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New Build Extension to form Sports/Multipurpose Hall together with Associated Changing Facilities, Community Room, and Two Replacement Classrooms, Plus Internal Alterations to Provide Improved Dining Facilities and Incorporation of Existing Mobile Nursery Classroom within Existing Building At
Victoria Road School, Victoria Road, Castletown, Isle of Man For The Isle of Man Government, Department of Education and Children
1.01 The Application Site is Victoria Road School which is situated on Victoria Road and School Lane, in the town of Castletown, Isle of Man. The existing site consists of a two storey building which is constructed of a variety of materials including limestone to the original Victorian building and a mix of smooth and 'harled' render to the later additions. The form of building is generally pitched roof in nature with natural slate roof finishes, although some later additions are flat roofed and covered in built-up felt roofing. 1.02 The site covers approximately 2.91 acres and is situated in an elevated location with playground and parking facilities to the West North West of the existing school building, and Sports field facilities to the North East of the existing school building. 1.03 A temporary mobile nursery unit is situated adjacent to the existing school building in the corner of the Sports field area. 1.04 The school has a single car park adjacent to the playground area to the North West of the school building. This car park provides parking facilities for a maximum of fifteen vehicles and is used primarily by the staff of the school with limited space for visitors. There are no formal drop off and pick up facilities for the school in its present form. 1.05 The existing school sports facilities are limited to a single hall which is used for physical education purposes, assembly purposes and performances. This facility is limited to approximately four metres in height and therefore restricts the extent of sports that pupils of the school can partake in. This hall is believed to have been constructed in the late 1930's and has changed little from that period. 1.05.1 Changes within the school in the past three years to provide adequate library and nurture teaching facilities, together with teaching staff resource areas, have resulted in the loss of two classrooms within the school, to provide these enhanced facilities in line with other primary schools throughout the Island. This has however, resulted in a lack of teaching space to cope with larger intake years, where to avoid excessive class sizes, a year group is split into two forms. It is the Department of Education and Children's requirement therefore to redress this deficiency, and to provide capacity and flexibility for the provision of education at this site in the future.
2.01 The application site has been the subject of a small number of applications in the recent past, the majority dealing with minor elements such as the installation of replacement windows to the existing building, and therefore are not relevant to this application. However, the site has been the subject of a previous application (PA08/00545/B) which is relevant to this planning application. 2.02 PA08/00545/B was submitted in March 2008 and sought approval for a two-storey extension to the existing building to accommodate a new kitchen with stores and staff facilities, a community room with storage and kitchen facilities, a sports/multi-purpose hall with storage and associated changing facilities, a new public entrance and two replacement and one new classroom at first floor level. In addition, internal alterations were proposed to improve dining facilities, and to incorporate the current temporary nursery unit permanently within the existing building, together with its' secure play area.
2.03 Following consideration of the application, the planning committee determined to refuse the application citing one reason for refusal, namely; 'Whilst the provision of additional facilities at this school is to be commended, along with the rationalisation of the car parking and access and the provision of facilities which may be used by the community, the extensions which will accommodate the additional space required will result in so dominating an impact on No.10, Elizabeth Rise, effectively enveloping the property and exacerbating the existing overlooking and the perception of overlooking of this property and adversely affecting the outlook from the dwelling, that the proposal would be unacceptable. It is acknowledged that the applicant has gone to significant lengths to try to overcome the objections and concerns which have been expressed however, it is considered that the impact of the scheme on 10, Elizabeth Rise is so great as to warrant refusal of the scheme whilst acknowledging that there may be no more acceptable alternative form of providing the proposed facilities.' 2.04 The new-build proposals in PA08/00545/B were predominantly two-storeys in height and were located between 6.3 m and 8.7 m from the boundary with No. 10 Elizabeth Rise. The proposals also projected 1.35 m beyond the rear elevation of the existing hall and classroom block to the Pickard Close side of the development at the twostorey height, with the kitchen at ground floor and classrooms at first floor above in this location. The floor levels of the proposals were related to the existing floor levels of the school both at ground and first floor level, whilst the sports/multi purpose hall had a clear height of 7.6 m internally to the whole of its' floor area. 2.05 Following the decision of the Planning Committee, PA08/00545/B was taken to appeal by the applicant department. The appeal hearing took place in May 2009 and the appeal decision was issued in late July 2009. The appeal decision was to confirm the decision of the planning committee to refuse the application. The appeal decision was based solely on the impact of the development on the occupants of 10 Elizabeth Rise, the inspector noting in his conclusion that; 'It is clear that the sports hall extension would be seriously oppressive, overbearing and visually dominant when seen from the rear garden of 10 Elizabeth Rise. The outlook from the rear bedroom windows would also be harmed by the extension. The extension would also cause unwelcome overshadowing of the rear garden in winter months.'
