DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 24/00757/D Applicant: Dougie Butties Proposal: Installation of illuminated and non-illuminated signage to front elevation and windows. Site Address: Argyle House Church Road Marina & 2 Harris Promenade Douglas IM1 2HQ Planning Officer: Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.10.2024 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice. Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents.
• C 2. The sign(s) hereby granted consent shall not be lit by an intermittent source. Reason: In the interests of amenity and/or public safety.

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

The proposal is considered to preserve the character of the conservation area and would not harm highway safety with the attached condition. It is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and General Policy 6, 7, Environment Policy 35, 37 and 38 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the documents, location plan and site plan, which has been received on 2nd July 2024; and existing and proposed application details, which has been received on 24th October 2024.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status

None ___________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is Argyle House, Church Road, Marina & 2 Harris Promenade, Douglas.

2.0 The PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed is the installation of illuminated and non-illuminated signage. - 2.2 The signage includes:

• o White raised letters of "Dougie Butties" above the bay windows
• o Frost window vinyl of the "Dougie Butties" Logos and phrases "Sound people only!" and "Well good butties here!" on the top panel of the bay windows
• o Poster Board between the windows and the front door
• o a square hanging sign between and above the front doors, illuminated with a spotlight
• on each side. The sign shows the logo of "Dougie Butties".

- 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 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) was APPROVED under PA 24/00023/B. - 4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific

4.1 The site is within an area designated as Mixed Use in the Area Plan for the East.

4.2 The site is within the Douglas Promenade Conservation Area. Strategic Policy - 4.3 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:

• o Strategic Policy 4 (a)
• o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (g)
• o General Policy 7
• o Environment Policy 35
• o Environment Policy 37, 38

PPS and NPD

4.4 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man is the only adopted PPS at the moment. It provides supplementary policy on developments within any conservation area.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Legislation

5.1 Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act". This sets out the approach to be taken in determining planning applications, which includes giving great weight to the asset's conservation when considering the impact of a proposed development on the asset. Given that the site is within a Conservation Area, the above requirements apply and appropriate consideration will be given in section 7. - 6.0 REPRESENTATION

6.1 Douglas Borough Council has not commented at the time of the report (28.10.2024). It is considered as a no objection at this point.

6.2 DoI Highway Services states the illuminated sign should not interfere with the zebra crossing light and the projecting sign should be at least 2.6m above footway level (18.07.2024). - 7.0 ASSESSMENT Conservation Areas Statutory Test

7.1 Before assessing elements of the proposal, as it is within a Conservation Area, a test should be applied to this proposal as mentioned in 5.1. This is whether the proposal would preserve or enhance the character of the Conservation Area.

7.2 The frost window vinyl and the poster board is considered to preserve the character of the Area.

7.3 The hanging sign is of traditional form with a modern style. It is considered to preserve the character of the Area. - 7.4 The white raised letters are uncommon in the Conservation Area but are not considered to harm the character of the Area - 7.5 In summary, the proposal is considered to preserve the character of the area and pass the test. Elements of Assessment - 7.6 The key considerations in the determination of the application are its impact on the character and appearance of the Area and on highway safety. - 7.7 The advertisement relates to the company occupying the building. Based on 7.2-7.4, it is considered that the proposal would preserve the character and appearance of the Area. - 7.8 Given the comment from highway services, it is considered that a condition will be attached to control the lighting in the event of an approval.

- 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 The proposal is considered to preserve the character of the conservation area and would not harm highway safety with the attached condition. It is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and General Policy 6, 7, Environment Policy 35, 37 and 38 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval. - 9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 (As Amended), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• o Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material;
• o The local authority in whose district the land which the subject of the application is situated.
• o the Highways, Ports and Railways divisions of the Department of Infrastructure. 9.2 The decision-maker must determine:
• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than those explicitly listed above) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status. _____________________________________________________________________

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner 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 and/or rights to appeal.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 29.10.2024 Determining Officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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