DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00023/B Applicant: Dougie Butties Proposal: Restore and repaint the external walls, railings, window frames and door frames and addition of an external table with associated canopy and change the use the from the current Office (Class 1.1) to Sandwich Shop, Food/Drink & Assembly/Leisure (Class 1.1, 1.3 & 4.4) Site Address: Argyle House Church Road Marina & 2 Harris Prom Douglas IM1 2HQ Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 24.04.2024

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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. The use hereby approved shall only be undertaken between Monday to Saturday 8:00 and 23:00.

Reason: To ensure that the development is undertaken in accordance with the application details and in the interest of protecting neighbouring living conditions.

• C 3. The proposed assembly and leisure (Class 4.4) shall only take place in the basement, as detailed in the Planning Statement received 16 April 2024.

Reason: the proposed uses have been approved on the floor plans proposed only and the submitted information with particular regard to noise of the upper residential uses.

• C 4. Notwithstanding the details provided within this application, no permission is given for the signage and the street furniture within the Planning Statement, dated received 16th April 2024.

Reason: The application has been assessed on the basis of a change of use with repainting outside only and no other details.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The proposed works are considered to have an acceptable visual and amenity impact on the existing site and surrounding neighbouring living conditions and as such comply with Environment Policy 22 and General policy 2. The proposed works are not considered to have any adverse impact on the overall character and quality of the streetscene, with conditions regarding the signage show and the proposed street furniture, and as such complies with Section 18(4) of the Town and Planning Act, Environment Policy 35 and General Policy 2.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 23rd January 2024;

• o Location Plan
• o Site Plan

This decision also relates to a revised Planning Statement dated received 16th April 2024. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Argyle House, which is a five storey mid terraced property situated to the Northern end of Church Road Marina, just prior to the roundel onto The Promenade. - 1.2 The specific part of Argyle House which is the subject of this application is the Ground Floor and Basement. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the change of use of both the Ground Floor and Basement of the site from the existing current use (Estate agent - Class 2.1) to a sandwich shop (Class 1.1), Food and Drink (Class 1.3) and Assembly and Leisure (Class 4.4). - 2.2 The shop/café (Class 1.1 & 1.3) will operate Monday to Saturday with events (Class 4.4) such as live music performances, music themed nights, art exhibitions and film screenings taking place on selected evenings. The proposed opening times is 8am to 5pm for the shop/café and evening events taking place till around 11pm. - 2.3 The shop/café will take up the area of the ground floor, with the basement being mostly the evens space and bar, with an area for food preparation. - 2.4 Also proposed is external alterations to the property which is to include painting the walls, railings, windows and doors. Also proposed is a removable access ramp. PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There have been several applications upon the site of which PA03/00055/C is the most relevant and was for the change of use of the ground floor and basement to Estate Agents, which was approved. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use" on the Area Plan for the East, Map 4 Douglas. Whilst the site is not within a Flood Risk Zone it is noted that the road and pavements in front of the application site are within a Surface Water - High likelihood Flood Risk Zone. The site is also within a Conservation Area.

4.2 Given the nature of the land zoning and the property being within a Conservation Area, Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) is the most relevant in the assessment of this application. This is then followed by Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, which sets out development in Conservation Areas will only be permitted where they preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area, General Policy 2, which sets out general development considerations and Environment Policy 22 which seeks in part that development will not unacceptably harm the environment or amenity of nearby properties in terms of emissions of airborne pollutions, vibration, odour, noise or light pollution. - 4.3 These policies are then followed by;

• Strategic Policy 2 - Priority for new development to identified towns and villages
• Strategic Policy 3 - To respect the character of our towns and villages Strategic Policy 5 - Design and visual impact Spatial Policy 1 - Development in Douglas Environment Policy 42 - Designed to respect the character and identity of the locality Transport Policy 4 - Highway safety Transport Policy 7 - Parking

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have written in (02.02.24) to state that the canopy and external table should not be part of the application as they are approved under a licence from the DOI.

