings/Information: This approval relates to the Location plan, Statement, Typical Bay Detail, and Proposed Site Plan date stamped and received 9 April 2019. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The site is a public open space in the curtilage of Villiers Square, Fort Street, Douglas. It is located in south west Douglas with its north east section located along the Loch Promenade. The site is abutted by Regent Street on the north, Fort Street on the west and Victoria Street on the South, and overlooks the Douglas Bay. Also, this square is situated about 217 metres northwest of the Sea Terminal. - 1.2 The site has a set of hoardings located on various sections of the site that will serve as stands for display boards.

THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the installation of non-illuminated signage on the site. - 2.2 The works will include the installation of 2 sets of display boards around the existing hoardings. The existing hoarding has black paint finish to the outer face. - 2.3 The first set of Vertical timber boarding will be fixed to the existing hoarding located at the south west corner of the site. This boarding will be rough sawn, with regular width and painted stained black. - 2.4 The second set of Vertical timber boarding will be fixed to the existing fencing. This boarding will be rough sawn, with regular width, painted stained black and will be fixed to either side of the fence to match the existing vertical boarding to the rear of the structure. - 2.5 The display boards with artwork and information about the "Wallabies gone wild" (A Wild in Art event in support of Hospice Isle of Man) will be displayed on the hoardings overlooking the seating area. The board sizes will be 1200 x 1200mm and will be fixed to the existing hoarding. A total of 30 boards will be fixed on the hoardings at this section of the site. - 2.6 The IOM TT Races display boards will be applied to hoardings facing unto the Promenade and Regent Street. - 2.7 The existing concrete/timber benches on the site will be repositioned. The concrete will be cleaned and the timber seats will be repaired or replaced where necessary. PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site lies within an area designated to be predominantly Offices, although a section of the Villiers site is designated as Areas of Open Space or Woodland on the Douglas Local Plan,

1. The Douglas Local Plan Written Statement (1998) therefore has a recommendation (Recommendation D/OS/R1) which is relevant to the application.

3.2 Section 13.6 of the written Statement, which contains Recommendation D/OS/R1, states that: Schemes of Environmental Improvement should be initiated which although in themselves may be of a small scale nature, when seen as part of a whole will contribute to the sense of open space and civic pride. - 3.3 The site also lies within the Douglas Promenade Conservation Area and as such will be the subject of Environment Policy 37 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, which focuses on Advertisements in Conservation Areas. Environment Policy 37 States that: As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

• i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area;
• ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area;
• iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and
• iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals.

3.4 General Policy 6 is also a key consideration for this application. This policy states that: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the

site or building to which they relate provided they:

• (a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed;
• (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and

• (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard."

3.5 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 is another policy that will be valuable in the assessment of this application since it makes clear the considerations which can be applied to applications made in the interests of amenity and public safety. - 3.6 Section 5.1 states that:

(1) The Department must exercise its powers under these Regulations only in the interests of amenity and public safety, taking account of any material factors, and in particular a) in the case of amenity, the general characteristics of the locality, including the presence of any feature of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest, disregarding, if they think fit, any advertisement being displayed there; (b) In the case of public safety —

• (i) the safety of any person who may use any road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome; and
• (ii) whether any display of advertisements is likely to obscure or hinder the ready interpretation of, any traffic sign, railway or tramway signal or aid to navigation by water or air.

3.7 Owing to the fact that this proposal will include the display of works of Art in public places, the Public Art content and General Policy 9 of the Strategic Plan 2016 will be considered. Section 6.7 on Public Art states thus:

• 6.7.1 Our environment is improved by the provision of works of art in public places, particularly if that art reflects the cultural traditions or history of a particular area.
• 6.7.2 The Department will support the inclusion of such artwork in development proposals, and will expect such inclusion within major proposals. Artwork may take the form of public sculpture, such as the recently erected statues of T. E. Brown and Sir William Hillary in Douglas, or may be incorporated into features such as friezes, railings or landscaping. Commissions to locally based artists would be particularly welcome.

3.8 General Policy 9: In major development proposals, there should be included provision for artwork that is accessible to the public. PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 The application site has been subject to a number of previous planning applications, and some are relevant in the assessment of the current application. These are: - 4.2 Redevelopment of Villiers site, Victoria Street/Loch Promenade/Regent Street, Douglas. 91/00576/B - APPROVED - 4.3 Development of site to provide multi-storey office accommodation with civic space & parking, parts of Victoria Street/Loch Promenade/Regent Street/Villiers Yard, Douglas. 94/01480/B - APPROVED - 4.4 Interim landscaping for amenity space to include interim public W.C., permanent substation for office development & design of hoardings, also surface level parking for Phase 1. 96/01024/B - APPROVED - 4.5 Provision of advertisement signs (see enclosures 1-5), The Villiers site, Loch Promenade, Douglas. 96/01235/D- APPROVED - 4.6 Installation of cladding to existing hoardings, repair and repositioning of seating, installation of additional seating, planting and bin stores 19/00424/B - PENDING DECISION REPRESENTATIONS

Senior Forester has not commented on this application at the time of drafting this report, and so it is assumed that there are no objections to the application.

The DOI Highway Services have not commented on this application at the time of drafting this report, and so it is assumed that there are no objections to the application.

Douglas Corporation has indicated that they support the planning application in a letter dated 17 May 2019. ASSESSMENT

6.1 Owing to the fact that the application site is within a Conservation Area it is important that the works either preserve or enhance the Conservation Area and do not cause a damaging and detrimental impact to the area or any individual buildings. Therefore Environment Policy 37 is most appropriate to use in the assessment of this current planning application. Further any signage within a town or village has to relate to the site therefore General Policy 6 is also relevant to consider. - 6.2 It is considered that the proposed non illuminated signs will have a minimal, if any, impact on the visual amenities of those using the locality given the siting, layout, scale, form, design of the proposal. The materials to be used for the proposed signage, the descriptions and design of the signage would relate well to the hoardings already existing on site, as well as the current use of the site as a public space. - 6.3 Also, the installation of the proposed signage is judged to be in keeping with the surrounding area and would therefore not result in a harmful impact on the character of the conservation area. As well, the siting of the proposed signage is not deemed to cause a highway safety hazard. - 6.4 It is considered that since the proposed signage boards which relate to the exhibitions within the site and the wider area are relatively modest and being set within the context of the site as a public space, they would not cause any concern from the visual perspective and as such would be deemed acceptable.

CONCLUSION 7.1 Overall, it is concluded that the planning application is in accordance with Environment Policy 37 and General Policy 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and is therefore supported.

INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 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) Persons to whom notice has been given under regulation 10(3)(a)(i)
• (d) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material;
• (e) The Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (f) The Ports Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (g) The operator of the railway or tramway; and
• (h) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. _____________________________________________________________________

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

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 30.05.2019 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.