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THIS APPLICATION IS RECOMMENDED TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT PROPOSES ADDITIONAL RETAIL FLOOR SPACE ON LAND THAT IS DESIGNATED AS BEING LIGHT INDUSTRIAL USE.
"The company was formed in November 1970 and commenced trading from small premises at 68 Athol Street, Douglas. At inception the Company could clearly be defined as a radio and television retailer specializing in television rental.
In 1975 the Company made its first major move from the commercial centre environment to a high profile next to former Woolworths building on the High Street. During this period through to the eighties Waltons strategy was to operate with a High Street showroom supported by an out of town Service and Distribution Centre located at the nearby Spring Valley Industrial Estate, Braddan.
In the late eighties Waltons entered into the home computer market. It was clear to the Company that the home computer was going to have a major impact not just in the games field but also in more serious applications within the home. Originally Waltons bought in all their desktop computers. However after a while we realized that by assembling our own brand computers we could increase margins and offer a greater range of specification to the consumer.
By 2000 the Consumer Electronics Industry was moving at a pace with the advent of widescreen television and the prospect of flat screen digital TV not far off being a reality. Industry talk at the time was all about the merging of computers and television onto a new digital platform in order to enable the devises to interact, this new thinking was to be called Convergence Technology. Waltons was now assembling the majority of its computers from the new Service and Distribution Centre at the Milestone, Peel Road, Douglas.
It soon became apparent that having sales technicians in a different building to the hardware engineers was presenting technical difficulties in interfacing and setting up computers to the end user. To simplify matters and to streamline our business we applied for planning consent in 2001 to create our new Convergence Technology Store Digital World. Approval was granted on the 7th February 2002 - PA 00/01799.
Over the last decade consumer electronics has changed beyond all recognition. In 2002 Waltons assembled its own desktop computers, however over the ensuing years consumers migrated from desktop devises to laptop PCs for mobility. Even laptops and Netbooks are now becoming less desirable as much lighter and versatile Tablets start to dominate the market.
The existing premises use still remains for computer products and for their storage, service and repair for office and retail use. This use however requires to be modified/varied to accommodate changes that have taken place within the market place over the last decade and to allow for the future development of consumer electronic retailing.
Waltons no longer manufacture/assemble PCs to the extent it did in the early 2000's due to the aforementioned major changes that have evolved and taken place within the industry. It should be noted however that Waltons Service Division at the Milestone has substantially increased its activities over the same period in question. Several major international companies have appointed Waltons to look after their service requirements and interests on the Isle of Man, as many have no presence offshore. This enables Isle of Man retailers and consumers who have purchased goods on the Mainland and in some cases Europe to have equipment repaired locally both in and out of warranty. Waltons are a UK Service Centre for Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, Epsom and Acer computers. The company employs highly skilled engineers to qualify for Service centre status. Currently the area including mezzanine dedicated to the Service Division, Distribution and administration (excluding the agreed 175 sq.m of retail sales space) is approximately 874 sq.m (9,100 square foot).
The market place has changed considerably since 2002 with the increase in Internet sales and the type of stores that now encompass Brown Goods, White Goods and IT, giving the consumer a larger choice and range of product under one roof.
It is vitally important that Waltons now moves to protect its competitive position in the light of the recent planning application for a large electrical retail store at Braddan and the planned closure of the MEA retail outlets.
Since early 2000 Waltons has expanded considerably and requires a greater sales area to accommodate and display its existing and new digital product range. It is the company's intention to add white goods and electrical product to its digital range currently on offer.
Discussions have taken place with several of our existing manufacturers who have encouraged us to enter the white goods market particularly Samsung who wish to appoint Waltons as a Digital Appliance Centre.
A home automation system integrates electrical devices in a house with each other. The techniques employed in home automation include those in building automation as well as the control of domestic activities, such as home entertainments systems, central heating/climate control, houseplant watering, pet feeding, automated cooking control and digital multifunctional refrigeration. Devices may be connected through a computer network to allow control by a personal computer, and may allow remote access from the internet and Smartphone. Through the integration of information technologies within the home entertainment, systems and appliances are able to communicate in an integrated manner which results in convenience, energy efficiency and safety benefits.
