DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/00291/C Applicant: Hooded Ram Brewery Co Ltd Proposal: Change of use to a brewery (retrospective) Site Address: The Depot Leigh Terrace Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 5AL Planning Officer: Mr Owen Gore Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 23.05.2019 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. There shall be no direct sales of products to visiting members of the public.

Reason: To safeguard the Light Industrial use and protect the amenities of the surrounding area in accordance with General Policy 2 and Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan

• 2016.

• C 2. The canning operation within the site shall be restricted to the area indicated as 'Future Canning Machine Position' on the submitted drawing No.P0020 Rev A - Application for Change of Use, date-stamped as having been received 14 March 2019, only.

Reason: To safeguard the amenities of the surrounding area in accordance with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

• C 3. The outside areas to the front and western side of the building shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking and turning of vehicles associated with the development and shall remain free of obstruction for such use at all times.

Reason: To ensure that sufficient provision is made for off-street parking and turning of vehicles in the interests of highway safety in accordance with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

• C 4. There shall be no external storage within the site, of waste by-products associated with the industrial use of the unit.

Reason: To protect the amenities of adjoining land users in accordance with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This planning permission relates to the following plans and documents: Covering Letter/Planning Statement Drawing No.P0020 Rev A - Application for Change of Use Date-stamped as having been received 14 March 2019 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are 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):

'Riverside Apartments Management Company' on behalf of the residents of Riverside Apartments, Leigh Terrace, Douglas, IM1 5AN as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018). _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS BROUGHT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

1.0 SITE - 1.1 The site is currently an existing unit accessed from Castletown Road. To the East of the site is a car park and to the West are residential apartments. The unit is approx. 418sqm.

2.0 PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal is for the retrospective change of use; the current use of the land and building is understood to be commerce (commercial) and the propose use is a lightweight craft brewery (light industrial) with canning line and additional allowance for guided tours for the public. - 2.2 It is understood that the above property has been operating as a brewery since November

1. In terms of staff operations the brewery generally operates from 7:30am to 3pm throughout the week and possibly on weekends and brewing is left to run over the necessary brewing period. Guided tours of the brewing facility are offered on the premises and finish offsite in the Hooded Ram pub on the north quay; visits are generally conducted in the early evening generally once a month, but may be more frequent during festival periods.

2.3 In this case the initial advice from the Department, based upon the Departments records, concluded that a brewery would not be a material change of use as it was considered to fall within authorised use and that planning approval would not be required. - 2.4 However, based on the new information provided, further investigations have revealed that Go Marketing had operated out of the premises for a period of in excess of 10 years prior to the Hooded Ram taking possession. They are understood to have been a warehouse and distribution operation direct to commercial customers. It appears that this change of use took place without the benefit of planning approval and was subsequently in operation for in excess of 10 years.

- 3.0 PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site is zoned as light industrial within the Douglas Local Plan. It lies just outside an area of flooding as identified on the 2017 flood maps. It is not within a Conservation Area. The policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (2016) which are set out below are relevant. - 3.2 General Policy 2 states that development in accordance with land-use zoning will be supported subject to caveats, which include the impact of design on the site and surroundings (b), avoiding adverse impacts on the character of the townscape (c), not adversely affecting the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality (g), providing safe and convenient access for all highway users and providing adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space (h), having no unacceptable impact on road safety (i) and taking account of safety and security (m). - 3.3 Environment Policy 22 indicates that development would not be permitted which would unacceptably harm the amenity of nearby properties due to noise pollution. Associated Para

• 7.17.1 states; However, it is not the role of land use planning to duplicate controls which are the statutory responsibility of other agencies including other directorates within the Department of Local Government and the Environment. It is the intention of the [following] policy to prevent development which would unacceptably impact upon current and future land uses through the effects of pollution.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 Advice was sought in September 2017 as to whether the use of the site as a brewery would require planning approval. The advice given by Mr. Balmer (Senior Planner) dated 23rd September 2017 is set out below.

"In terms of the unit on Leigh Terrace, Castletown Road, Douglas the last planning application was for: "Creation of delivery access door to existing industrial unit, former H.E. Richards premises, Leigh Terrace, Castletown Road, Douglas." - 96/00850/B which was approved.

The site is also designated as being light industry use on the Douglas Local Plan.

4.2 In July 2018 planning permission was granted for the following;

• o 18/00270/B - Installation of air conditioning units and erection of fencing (retrospective)
• o 18/00271/D - Installation of signage on building (retrospective)

4.3 As it was considered that, irrespective of the use of the building, the proposals were acceptable on their own merits.

