Officer Report

Application No.: 25/90433/D Applicant: Mrs Sabrina Schnetler Proposal: Erection of illuminated signage Site Address: Sugarbush Café 6 Marathon Terrace Queens Promenade Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 4NH Planning Officer: Hamish Laird Photo Taken: 16.07.2025 Site Visit: 16.07.2025 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 27.08.2025 _________________________________________________________________

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

It is considered that the application does not conflict with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 37 and has no adverse impacts upon public or private amenities or on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

The development shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans and documents:

• 1) Location plan @ 1:1,250 scale on A4 showing the site edged red - date-stamped received on 23rd April, 2025.
• 2) Site plan @ 1:500 scale on A4 showing the site edged red - date-stamped received on 23rd April, 2025.
• 3) Sign details and photo mockups - date-stamped received on 23rd April, 2025.
• 4) Lighting details - date-stamped received 4th July, 2025;

_________________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status None.

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the curtilage of Serenity Suites No.6 Marathon Terrace, also on record as 'Sherwood'. The property is a mid-terrace property with the rear facing onto Switzerland Terrace and the front facing onto Queens Promenade and out to sea. - 1.2 At ground floor level the building is accessed from Queens Promenade into the hospitality / café unit. This part of the building is set forward of the first to third floor elevations. Around the roof of the ground floor area there are railings. Steps at the side of the ground floor area go to the front door entrance, leading to flats above. - 1.3 The fenestration style is angular windows at promenade level, 1st and 2nd floor level, however above the front door, upper first, and in the bay window, the windows have an arched top. The windows are 50/50 split except for the shop front windows.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The windows retrospectively approved by PA25/90411/B have been inserted. This application proposes the installation of illuminated signage to the front elevation of the Sugarbush Café. The application details extracted from the submitted application forms are summarised below: "Signage for newly renovated Cafe and Guesthouse - Sugarbush Cafe and Serenity Suites We are reusing the existing aluminium sheets. A local artist is going to airbrush and paint the pictures directly onto the aluminium. There are existing electrical sockets that will be used to put lighting onto the signs by means of a downlight/spot light. The size of the sign above the Café is 4100mm wide by 700mm high & the sign above the entrance to the Guesthouse is 2250mm wide by 680mm high."

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site is not a Registered Building and there are no protected trees on site nor are there any of either within its' setting. The site is not within a flood zone. - 3.2 The site lies within an area designated in the Area Plan for the East (2013) Proposals Map 4 as being within a 'Mixed Use' proposals Area. The site lies within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area as shown on the CA Map dated, 2002, therefore, the following Policies and documents from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application. - 3.3 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 make it clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of amenity and public safety. In the case of amenity, such things as the general characteristics of the area need to be taken into account along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest and the public safety should consider the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome including the obscuration of any traffic sign or similar. - 3.4 Due to the designation of the site and the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider the following polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016:

3.4 General Policy 2 states: "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:

• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;

3.5 General Policy 6 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

• (a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed;
• (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and
• (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard'.

3.6 General Policy 7 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted'. - 3.7 Environment Policy 37 states: 'As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

• i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area;
• ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area;
• iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and
• iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals'.

3.8 Environment Policy 38 states: 'Advertisements close to Conservation Areas must respect and preserve the character and appearance of the area to ensure that views into and out of such areas are protected'.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The previous application PA25/90411/B - sought the retention of the existing (at the time unauthorised) shop windows, which have small openings at the top of the frame; and, the rear elevation windows which are mixed fenestration seen within the street comprising a mix of the fenestration adjacent and opposite. The 25/90411/B application sought approval for the "Installation of replacement windows and doors (retrospective)" and was permitted on 8/7/25. - 4.2 21/00692/B - Installation of replacement windows and doors. Permitted - 16/7/21. Replacement of shop window and doors (similar style with small top openers) and windows in floor levels above. - 4.3 11/00172/D - Erection of illuminated signage

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 DoI Highways: No comments had been received by the report drafting stage. (27.08.2025). - 5.2 Douglas City Council: No objection (22.07.2025).

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 Given the land designations, in accordance with Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999) special attention is given to assessing whether the proposal preserves and or enhances the Conservation Area. As part of that assessment Planning Circular 1/98 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 are applicable, as are the aforementioned Policies.

6.2 Therefore the main consideration is whether the proposal preserves the character and appearance of both the building and the Conservation Area. Anything less would be unacceptable. - 6.3 The proposed signage is to be applied to the ground floor front elevation of the newly renovated Cafe and Guesthouse - Sugarbush Cafe and Serenity Suites to the shopfront and above the entrance door to the premises. At the time of the Case Officer's site visit on 16 July, 2025, they were in situ having been made by re-using the existing aluminium sheets and painted up by a local artist by airbrushing the paint and pictures directly onto the aluminium. The signs are connected via existing electrical sockets that have been used to project lighting onto the signs by means of a downlight/spot light. The size of the sign above the Café is approx. 4,100mm wide by 700mm high; and, the sign above the entrance to the Guesthouse is approx. 2,250mm wide by 680mm high. - 6.4 The front door and shopfront are as existing and their retention was approved by PA25/90411/B. It is considered that the proposed signage is acceptable. Whilst using aluminium rather than hand painting the fascia boards above the shop window, it is considered that the design and details of the painted sheeting would be in character with the host building and would not result in visual harm to the character and appearance of the premises, and when viewed in the wider context of the group of retail / café frontages and dwellings, to the character and appearance of the property within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area. - 6.5 No comments have been received from DoI Highways, and no objections have been raised by Douglas Borough Council, and no third party representations have been received.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 The retention of the illuminated signs is considered to be acceptable and does not give rise to any harm in respect of visual amenity or highway safety. They do not harm the character of the Conservation Area and so meet the test of s18(4) of the Town and Country Act

(1999). The proposal accords with Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and Planning Circular 1/98, and the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 Policies; General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35. Therefore, this application is recommended for approval.

8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 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: 29.08.2025 Determining Officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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