Digital side by side smart fridges are available, with an in-built computer which can be accessed via a 37 centimetre touch-screen LCD monitor mounted on the fridge door. Users can watch TV, listen to MP3 music, take and store digital photos, make a video phone call, use the fridge as a message board or surf the web. It also has a DVD port, a microphone and speakers. Information about food in the fridge can be stored and a map of the fridge allows the owner to keep an inventory of what foods are in each section and how long they have been there. Its biggest advantage will be its functionality as a food management system. There are multiple ways to tell the fridge what items are inside. One way is to select from a range of preset items using the fridge's touchscreen but there is also voice recognition and the ability to scan grocery receipts or barcodes using your Smartphone. The appliance can be 'connected' by simply running a phone connection into it.
New generation expanded intelligent smart ovens offer remote control by internet and telephone, and come with built-in refrigeration to keep foods fresh before and after cooking. These advanced remote features allow homeowners to communicate with the oven to give cooking, warming and refrigeration instructions via the internet or mobile Smartphone if home arrival time plans are changed.
Remote control of white goods and other electronic household devises via a digital home hub is now reality, whilst in its infancy smart domestic goods will grow considerably over the next decade and Waltons wish to capture a section of this market.
White goods are bulky by nature and require a sizeable area to offer a credible display. We believe this application to be in line with Business Policy 5 in that this business in its entirety, with Service and Distribution, could not reasonably operate in a town centre location. Therefore Waltons are seeking planning approval to extend the existing retail area of 175sq.m by a further 117 sq.m (outlined on plan - hatched red) to accommodate the new product line. An extension to the existing mezzanine storage area of 85.5sq.m (outlined on plan - hatched green) is also required to accommodate a larger stock holding.
The application requires no external alterations and will have minimal effect on our existing generous parking facility. The application also calls for approval to extend the range of goods we sell to incorporate electrical goods".
"The company anticipates the effect of these changes to the original likely to be:-
Paragraph 9.2.5 and 9.2.6, which state:
"The Island's industrial estates have generally been used to accommodate only those uses described in paragraphs 9.2.3 and 9.2.4. More recently however, there has been pressure on Government to permit retailing within industrial areas, particularly those on the outskirts of Douglas. Following the development of the large-span "do it yourself" retail facility by B & Q in the Spring valley industrial estate in the mid 1980s, Tynwald took an immediate stance against out of town retailing by a resolution in 1987 which stated that "Positive steps should now be taken to revitalise existing town and village centres for the benefit of the whole community...and no further major out of town retailing developments should be permitted". The Braddan Local Plan adopted by Tynwald in 1991 reiterated this policy, and successive local and Area Plans have been formulated to concentrate retailing on existing centres in defined settlements - Castletown, Ramsey, Douglas, Peel, Port Erin, Onchan, Kirk Michael, Laxey and Port St. Mary.
Since the adoption of the Braddan Local Plan in 1991, pressure has been growing for the inclusion within industrial areas of a variety of retail-related uses, with some applications being successful. Those which have been successful have generally fallen into one of the following two categories:
a) developments of a retail nature where the items being retailed cannot generally be sold from a high street or town centre location, e.g. motor cars, builders' materials, agricultural equipment and feed; and b) developments which in themselves are not retail but comprise elements of retail use which are inextricably linked to the primary use of the building or site - e.g. tailor-made clothing or video tapes manufactured on the premises.
However, there are good reasons not only for directing most retail uses to town centre locations but also for reserving industrial land for its designated purpose. It is important to ensure that sufficient suitable land is available for industrial development. In any case, most industrial estates are unsuitable as environments for shoppers. The following policy is therefore appropriate:
Business Policy 5, which states:
"On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted except where either:
and, in respect of (a) or (b), where it can be demonstrated that the sales would not detract from the vitality and viability of the appropriate town centre shopping area."
