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Application No.: 24/00347/C Applicant: North Point Plastics Ltd Proposal: Change of use from light industrial to sales and storage of building materials (retrospective) Site Address: Unit 22 Gladstone Park Industrial Estate Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 2LA Planning Officer: Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 21.08.2024
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.
While the proposal includes an element of sales and there is sufficient justification that to conclude that the items could not be reasonably sold from a town centre location because of their size or nature. It does not conflict with other uses current take place around the area. Combined with the small scale of the unit and its unlikeliness to have a negative impact on neighbouring properties. The proposal is, therefore, considered not to be at variance with the goals of Paragraph 9.2.6 and Business Policies 5 and 10, and Strategic Policies 9 of the Strategic Plan.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the documents, cover letter and drawing no. 01-2024-01 Rev A, 012024-02 date stamped as having been received on 14th March 2024. _______________________________________________________________
Additional Persons
None _____________________________________________________________________________
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE PROPOSAL COULD BE CONSIDERED AS CONTRARY TO THE LAND USE DESIGNATION AND IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is Unit 22, Gladstone Park Industrial Estate, Ramsey, a unit within a row of industrial buildings located on the north of Gladstone Way. There are communal parking spaces for the whole estate and exclusive parking spaces for each unit. - 1.2 The building has a roller shutter and a personal door on the front elevation. It has an area of approx. 75 square metres. There is a toilet in the rear of the building, which has an area of approx. 3.4 square metres. There are two parking spaces in front of the building.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 This application seeks retrospective approval for the change of use from light industrial (Class 2.2) to sales and storage of building materials. Proposed Use - 2.2 The items for sale would be construction materials and their paraphernalia, such as OSB boards, timber battens, uPVC fascia, cladding, tiling and ceiling boards, fixings and fixtures, sealants & adhesives. The applicant states in the cover letter that all customers are trade account holders. - 2.3 Given 2.2, the proposed use is considered to be a builders' merchant (sui generis) (details in section 7) rather than a retail warehouse (sui generis). Sui generis means a class of its own. Any change of use for a sui generis use would require a planning application. - 2.4 The applicant also states there are no employees at the moment. Internal Alterations - 2.5 There is a trade counter in the front of the building. The trade counter and a balustrade forms an enclosed section in the building that can only be accessed from the personal door and prevent people from entering other parts of the building without occupiers consent. - 2.6 In addition to the existing toilet, the unit has an office (approx. 4.8 square metres) at the rear of the ground floor. There is also a mezzanine floor (approx. 13.2 square metres) at the rear of the building for additional storage.
3.1 Sub-division of existing units to create eight units with associated doors and use of unit 25 as a bakery (retrospective) under PA 18/00526/B. The approved plan shows unit 22 has a toilet at the rear of the ground floor with a mezzanine floor (approx. 37 square metres). The current application has a much smaller mezzanine floor compared to this approval. - 3.2 Condition 2 of PA 18/00526/B states "all units hereby approved may only be used for light industrial or research and development, as defined by the Town and Country Planning (Permitted
Development) Order 2012, Schedule 4, Use Class Order, Class 5 or any future subsequent Permitted Development Order." The Schedule has since been replaced by the Use Class Order 2019. Class 5 in the 2012 Order is now considered as Class 2.2 in the 2019 Order.
Relevant Applications
3.3 Within Gladstone Park Industrial Estate, several change of use application including retail elements has been refused. These includes: - 3.4 Additional use of Light Industrial unit to include the assemblage, storage and display of large furniture items with a small element of sales usage was REFUSED under PA 24/00146/C. The proposed plan shows that most floorspace are used for storage and display furniture at the same time. The reason for refusal emphasizes that the furnitures can be reasonably sold from a town centre location so there is no justification for such retail element on land designated for industrial use, which fail to comply with Business Policy 5 and 10. - 3.5 Change of use from light industrial to the assemblage, storage and sales of furniture goods at Unit 24 was REFUSED under PA 21/00937/C. The application form include a statement making the argument that furniture they make are too large to be displayed in town centre so customers need direct access to the site to collect goods. The reason for refusal states that furniture can be reasonably sold within a town centre location so the proposal fails to comply with Business Policy 5. - 3.6 Change of use of unit 1A for the preparation, storage and distribution of food (classes 5 and 6) and retail (class 1) was REFUSED under PA 19/00277/C. The proposed plan shows that customer can access most of the floorspace and the proposal include a dining area. The reason for refusal is that the retail element is not ancillary to industrial use and fails to comply with Business Policy 5.
4.1 The site is within an area designated as Light Industrial in the Ramsey Local Plan 1998. Strategic Policy - 4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:
4.3 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan has no assumption in favour of new development. In decision-making, this means that where a planning application conflicts with the Plan, approval should usually not be granted.
The following is a highlight of policies listed in 4.3. The subtitles within this section will also be the general order of the assessment in section 7.
