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Application No.: 24/00612/C Applicant: Mr Ben Dalglish Proposal: Change of use from Night Club to Offices (Class 1.2 Professional Services or 2.1 Offices) Site Address: Basement Level 7 - 17 Wellington Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 2AS Planning Officer: Graham Northern Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 18.07.2024
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.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal is considered to comply with Business Policy 7 and General Policy 2 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016
Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the following drawings:
Additional Persons
None _____________________________________________________________________________
Officer’s Report THE SITE
1.1 The proposed development site includes a multipurpose building on Wellington Street, Douglas, which is adjacent to the main pedestrianised shopping street in the city centre. Previously, the basement area of the building operated as a public bar & nightclub, which has been vacant since 2020. - 1.2 Various town centre-related uses exist in the area, with the application site building located adjacent a pedestrianized street connecting Duke Street to the east and Nelson Street to the west. A service yard exists to the rear (south) of the site. The site presently operates as several independent businesses, including a restaurant, retail stores & leisure facilities. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 This application is primarily a change of use from Non-Specified Class (Night Club) to Offices (Class 1.2 Professional Services or 2.1 Offices). - 2.2 The principal tenant will be 9-Ten Media, who currently have 5 full-time employees who will be working in the office suites daily. - 2.3 The working hours will be between 08.00 until 18:00, Monday to Friday. It is envisaged that the auditorium/event space could be used through the day for presentations and in the evenings for after work for events, with an expected finish time of 22.30. - 2.4 The proposed development work to the basement level includes the following:
3.1 The following planning history relates to the site:
4.1 The site is within an area designated as Mixed use on the Area Plan for the East (map 5
4.2 Strategic Policy 1 states that development should make the best use of resources by optimising the use of redundant buildings and under-used land and buildings. - 4.3 Strategic Policy 9 states all new office development (excepting corporate headquarters suitable for a business park(1) location) must be sited within the town and village centres on land zoned for these purposes in Area Plans, whilst taking into consideration Business Policies 7 and 8 (New Buildings). - 4.4 Business Policy 7: New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan; exceptionally, permission may be given for new office space.
4.5 General Policy 2: Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:
5.1 No comments have been received from consultees or neighbours. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 As the development proposed relates solely to a change of use without any (external) physical works, the key issue is the extent to which the proposed use is appropriate for the building itself and compatible with surrounding uses. It must be noted in the first instance that no residential properties are within the immediate area.
6.2 The proposed use is for a media company as office space with an events space. The proposed use is considered suitable for the Town Centre as per the criteria of Strategic Policy 9 which requires office space other than headquarters to be in local centres. - 6.3 The building's original use, comprising a mixture of town centre uses, neatly acknowledged the site's location on the edge of shopping and office zoning areas as identified in the Douglas Local Plan. The proposals for office space would continue to result in a wide mix of uses for the building and align with its town centre location and the land use zoning. - 6.4 The proposals result in employment generation and also bring back into use this part of the building which hasn't been in use since 2020 (4 years).
6.5 The use for office space is considered to be less noise generating and disturbing from an amenity perspective than the former use as a nightclub and the proposals would also not result in any significant late night operation - 6.6 In terms of highways the building is sustainably located in the town centre close to public car parks and public transport connections. The applicant has also stated "presently, the employees use the public transport or walk in from outside Douglas city centre. They also operate a car sharing scheme". As such is not considered to result in any significant highway safety concern. CONCLUSION
7.1 On the basis of the above, it is not considered that the proposal would have an unduly harmful impact - whether individually or cumulative with other, adjacent uses - on the amenity of the area from a public or private point of view. The proposal is considered to comply with Business Policy 7 and General Policy 2 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016. As such, it is recommended that approval be granted. 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:
8.2 The decision-maker must determine:
8.3 The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is responsible for the determination of planning applications. As a result, where officers within the Department make comments in a professional capacity they cannot 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 : 19.07.2024 Determining officer
Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development
Management
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