The Inspector goes on to say that; 'In this case it is not that a pleasant view would be lost to the residents of 10 Elizabeth Rise. It is that the proposed extension would be oppressive, overbearing and visually dominant to an unacceptable degree when seen from anywhere in the rear garden and from the rear bedroom windows. In short, the extension would be too high, too long and too close to 10 Elizabeth Rise.' 2.06 The Inspector did note however, in his conclusion that the appeal application was finely balanced, and that important matters regarding the educational needs of primary school children needed to be balanced against the impact on residential amenity of the residents of 10 Elizabeth Rise. On balance, in the appeal case he decided that the balance rested with the residential amenity of the occupants of 10 Elizabeth Rise.
2.09 The Inspector's recommendation to refuse the appeal and uphold the decision of the planning committee was accepted by the Minister, whilst noting that it was an extremely difficult decision, given the accepted need for improvements to the school and the support from the Town Commissioners. The Minister also noted that officers of the Department of Education and DoLGE should meet to review ways to address the deficiencies of Victoria Road School. 2.10 Following consideration of the Inspector's report and recommendation, and the Ministers' comments, the Department of Education instructed Kay Associates to prepare a revised sketch scheme for subsequent discussion with officers of DoLGE. The sketch scheme was discussed with officers of DoLGE and subsequently was worked up into new proposals which are the subject of this application. 2.11 Prior to the submission of the application, the Department of Education has met with the occupants of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, and with the occupants of No. 5 Pickard Close. A meeting with the occupants of No. 6 Pickard Close was sought but there was no response to the correspondence. Comments raised by the occupants of the above properties have been incorporated into the proposals where possible. A public presentation display was held at the school on Thursday 1st April 2010, to which all parents of school age children were invited. 140 fliers were hand delivered to all properties in the vicinity of the school, and there was an advertisement placed in the local paper. The presentation was well attended by approx. 80 people, the majority of which were in favour of the proposals. 2.12 Following minor amendments to the scheme as a result of comments raised in the public consultation process, the scheme drawings have been finalised and are included in the application package.
3.01 In formulating the design approach for the revised scheme which is the subject of this application, the reasons for refusal of the previous application have been taken into account. This has entailed seeking to reduce the overall height of the individual elements of the new build extensions, and increasing the distance of the proposals from the adjacent residential properties to minimise any impact. In addition, the amount of internal alteration and refurbishment works have been increased in order to address the majority of the schools' deficiencies, whilst further reducing any potential impact for the occupants of surrounding properties, most notably No. 10 Elizabeth Rise and No. 5 Pickard Close. 3.02 The new build extension is situated to the North East of the existing building, in the corner of the sports field, in the same location as the temporary mobile nursery classroom, which is to be relocated temporarily to a position in the playground area to the North West of the existing school. The new build extension is now predominantly single storey in height, and the change in the scope of the proposed new-build accommodation has allowed the incorporation of internal ramps within the proposal which has had the effect of reducing the internal floor levels of the new-build proposals to follow the natural ground levels within the area, the finished floor level of the new sports/multi purpose hall now being at the 7.670 m level, compared to 8.455 m in the previous application, a reduction in floor level of 785 mm . In addition, the height of the sports hall has been limited to 7.6 m for the court area only. This has reduced the effective height of the sports/multi purpose hall from 8.75 m in height from finished floor level (FFL) to eaves level in the previous application, to 7.40 m from FFL to eaves level in this application.
