Planning Officer Report Recommendations

Planning Officer Report And Recommendations {{table:378621}}

Officer's Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE BECAUSE THE PROPOSED USE IS CONTRARY TO THE LAND USE ZONING FOR THE SITE.

The Application Site

1. The application relates to Unit 32, Block F at the White Hoe Industrial Estate, Old Castletown Road, Douglas. The unit is one of a block of twelve units currently under construction (and imminently due to be completed). Unit 32 is situated in the corner of the block, next to the spine road that runs through the centre of the estate. The site is located well within the estate, approximately 55 metres from its perimeter. Access is off Old Castletown Road, A25, which serves the main entrance to the estate.

The Proposal

1. The proposal for a change of use of the unit from industrial use to a private gym. The business is entitled 'My Private Little Gym' and the applicant's aim is to offer the premises to individual members with a capacity of one customer at any one time. The gym will be rented out, by prior booking, in hour long slots. There will be no facilities for people to arrive and pay on the door.

1. The applicant believes that the gym will cater for a specific area of the market. They say that some people feel intimated and embarrassed joining a public gym and do not always have space at home. The business will be targeted at people who would prefer privacy when exercising and also those training with a personal trainer.

1. The unit measures approximately 12 metres by 6 metres resulting in a total floor area of approximately 72 square metres. There is no indication that there would be a mezzanine floor. The application site includes the unit only and no parking spaces are included within the red line. There are a number of spaces immediately beside the unit and more to the other side of the access road to the west. It is understood that some of these spaces will be allocated to the unit and others will be used in a more communal fashion, with a first come, first served arrangement.

1. The more recent history of the site and wider industrial estate is summarised below.

07/01212/B - Creation of an industrial estate layout - permission granted. 06/02209/B - Erection of an industrial storage building sub-divided into twelve units permission granted.

04/02473/A - Approval in principle for the erection of light industrial units - granted at appeal on 30th September 2007. On the 9th October 2007, the Director of Planning and Building Control agreed to extend the duration of the planning consent to the 30th September 2009.

Planning Policy

1. Although the site now forms part of a wider established industrial estate, the area is defined as being within an Area of Open Space and Woodland (Private Woodland) in the Douglas Local Plan 1998.
2. There are "no specific policies in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 that are considered applicable to the proposed use. The proposed use is not industrial so represents a departure from the authorised use of the site (as well as its Local Plan zoning). The use would not fit automatically into any other use or use class.
3. It is worth noting that other gymnasia/fitness centres on the Island are situated within areas designated for a variety of different purposes. These include Predominantly Tourism (Body \& Mind, Loch Promenade, Silhouette, Empire Terrace), Light Industrial (Body Shack, Kingswood Grove, Nautilus, Peel Road), Tourism \& Leisure (Sefton Hotel, Harris Promenade, Mount Murray, Santon, Hilton Hotel, Central Promenade), Predominantly Offices (Karma, Victoria Street and Samantha Walker, Victoria Street), Predominantly Shopping (Signature Rooms, Tower House, Castle Street). More recently, planning permission was granted in 2012 for the change of use of an industrial unit at the Spring Valley Industrial Estate, Braddan to a fitness gym.
4. The Strategic Plan chapter on Sport, Recreation, Open Space and Community Facilities opens by stating 'The quality of life on the Island and the quality of our environment are improved by attractive open space and by facilities for recreation and other community purposes...the Strategic Plan needs to facilitate sport and recreation opportunities' (paragraphs 10.1.1 and 10.3.3). The Chapter goes on: 'New community facilities should be located to serve the local population and be accessible to non-car users, and should where possible re-use existing vacant or underused buildings'.
5. In more general terms, Transport Policy 1 of the Strategic Plan 2007 states that 'New development should, where possible, be located close to existing public transport facilities and routes, including pedestrian, cycle and rail routes.'

Representations

1. Douglas Corporation - no objection.
2. Highways Division - no objection.

Assessment

1. The planning policy context for this application is a little unusual. The site is defined as being within an Area of Open Space and Woodland in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. However,

it now forms part of an established industrial estate on Old Castletown Road (the White Hoe Industrial Estate).

1. Planning permissions were granted in 2006 and 2007 for the block in which the unit is situated. The 2006 permission limits use of the building to light industrial and storage/distribution. The 2007 permission describes the use as being an industrial estate. It is unclear which of the two permissions were implemented. However, in either case, the unit benefits from an industrial use.
2. There are no policies in the Strategic Plan that safeguard use of the site for industrial purposes. The application needs to be judged on its own merits. The proposal is for an income generating business use which meets general policy aims of promoting the economy. The proposal is perhaps an imaginative use of the unit and such an approach has been applied elsewhere by the Planning Authority, with gymnasium and fitness centres being permitted within a number of industrial premises. Whilst there is no information on wider demand for the unit in question, it is encouraging that someone wishes to occupy it for business use and use of the unit as a gym would be preferable to it being empty.
3. The site is some distance from the town centre but public transport passes the site on the Old Castletown Road and the site is beside a major transport link into Douglas. The applicant is attempting to access a certain sector of the market in providing a gym for private hire, such as by people who might otherwise be embarrassed to go to a gym in a more central gym with a higher public profile. The applicant suggests that the unit will be used by a single customer at a time. It is observed however that the floor area of the gym is reasonably large and it could certainly be capable of accommodating a number of customers at any one time, indeed this could be a realistic proposition. The question is whether it is appropriate to seek to control use of the unit so as to limit the number of patrons at any one time, and ensure it is for private hire only and not for general use. It is considered that such controls would be very difficult to enforce and therefore it would be inappropriate to seek to do so by means of planning conditions.
4. In reality, it is considered unlikely that the site would attract a mainstream gym clientele given the location of the site. Moreover, given the applicant's intention to limit access to the gym in the manner described, it is considered unnecessary to provide any additional controls if permission is granted.
5. Although not included within the application red line, there appears to be ample parking available outside the unit. The site is some distance from the public highway and there no evidence that the proposal would result in any public safety issues on the highway.
6. The proposed use would not impact on the wider character and appearance of the area, nor would it conflict with adjacent uses.

Recommendation

1. It is recommended that the planning application be approved with conditions.

Party Status

1. The Local Authority, Douglas Corporation, is by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5)(d) granted Interested Party Status.
2. The Highway Division is part of the Department of Infrastructure and therefore not an interested party.

Recommendation

Recommended Decision: Permitted

Date of 23.04.2013 Recommendation:

Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal

C : Conditions for approval

N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal

• : Notes attached to refusals

C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

C 2. This approval for the change of use of the unit to a gymasium relates to the application form, letter from the applicant, site plan, Drawing Numbers 1247-01B and 02, all received on 15 March 2013.

12(2-02 C 3. No mezzanine floor/s shall be installed within the unit.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the Town and Country (Development Procedure) 2005

Decision Made : Committee Meeting Date : recommended Signed : E. Baker

13/5/13 Presenting Officer Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason is required. Signing Officer to delete as appropriate