5.3 Douglas Corporation initially responded to the application on the 5th February 2024, to state that they would like additional information regarding the waste storage arrangements and then responded on the 12th February 2024 to state that they will provide comments once they have reviewed the information provided. Having discussed the bin storage with Douglas Corporation over the phone in lieu, they are now happy with the details provided. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are;

• - principle
• - Section 18(4) test - character
• - Section 18(4) test - appearance
• - character and appearance
• - neighbouring amenity
• - highway impact
• - other matters

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 When looking at where the proposal is to be situated it is at the end of the existing town centre position, situated in the middle of several takeaways, bars and restaurants, all of which have a range of opening and closing times. As such the proposed change of use from Class 2.1 to Classes 1.1, 1.3 and 4.4 are deemed acceptable from a principle point of view.

• 6.2.2 Moving forward, due to the proposed works being situated within a Conservation Area it is necessary to test the application under section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999), see section 4.2 of this report, on whether the works preserve or enhance the Conservation Area.

- 6.3 SECTION 18(4) TEST - CHARACTER

• 6.3.1 When looking at the character of the area and whether the proposal will alter this character above and beyond what is already in place, it is noted that the site is situated within an area along Church Road Marina which is in-between the main town centre shopping area and the Gaiety Theatre/ Villa Marina.

• 6.3.2 This means that the character of the area is already of passing trade which moves from one side to the other during the day, with the area having clientele all throughout the day due to the variety of uses in the surrounding area.
• 6.3.3 As such due to the location of the site within the streetscene it is unlikely that the proposal use of the ground floor as a café/ sandwich bar will have a detrimental impact upon the character of the Conservation Area.
• 6.4 SECTION 18(4) TEST - APPEARANCE

6.4.2 When looking at the appearance of the property within the streetscene with regards to section 18(4) in connection with Environment Policy 35, the proposed works to the outside are to paint the façade and additions such as the railing which is in place. The proposed painting is deemed acceptable as they will not affect the appearance of the property within the Conservation Area.

- 6.5 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

6.5.1 When looking at the proposal in terms of the character and appearance of the area, the proposal is in accordance with the uses in the surrounding vicinity and as such there will be no confliction of these uses. Turning towards the appearance of the site and the painting works, these would not impact the character and appearance of the application site within the overall streetscene and as such comply with Environment Policy 35 and General Policy 2.

- 6.6 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

6.6.1 With regards to the possible impact on neighbouring properties, it is important to note that the application site is adjacent to hotels and residential dwellings/ apartments. Whilst this is the case it is also noted that there is a bar situated directly across from the site and within the hotel complex itself which both provide late night music, whether live or not.

• 6.6.2 From the information provided as part of the application, the events such as live music will be held in the basement of the site, which when accounting for the uses surrounding the site and the size of the site proposed for events, the proposal will ultimately have a minimal impact to the neighbouring properties and as such, will have a minimal impact in accordance with Environment Policy 22 and General Policy 2.

6.7 HIGHWAY IMPACT

• 6.7.1 Turning towards the proposal and whether there will be any impact to Highway Services. It is noted that the application form hasn't provided the amount of car parking spaces available to the site, with the likelihood being zero due to its town centre location. When looking at Appendix 7 in connection with Transport Policy 7 it states that Town Centre shops should have a space for service vehicle use.

- 6.8 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.7.2 Whilst there is nowhere directly outside the site which would be suitable for a service vehicle, as any vehicles would block the main highway, there is enough service roads within the general vicinity which can and are used by the surrounding sites.

• 6.7.3 As such from this point of view the proposal is deemed to comply with Transport Policy 7 in accordance with Appendix 7.
• 6.8.1 The comments received from Highway Services with regards to the table and chairs outside of the site are noted, it is also noted that the planning statement also has information regarding signage. Both of these items cannot be approved under this application because of different legislation. As such a condition for both items should be attached for the benefit of doubt to state that it is not approved under this application.

• 6.8.2 It should also be noted that due to the size available for the events space, that there is no need to lock down the use of Class 4.4, as most of the classes would not be able to be done within the space provided. Whilst this is the case a condition should be attached to the

application regarding the floor plan to make sure that the space isn't extended beyond what has been proposed.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposed works are considered to have an acceptable visual and amenity impact on the existing site and surrounding neighbouring living conditions and as such comply with Environment Policy 22 and General policy 2. The proposed works are not considered to have any adverse impact on the overall character and quality of the streetscene, with conditions regarding the signage show and the proposed street furniture, and as such complies with Section 18(4) of the Town and Planning Act, Environment Policy 35 and General Policy 2. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

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 can confirm that this decision has been made by the Acting Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 25.04.2024 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development Management

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.