Planning application 97/01646/B - Conversion of existing building to computer store and associated usage. Permitted September 1998. This approval was the subject of the following condition:
"The use hereby permitted is the storage, manufacture, repair, servicing, and upgrading of computer equipment, with an element of ancillary retail use, and training use; the retail element should at no time occupy more than about 10% of the total floor area of that part of the premises which is the subject of this application, and no goods other than computers or computer related goods may be sold or handled on this part of the premises."
Planning application 00/01799/B - Variation of condition of approval to enlarge sales area and increase range of goods for sale. Approved on appeal February 2002. The inspector presiding over the appeal made the following comments (Paragraphs 18 - 20):
"Although the permitted use of the Milestone site is mixed and the existing permission for the appeal premises did permit a small element of retailing, that was strictly limited so that it would be ancillary to the main use of the building for the storage, manufacture, servicing and upgrading of computer equipment. The site is zoned for industrial use on the Local Plan and it is important therefore that, through incremental expansion of the retail element of the floorspace, retailing does not become the dominant use of the premises.
The nature of the business operated at the appeal site has now developed from 'computer equipment' specified in the previous approval to more specialised IT Convergence technology. The arrangement of the uses originally intended within the building has also changed in that the demonstration area is now integrated with the sales area. In effect the actual amount of additional floorspace now actually used for the display of goods is relatively small. Once the additional storage floorspace has been constructed the enlarged retail area will be at most 14% of the total floor area. In my opinion this can still be regarded as being ancillary to the main use of the premises and that the continued use of that floorspace for retailing, as proposed, has not and will not have an adverse impact on the retail function of the town centre.
It is clearly difficult to specify the range of goods that can be retailed from the sales area. For example, the equipment currently for sale includes camcorders and cameras that might also be available in town centre stores. Nevertheless those sold from the appeal premises are specifically digital and their use is linked to other specialised equipment and are properly part of that business operation which should be specified in any permission. The previous approval specified the floor area to be used for retailing as a percentage of the total. It is clear that that is difficult to monitor and it was agreed that it would be preferable to specify the maximum floor area to be permitted for retail purposes."
"The use hereby permitted is for the storage, manufacture, repair, servicing and upgrading of computer equipment, with an element of retail use and office use. The retail use and training element should at no time occupy more than 175m2 of that part of the premises which is the subject of the application. No goods other than computer related goods may be sold or handled on this part of the premises. Computer related goods shall only include those used for or related to information technology, the Internet, telecom, and multimedia audio visual equipment incorporating digital technology."
The following applications relates to a different site to the application site but are considered relevant to the Planning Committee's determination of this proposal:
Planning application 08/02135/A sought planning approval in principle to demolish existing unit and erection of retail units with ancillary car-parking and servicing. Unit 6, Spring Valley Industrial Estate, Braddan. This previous planning application was refused on the 12th October 2009. A subsequent appeal against the refusal was upheld by the Minister, in accordance with the recommendation of the appointed Planning Inspector, with the appeal approval decision issued on the 23rd February 2010. Nine conditions were imposed on this planning approval, of these the following three conditions are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application:
Condition no. 6 states: "This permission shall provide for a maximum retail floorspace of 1672m2."
Condition no. 7 states: "The permission shall provide for a maximum of 2 units and there shall be no further subdivision."
Condition no. 9 states: "Notwithstanding the provisions of article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005, or any other order revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modifications, the goods to be sold within the units hereby approved shall not include food and shall consist primarily of building, decorating and home-improvement materials and equipment, furniture and floor coverings, garden goods and equipment, car parts, spares, maintenance goods and equipment, camping equipment, boats, quad bikes, bicycles, electrical goods and equipment, light fittings, pet food, pet supplies and pets."
Planning application 10/01384/B sought planning approval for the demolition of existing unit and erection of two retail units with ancillary car parking and servicing (reserved matters pursuant to PA 08/02135/A). Unit 6 and land at Spring Valley Industrial Estate, Braddan. This previous planning application was approved on the 14th January 2011. Seven conditions were imposed on this planning approval, of these the following two conditions are considered specifically material to the assessment of the current planning application:
Condition no. 6 states: "The permission shall provide for a maximum of 2 units and there shall be no further subdivision."