Town Centre First Approach
4.4 Strategic Policy 9 sets out that all retail and office development should be confined within existing settlements on designated land. The reason for this policy is explained in paragraph 9.2.5. - 4.5 Business Policy 10 echoes Strategic Policy 9 by detailing that only two situation a retail use may be exempt from the land use designations mentioned above: one is neighbourhood shops in large residential eras and the other is retail uses that complies with Business Policy 5.
4.6 Business Policy 5 specifies the two rare occasions retail provision may be acceptable in areas designated for industrial use. Paragraph 9.2.6 gives some examples of both occasions:
4.7 Business Policy 5 also states that in both cases, the retail proposal needs to demonstrate that the sale would not detract from the vitality and viability of the appropriate town centre shopping area. - 4.8 In decisions making, Business Policy 5 means that retail use within land designated for industrial use should not be granted approval unless they comply with both requirements in paragraph 4.6 and 4.7. - 4.9 Paragraph 9.2.6 also explains that restricting retail use on land designated for industrial is also to ensure sufficient lands are available for industrial development. The paragraph also considers that most industrial estates are unsuitable as environments for shoppers. Transport and Parking
4.9 Subsections (h), (i) of General Policy 2 set out that proposals should satisfy the safety, efficiency, and accessibility requirements (including parking provision) of all highway users (particularly pedestrians) whether possible. - 4.10 Transport Policy 7 sets out parking standards for development, details of which are in Appendix 7.6. It requires:
Amenities
4.11 Subsections (g) and (h) of General Policy 2 set out that amenities enjoyed by the site and the site around it should be protected or preserved. PPS and NPD - 4.12 There is no planning policy statement or national policy directive considered to be materially relevant to this application.
5.1 There is no relevant strategy or guidance that directly applies to this application. - 6.0 REPRESENTATION
6.1 Ramsey Town Commissioner has not commented at the time of the report (19.08.2024)
6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (22.03.2024). The comment states that there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking. The comment also states that the proposals are relatively small, have parking on-site in front of the unit and on the estate, and are in an industrial estate which can commonly see this type of operation. - 7.0 ASSESSMENT Elements of Assessment
7.1 The key considerations in the determination of the application are the nature and principle of development, its impact on the neighbouring amenities and on traffic and parking provision and nearby town centres.
Nature of the Development
7.2 The building is proposed to be used for storage and sale of building materials and their paraphernalia. The trade's counter and the balustrade divide the building into a small shop section and a large warehouse section.
7.3 The building is also too small to make the floorspace difference between the warehouse and the sales area to make a material difference on the impact of the building as a whole. Therefore, neither the warehouse nor the shop can be considered as a dominant use. Given the proposed use cannot be simply classified into an existing class within the Use Class Order, the proposal is considered to be sui generis (a use of its own class) and is as a builders' merchant would be a class of its own (sui generis). Principle of the Development - 7.4 The unit, other units within the same building and the area in general are designated for light industrial use. The unit is also explicitly approved exclusively for such use. In terms of the warehouse element, storage of construction materials do not have an offensive or dangerous impact on their surroundings so it is considered to be compatible with light industrial use and is therefore principally acceptable. - 7.5 In terms of the shop element, the first test is whether the goods to be sold, construction materials, in the this case, comply with either category listed in Business Policy 5. - 7.6 Most construction material are large in size. They also generally does not appear to typical consumers, especially those in a town centre setting. While some paraphernalia may be of a size that can be sold in town centre locations, such as some fixings, fixtures, sealants and adhesives, these are strong compliment to large-size goods. For this application, it means selling these items are only a supplement for the large-size goods business. Therefore, these paraphernalia are considered strongly relates to a builders' merchant business. Hence, the goods being sold are considered to comply with Business Policy 5. - 7.7 The second test is whether the proposal would harm the vitality and viability of town centre shopping area. Construction materials are not staple goods to be sold in a town centre location. Therefore, the builder's merchant is not considered to harm town centre shopping areas. - 7.8 Summarising 7.4-7.7, the builders' merchant is considered to comply with Business Policy 5. - 7.9 There is a small office on the ground floor. Its small size makes it ancillary to the builders' merchant and is therefore, considered to have no independent impact from the builders' merchant. - 7.10 In conclusion, the proposed builders' merchant is considered to be principally acceptable in its current location. Impact on Neighbouring Amenities - 7.11 As mentioned in 7.4, the warehouse element is considered to not have a negative impact on neighbouring amenities. - 7.12 The shop usually attracts more visitors than a typical light industrial use. However, as a builders' merchant, visitors are sporadic and arguably on the same level as light industrial use. Therefore, the proposal shop element is considered to have no additional impact compared to the existing light industrial use. Traffic and Parking - 7.13 The shop element still increase traffic and parking demand of the site compared to light industrial use. However, given the shop is a builders' merchant, the traffic generated is still sporadic, not as high as a typical shop and still on a similar level to light industrial use. The
8.1 The builders' merchant is compatible with the light industrial use within the estate. The sale of construction material complies with the requirement in Business Policy 5. The proposal also have a negative impact on traffic and parking provision. Therefore, the proposal is recommended for an approval with conditions. - 9.0 INTEREST PERSON STATUS
9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.
Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 02.09.2024
Signed : P SHEN Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
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