3.03 This reduction in finished floor levels, coupled to the reduction in the overall height of the hall has resulted in the eaves level of the sports/multi purpose hall being reduced by 2135 mm in this application, the eaves level of the hall now being only 1140 mm above that of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise. In addition to this substantial reduction in eaves level, the sports/multi purpose hall has been repositioned on the site such that the distance between the hall and the boundary with No. 10 Elizabeth Rise has been increased from 8.70 m in the previous application, to 16.17 m in this application. The distance between the hall and the side elevation of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise is now 20.70 m compared to 13.20 m in the previous application. The hall is now therefore 7.5 m further away from No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, and is 2.135 m lower than it was in the previous application. This significantly reduces the potential impact of the hall on the occupants of this property. 3.04 The single storey accommodation which links the new hall to the existing school building is 6.27 m from the boundary with No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, a distance which is a little over 500 mm greater than the distance of the existing nursery mobile unit. The eaves level of this single storey area is also set approx. 80 mm lower than the existing nursery unit, therefore in the applicants' opinion minimising any potential impact from the proposal. This relationship can be seen in Section E-E which is contained in Dwg.No.K213/P/11-02. This drawing also identifies that should the BRE day lighting calculation be applied to the garden of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, which requires no obstruction from a point 2 m above ground level above an angle of 25 degrees from the horizontal, that the proposal falls well outside any sphere of influence on day lighting levels to the garden or dwelling of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise. Even at a point 1.6 m above ground level (normal eye level) right at the boundary, the proposal is only 17 degrees to its ridge level, well under the 25 degree limit. 3.05 In order to assess any potential shadowing impact of the proposal on the garden or dwelling of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, a 3D computer model of the building has been constructed. A document identifying the hourly shadow snapshots for the proposal from 8:00am through to 5:00pm for mid-winter's day, mid summer's day and at the spring and autumn equinox's to assess any shadowing impact has been prepared and is included within the application package. As can be seen from this document, the impact of the proposals are limited to early morning in the mid winter months. It should be noted that sun up time for this location on the mid winter date is approx. 8:40am, and that the existing school building is the main overshadowing influence from 11:00am onwards. The March and September shadow snapshots show that by between 9:00am and 10:00am any shadow influence of the proposal is removed from the garden of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, the majority of shadow influence on the garden being from the garden boundary wall and the existing dwelling and garage of the property itself. 3.06 In addition to the efforts made to reduce the impact of the revised proposals on the occupants of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, the applicant has also sought to reduce the potential impact of the proposals on the occupants of No. 5 and No. 6 Pickard Close, even though the impact on these properties, of the previous proposals was not thought to be detrimental, either by the planning department or the Inspector.
The previous application proposals projected 1350 mm beyond the elevation of the existing two storey hall and classroom building, with the eaves level matching that of the existing building. The floor level of the new kitchen situated at the ground floor level, matched that of the existing hall, with the floor level of the classrooms above, matching that of the existing first floor classrooms. The eaves level of this block was continuous through to the new sports hall, creating a single block.
3.07 The application proposal now consists of a single storey element in this location which keeps behind the line of the existing hall and classroom block, and is 1500 mm back from the previous proposal. Due to the use of internal ramping, the floor level of the proposed accommodation here is 500 mm below that of the existing hall, following the natural levels of the existing ground. The result is that the eaves level of the new-build classrooms is some 5.135 m lower than that previously proposed at this location, whilst any windows are at ground floor only and at a significantly lower level to the ground floor windows of the previous application. In addition to the above, the ramp which was proposed at this location in the previous application is now no longer required or proposed in this application, removing one of the primary concerns of the occupants of No. 5 and No. 6 Pickard Close with the previous application. 3.08 In addition to reducing the height of the extension at this location, and keeping the line of the extension back behind the line of the existing hall and classroom block, the distance between the rear elevation of No. 6 Pickard Close and the mass of the new sports/multi-purpose hall has been maintained at 27.35 m . This, coupled to the reduction in the effective height of the hall by 2.135 m significantly reduces the potential impact of the proposals for the occupants of No. 5 and No. 6 Pickard Close. 3.09 Within the previous application, the new car park situated to the North East of the sports hall was to be used for staff and disabled parking only, with all visitor parking both for the school and for out of hours community use of the hall and community room being situated in the proposed pick-up and drop-off car park to the North West of the existing school building. A new public entrance was located in the new extension close to the junction with the existing school building. However, this raised concerns for the occupants of No. 10 Elizabeth Rise, that people using this entrance would potentially congregate to the rear of their garden and that they would lose their privacy.