Condition no. 7 states: "Notwithstanding the provisions of article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005, or any other order revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modifications, the goods to be sold within the units hereby approved shall not include food and shall consist primarily of building, decorating and home-improvement materials and equipment, furniture and floor coverings, garden goods and equipment, car parts, spares, maintenance goods and equipment, camping equipment, boats, quad bikes, bicycles, electrical goods and equipment, light fittings, pet food, pet supplies and pets."
Planning application 11/01594/LAW sought a Certificate of Lawful Use for the use of the building for retail sale by Next Plc for the sale of furniture, household goods and decorating items plus childrenswear. This previous application was refused on the 1st December 2012 for the following reason:
"The proposed use is not lawful and a Certificate of lawful use is declined as; The sale of goods from the site, as itemised in the application, would not be compliant with condition 9 of Planning Permission 08/ 02135/A or condition 7 of 10/01384/REM and would amount to the building not being used primarily for the sale of building, decorating and home-improvement materials and equipment, furniture and floor coverings, garden goods and equipment, car parts, spares, maintenance goods and equipment, camping equipment, boats, quad bikes,
bicycles, electrical goods and equipment, light fittings, pet food, pet supplies and pets. Therefore Planning Permission would be required."
Planning application 11/01726/B sought approval for the construction of internal mezzanine floor to increase retail floor space, Unit 1, Spring Valley Industrial Estate, Douglas. This application was refused by the Planning Committee for the following reasons:
R1. "The increase in floorspace greater than that conditioned in application 08/02135/A, would further undermine the aims of Strategic Policy 9 and Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 which seeks to direct all new retail to town and village centres in order to protect the vitality and viability of those centres."
R2. "The proposal would result in an increased demand for parking on a site where the existing levels of parking provision are demonstrably inadequate, and which would therefore result in overspill to surrounding roads causing inconvenience to users of the highway."
Calculation of floor areas - Existing floor area of building = 1247.5 sq.m Existing floor area of sales area = 175 sq.m (14% of floor area) Proposed additional sales floor area = 117 sq.m Proposed additional sales floor area + existing sales floor area = 292 sq.m Proposed mezzanine storage area = 85.5 sq.m Proposed floor area of building = 1333 sq.m (292 sq.m would therefore be 22% of the new total floor area)
i) Would the ratio of retail area to overall floor space be such that it could reasonably be accepted as being ancillary to the overall function of the building?
"Any test for whether a use is ancillary to another, or not, is a matter of fact and degree and each case has to be determined on its particular merits. However, in practice two principal criteria have emerged. First, a severability test, and second, an environmental impact test. Applying the first test, one would ask whether the alleged ancillary use could practically and viably operate on its own were the primary use of the premises to cease. If it could, then the use is very unlikely to be ancillary as there is clearly no linkage or dependency. The second test would look to any outward effects of the use, in terms of the appearance of the premises, the amenity of the surrounding area or neighbourhood traffic conditions. If it could be shown that there would be a significantly greater impact following from the introduction of the alleged ancillary activity than one could reasonably expect from the existing use, then it is unlikely that the use could be so described."
ii) Would the goods proposed to be sold be "bulky" so as to make their sale from a town centre location unreasonable?
iii) Would the increase in sales floor area and range of goods offered detract from the vitality and viability of the appropriate town centre shopping area, in this case Douglas?
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 04.10.2012
C: Conditions for approval N: Notes attached to conditions R: Reasons for refusal O: Notes attached to refusals
The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
This approval relates to the extension to retail area, installation of additional mezzanine storage floor and installation of additional rear elevation window, Waltons Digital World, The Milestone, Peel Road, Douglas as shown by 4381/L1, 4381/S1, 4381/EX1, 4381/SK1 and 4381/E1 all received 27th June 2012.
This approval permits the use of the building for storage, manufacture, repair, servicing and upgrading of electronic equipment, with an element of retail use and office use. The retail use and training element should at no time occupy more than 295sq.m of that part of the premises which is the subject of the application. No goods other than electronic goods may be sold or handled on this part of the premises.
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the Town and Country (Development Procedure) 2005
Decision Made: Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 15.10.12
Signed: J. N. Nailer Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason is required. Signing Officer to delete as appropriate
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