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only. Douglas Borough Council

• o No Objection (dated 05 April 2019) Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division
• o No comments have been provided at the time of writing

Neighbours' views

5.2 Two objections have been submitted (10 April 2019 and 15 April 2019) by the building surveying and architectural design company, Partington, Nixon & Kinrade; the objections are stated as being 'on behalf of the Riverside Apartments Management Company, who are the managers and administrators of all the apartments in the building directly adjoining the application site on Leigh Terrace'.

The principal planning points made are as follows:

• o Lack of information regarding operations, staff levels, delivery/collection etc.
• o Plans do not show the external painted finish;
• o Plans don't explicitly show mezzanine;
• o Layout suggests that operation could be of a considerable size;
• o Description of guided tours is open ended possibly leading to more frequent than described;
• o Hours of operation should be strictly controlled;
• o A canning operation would be unacceptable in this location and indicates a larger scale
• operation than described;
• o Douglas Local Plan indicates that zoning should be re-examined in this area and it is becoming more residential in nature, therefore current proposal should be not acceptable or strictly controlled;
• o Application shouldn't be approved due to retrospective nature;
• o Financial loss due to highly visible brewery next to apartments;
• o Vehicle manoeuvring and parking is limited on-site
• o Potential noise, smell, dirt/dust and increase traffic activity;

5.3 Following comment from Douglas Borough Council, the above objectors submitted the initial comments with again an addendum, stating that little weight should be given to DBC's comments for the following reasons: -

• o 'They give no indication that they are conversant with the effect of a brewery adjoining a residential location;
• o Their consideration is based on the submitted documents which we contend show open ended details to the scale and effect of the proposal with the implications that we have pointed
• out in our submission;
• o We consider that the validity of the comments made by the dilapidation's enforcement
• officers' comments should be questioned when making serious decision on planning matters on behalf of Douglas Council'.

5.4 Further comments also reference comments made in the local press and the contact that the objectors have had with the applicants.

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The land use designation for the site is light industrial in the Douglas Plan, as is the area upon which the current neighbouring flats are erected. Notwithstanding this designation the brewery is operating next to some residential units. The objections state that the Douglas Local Plan indicates that zoning should be re-examined in this area and it is becoming more residential in nature; however this would need to be carried out as part of a new area plan. The use as a brewery is considered to accord with the land use designation. - 6.2 Light industrial is Class 5 of the Permitted Development Order 2012, as being any use for industrial process which can be carried out in a residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area. - 6.3 Concerns have been raised by the management company of the neighbouring flats over the use and its potential to impact on the amenity. The potential impacts stated include noise, smell, dirt/dust and increase traffic activity. However as stated above, breweries are considered to fall within the definition of Light industrial, to include process which can be carried out in a residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area. The only element that is markedly different form traditional breweries is the canning operation. - 6.4 The operations associated with a brewery of this size are generally low key, with few staff members being required and the applicant has stated that the intention, in conjunction with

• their other site on Peel Road, is for 'experimental, specialist and occasional brews'. If odour or noise from machinery became an issue there is other legislation which would be applicable in rectifying those issues. Should the measures required by environmental health be considered development for which planning approval is required then an application would be needed to address it.
• 6.5 Canning is shown specifically in the area to the rear of the building; the machine is shown as small scale and of a limited capacity. Although no specific details have been provided regarding the machine itself the scale of the canning process is small in comparison to the wider use of the site and a condition is recommended to prevent this operation increasing beyond this area and becoming the dominant use of the facility. Due to the scale of the process, the low requirement for staff and the nature of the brewing process where the product is left to ferment in vats periodically monitored, the hours of operation have some flexibility and restrictions in this case would be unreasonable.
• 6.6 The proposal includes the option of guided tours to showcase the operations of the facility and the brewing process. As stated above, the brewery is small scale and will used primarily for 'experimental, specialist and occasional brews'. The proposal is for light industrial and the option for any business within this use class, to allow members of the public to view the facility by appointment would be very much an ancillary activity and the popularity of this is limited. The application building is a small facility filled with stock and specialist equipment.
• 6.7 Therefore it is within the operators interests to keep this aspect of the business relatively low key and arguably the extent to which this is likely to become a significant nuisance would also be the point where there could be a potential, material change of use.
• 6.8 Vehicle manoeuvring and parking is limited on-site; however it is understood that the requirement for staff is low and although guided tours offered on the premises they finish offsite in the Hooded Ram pub on the north quay. These tours are infrequent and generally conducted in the early evening, when there is unrestricted parking on the south quay and pay and display parking within the marina. The nature of the activity and the conclusion suggests that alcohol will be consumed and therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that patrons would use alternative methods of transport.
• 6.9 Other matters have been raised by the objectors such as the retrospective nature of the application and previous planning permissions granted on the site leading to financial loss; however these are not material planning considerations.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal is considered acceptable in accordance with the designation within the Local Area Plan and the appropriate policies within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016. - 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: 10.06.2019

Signed : A MORGAN 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

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.