Within this application it is proposed that the new car park will be used for staff and disabled parking only during school opening hours, the entrance being controlled by means of automatic opening gates. However, it is proposed that this car park will also be used for community use of the hall and community room out of school hours. The hall and community room will only be in use on a booking system, therefore for any booking of the hall or community room facilities, the car park gates will be opened to allow access, and will be closed following the booking. This has allowed the new public entrance to be located to the end of the extension facing the new car park. This entrance is therefore located alongside the garage element of the property at No. 10 Elizabeth Rise but some 13.5 m away from the boundary. This location, coupled to the reduced ground levels of the car park and public entrance relative to No.10, and the presence of the existing 1.5 m high boundary wall, means that the potential for any loss of privacy to the garden or dwelling at No. 10 Elizabeth Rise have been minimised. 3.10 The new build extension is planned to make best use of the topography of the existing site at this location, and to minimise circulation distances between the existing building and the extension. The extension is physically joined to the existing building allowing a direct link at ground floor level directly to the existing school, and the platform lift provides disabled access to the existing first floor classrooms. Whilst the new-build extension projects further into the sports field than the previous application, in order to move the two-storey mass further away from the adjacent properties, the remaining sports field is of sufficient size still to accommodate a primary school size football pitch and 80 m running lanes as has been identified on Dwg. No. K213/P/1005.
3.11 It should also be considered that the hall is for all year round sports use, thereby the loss of a small portion of the sports field which is only available for seasonal use, is not felt to be an issue to the school, the proposed facilities providing significantly greater opportunity for sports curriculum development for the pupils of the school. The area of sports field lost as a result of the proposals, both for the new-build extension and the associated car parking is also situated on the higher ridge of the sports field, which is less suitable for sports use, the flatter more useful portion of the sports field being retained for recreational use in the proposals. 3.12 The design of the new build extension is traditional in nature, taking the form of masonry external walls, with a pitched roof finished in artificial slate in a size and colour to match the roof of the existing building including terracotta ridge and hip tiles. The masonry walls are proposed to be in a facing architectural masonry in a colour to be complimentary to the limestone facing of the existing building. It is proposed that plinth, banding and cill details will be employed in contrasting colours to provide a level of detail to the extension which is complimentary to the detail of the original Victorian building. The windows of the proposal are to be in a form and colour to match the existing building as closely as possible. The mass of the Sports/multi-purpose hall and the classrooms has been broken down by stepping of the elevation, and by the positioning of single storey elements of accommodation such as the classrooms and changing facilities to break up this mass. 3.13 The reduction in the scope of the new-build works and the increase in the amount of internal alteration works has allowed the application proposals to address the majority of the schools deficiencies and to provide improved facilities for the town of Castletown for the future, the application proposals providing the two replacement and one new classroom, together with the Sports/Multi-purpose hall and community room as was proposed in the previous application, but in a way which has less impact on the surrounding residential occupants.
4.01 A new Sports/Multi-purpose Hall is provided within the extension, which is sized to accommodate two badminton courts. This meets the need to accommodate the full school roll for assembly purposes, whilst also providing excellent sports facilities for the school and local community. The hall has facilities for the storage of both internal and outdoor sports equipment, with access internally and externally. A separate store for grounds maintenance with external access is provided. 4.02 Male and Female Changing rooms are provided, together with shower and w.c. facilities, which can accommodate 15 pupils. These changing facilities are also suitable for public use. 4.03 A Community room is provided, with dedicated storage and kitchen facilities for community use. The room is to be located alongside the Sports/Multi-purpose hall, with a large sliding/folding partition between to allow the use of the community room as a stage area for performances within the hall, the 675 mm difference in finished floor levels of the two elements of accommodation aiding the stage effect. 4.04 The extension is to have a public entrance which provides full public access to the new sports hall and community facilities, including disabled access. Disabled W.C. facilities are provided within the new extension, both for school and community use.
4.05 A new Caretakers Office base with adjacent Cleaners/CoSHH store is to be provided. This office is located close to the public entrance to the new extension, to allow supervision of this entrance in 'out of hours' usage to maximise security. Cross corridor doors are provided to allow the existing school to be secured during 'out of hours' use of the hall and community room facilities by the community. 4.06 Two replacement classrooms, together with store rooms are to be provided at ground floor level, situated between the existing hall area and the new Sports/Multi-purpose hall. Access to the new classrooms from within the school is obtained by the removal of the existing store room located adjacent to the existing hall. A platform lift is to be provided adjacent to this access corridor to provide full disabled access to the existing three classrooms situated at first floor level above the existing hall. 4.08 Whilst the majority of the new-build works are associated with the extension in the corner of the sports field, it is also proposed that the existing main entrance porch area to the school will be demolished and re-built, with a higher floor level and a pitched roof to more closely follow the design of the main building. The raised floor level will remove some of the internal floor level differences within the school, and the introduction of a new access ramp will provide full disabled access to the main entrance of the school. 4.09 A new canopy is also proposed to be erected in the internal courtyard creating a covered play area and outdoor classroom for use by the nursery unit and pupils of the school.
4.10 It is proposed that the existing nursery unit, which is currently housed in a mobile classroom, will at first be relocated to a temporary location situated close to the existing school within the playground area. However, this mobile nursery unit will be removed from site towards the end of the contract as it is proposed to incorporate the nursery unit within the existing building within the former reception classroom area. The incorporation of the nursery unit within this area will allow integration of the nursery children within the school, particularly as this location is immediately next to the relocated reception year classrooms. The nursery unit is also adjacent to the internal courtyard which it is proposed to refurbish within this scheme to provide a safe play area for both the pupils in the nursery unit and the pupils in the adjacent reception classroom areas. This courtyard will also have a covered canopy to part of its area to create a covered play and outdoor classroom area. The conversion works within this area will create an entrance to the nursery unit via the existing main school entrance, fully integrating the unit into the school. 4.11 One existing classroom and the existing nurture room is to be converted and refurbished to form the new reception year classroom, with an area between this and the new nursery unit being fitted-out for dedicated reception and year s which also includes a full disabled WC for use by pupils, staff or visitors in this area of the school. Internal alterations to the corridor area around this location are also proposed which will incorporate a levelling platform alongside the flight of existing steps, to allow full disabled access to the school from the main entrance, resolving one of the main issues of inclusiveness for all staff and pupils of the school. 4.12 The former library will be converted back into a classroom base, whilst the former IT room will be converted into a replacement nurture room. IT teaching is now generally carried out using laptop computers in each class base, the laptops being stored on a trolley system based within the library.
4.13 The existing hall is to be refurbished and converted to provide one classroom and a new library. This library is situated more centrally to the years 3 to 6 year groups who would be the main users of its facilities, the nursery, reception and years year groups having more classroom based reading material. 4.14 The existing dining hall and kitchen area are to be refurbished, with limited internal alterations to the dining hall to increase the potential seating area, and works to improve the acoustic performance to deal with the current issues of noise within the area. 4.15 The existing caretakers' office and adjacent stairs are identified as additional space for boiler and plant usage as a result of their location next to the existing boiler and plant room. This will be subject to review by the M+E consultant in assessing the requirements for services.
5.01 During the design process, both for the previous planning application and for this application, the applicants architect has carried out consultations with a variety of interested parties to establish a basis for the design. These have included;
Ms S. Corlett - DoLGE - Planning Officer Ms J. Chance - DoLGE - Senior Planning Officer, Mr K. Almond - DoT Highways Division - Highways Design Engineer, Mr D. Sewell - DoT Highways Division - Highways Design Engineer, Mr A. Varley - Fire Safety Officer - Isle of Man Fire \& Rescue Service. Mr J. Kelly - Fire Safety Officer - Isle of Man Fire \& Rescue Service. The comments raised and advice given within the above consultations has been incorporated into the application proposals.
6.01 Following discussions with Mr D Sewell, the Department of Transport Highways Design Engineer, Borehams Limited, Consulting Traffic Engineers were appointed to carry out traffic surveys and provide highways engineering advice for the scheme. 6.02 Borehams Limited produced a traffic assessment and this is included with the application package. This is the same traffic report as was submitted with the previous planning application. 6.03 The package of highways design proposals includes for the retention of the existing car parking area to the North West of the existing school in an amended format to provide thirteen parking spaces as a drop off and pick up facility for parents of children at the school. This has been designed to provide a one way system with an in/out format in order to keep a traffic flow for the drop off facility. This is designed to maintain access for refuse vehicles collecting from the school, and has necessitated the amendment of the existing on-street parking facilities in School Lane, with double yellow lines being provided towards the junction of School Lane and Victoria Road to maintain a free flow of traffic exiting and entering between Victoria Road and School Lane.
6.04 The on-street parking provision has been amended with two spaces provided in a revised location to maintain on-street parking for residents within this area. The drop off/parking area has been designed with a segregated footpath out-with the line of the vehicular area, providing safe means of access both for pupils entering the school via the pedestrian footpath and for pupils being dropped off from cars in the parking spaces. This pedestrian route is continued via a new access ramp to the school entrance providing level access to this location. 6.05 Access from the car park can be gained via the new pedestrian ramp to the existing paths along the North West and South West elevations of the existing school up to the re-built main entrance to the school. However, whilst this is a level access with no steps, the gradient of the existing path along the South Western elevation of the existing school is retained at existing gradients. 6.06 In considering the development of the proposals, care has been taken to provide a segregated entrance and working area for a construction compound during works should the application be successful. It is proposed that a new access will be formed from Morton Hall Road on to the existing playing field at the North Eastern corner of the playing field area. This new access will be used for construction traffic, the construction compound being segregated from the rest of the school, complete with a protected route from the school building to the sports field to allow the continuance of the use of the sports field during the development works of the new build extension. 6.07 It is proposed that to provide parking facilities for staff and parking facilities for disabled visitors to the school during school hours, and for users of the sports and community facilities out of school hours, this new access will become permanent, providing vehicular access to a new car park situated to the North East of the new build extension. This car park provides two disabled parking spaces together with twenty parking spaces for staff, and is to be segregated from the sports field by fencing, and protected from misuse by the introduction of security gates at the entrance from Morton Hall Road. It is anticipated that these entrance gates will be operated either with a proximity reader or a card swipe system for staff use, together with a key pad code system for disabled access purposes. Any disabled person visiting the school will be provided with the security key code for access through these gates to the disabled parking facilities.
A pedestrian pass gate and footpath is also provided alongside the car park entrance gates in order to allow pedestrian access to the school grounds for users of the sports hall and community facilities out of school hours.
The new car park is situated on a higher plateau of the sports field which is not currently used for sports purposes, the majority of this area currently being used as a secure play area for the mobile nursery classroom unit, complete with resilient play surface and secure fencing to its perimeter. The provision of the car park at this location therefore has minimal impact on the existing sports field facilities. 6.08 The access arrangements to and from this new entrance are described in Borehams Consulting Traffic Engineers Report, as are the traffic management arrangements for the new drop off facility to the North West of the existing school adjacent to the existing playground area.
6.09 As it is proposed in this application to use the new staff car park for parking for visitors using the sports/multi purpose hall or community facilities out of school hours, it was thought prudent to carry out a traffic survey of the level of use of Morton Hall Road in the evenings. Accordingly, a survey was carried out on two random days of the week to assess the level of traffic use of this area from 6:00pm through to 10:00pm. The results of these traffic surveys are included in Appendix A of this design statement, and show that the level of usage of the road during this period is very low, the majority of the vehicular movements being concentrated earlier in the evening, and being associated with the Sandfield Elderly Persons Complex. It is understood that the Doctors Surgery, which also takes its access from this road does not operate any evening surgeries, the last appointments being at 4:50pm.
As a result of the survey results, it is not felt that the use of the teacher's car park out of school hours by users of the Sports/Multi-purpose hall and community facilities will have any detrimental traffic implications on Morton Hall Road.
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