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Crown Division Government Offices Douglas Isle of Man 30 May 2014 To the Council of Ministers Case Reference DF14/0010 Planning Application 14/00257/B Application by the Department of Education and Children for planning approval for alterations and improvements to the existing boundary wall and main entrance arrangement at the Isle of Man College, Homefield Road, Douglas. 1. I have the honour to report that on 19 May 2014 I carried out a site visit at the above location. The case is being made by written representations. 2. The planning application involves highway land owned by the Department of Infrastructure. The application is therefore one that has to be determined by the Council of Ministers, not the Planning Committee. SITE DESCRIPTION AND THE PROPOSAL 3. The application site is the entrance to the Isle of Man College, on the northern side of Homefield Road in Douglas. There are houses on the opposite side of the road, and the surrounding area is predominantly residential. 4. The proposal has various elements, all of which are intended to improve the safety and appearance of the college's entrance: - The existing main entrance would be widened from 14m to 16.5m so that there is enough space to provide a footpath on each side of the vehicular entrance. New kerbs would define the footpaths. - A crossing point for pedestrians, in contrasting block paviors, would be provided alongside Homefield Road in front of the entrance. - A crossing point for pedestrians would also be provided within the car park, just inside the entrance. - The height of the existing entrance pillars would be increased from 2m to 2.7m and an identical pair of pillars would be built beside the new footpaths. - The boundary wall along Homefield Road would be raised by 0.5m to a maximum height of 1.5m. It would be given a new concrete capping and a painted render. - On each side of the entrance, for a distance of 4m, decorative metal railings would be mounted on top of the wall. - A new sign would be installed, and it would be illuminated by a recessed ground light. - The pillars at the secondary entrance, some 70m to the east further along Homefield Road, would be upgraded by the provision of new cappings and a painted rendered finish. REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED 5. The Manx Electricity Authority has requested that the applicant makes contact before any work starts. No other representations have been received. ## Advice From The Department Of Infrastructure'S Planning And Building Control Division 6. The College has been the subject of many planning applications in the past, but none is relevant to the current proposal. 7. The application should be assessed against the relevant criteria of General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (IoMSP). ### Assessment 8. To my mind, the existing entrance and roadside wall neither enhances the appearance of the college nor announces its presence in a fitting way. The proposed alterations would be a visual improvement. The quality of the entrance would be commensurate with the quality of the college buildings behind it. The street scene in Homefield Road would be enhanced. General Policy 2(c) of the IoMSP requires development to respect the character of the surrounding area. In my view this requirement would be met. 9. General Policy 2(i) of the IoMSP seeks to ensure that development does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety. The widening of the access, and the provision of segregated footpaths and crossing points would achieve that objective. 10. In all regards, I consider the proposal to be acceptable. ### Recommendation 11. I recommend that Planning Approval be granted for alterations and improvements to the existing boundary wall and main entrance arrangement at the Isle of Man College, Homefield Road, Douglas, as shown on Drwg Nos P02 and PO2 Rev A received on 4 March 2014, subject to the following condition: The development hereby approved shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice. Ruth MacKenzie BA(Hons) MRTPI Independent Inspector ## Statement Submitted On Behalf Of Planning And Building Control Division (Department Of Infrastructure) ## infrastructure bun-troggalys PA 14/00257/B: Alterations and improvements to existing boundary wall and main entrance arrangement, Isle of Man College, Homefield Road, Douglas. Set 9/4/14 MM ## Statement on behalf of the Planning and Building Control Division (Department of Infrastructure) in respect of: PA 14/00257/B: Alterations and improvements to existing boundary wall and main entrance arrangement, Isle of Man College, Homefield Road, Douglas. ### 1.0 Introduction
1.1 In accordance with the provisions of 10. (1)(b) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 any planning application that proposes development involving land that the Department of Infrastructure is in ownership it cannot be determined by the Planning and Building Control Division. In these instances the relevant legislation requires the planning application to be referred to and determined by the Council of Ministers. Such planning applications are dealt with by an appointed person (Planning Inspector) who is charged with assessing the proposed development and reporting their recommendations to the Council of Ministers.
1.2 Given the above, this statement is intended to set out the background of the planning application and identify what are considered to be relevant planning policy considerations. In order to avoid any perception of bias the statement purposely makes no assessment of the proposed development and offers no recommendation.
2.1 The application site is the vehicular entrance to the Isle of Man College which is located on the northern side of Homefield Road in Douglas.
2.2 A set of photographs detailing the application site are included in Appendix A of this statement.
3.1 Proposed is the widening of the existing vehicular entrance from 14 metres to 16.5 metres with a new tarmacadam road.
3.2 The proposal also comprises the installation of a pedestrian crossing way at the front of the entrance, directly abutting Homefield Road which would be finished in contrasting block pavilours with new tactile paving to the outer edge with dropped kerbs.
3.3 It is also proposed to remove the existing kerbs and walls either side of the vehicular entrance access would be a new tarmacadam footpath with the erection of new walls and cappings within to bound the widened footpath with the road entrance. Adjacent to the existing pillars are to be two new pillars with a height of 2.7 metres and the existing pillars would be raised to match the new proposed pillar height.
3.4 Another element of the proposal is to increase the wall height alongside Homefield Road by 0.5 metres.
3.5 The proposal also results in the relocation of the left hand side street light 0.8 metres south towards Homefield Road.
3.6 The final element of the proposal is the installation of another crossing point within the car park leading from the pillars on the north eastern side of the newly widened entrance.
4.1 The application site has been the subject of a number of planning applications, none of which are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application.
5.1 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains one policy that is considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application:
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:
6.1 The Manx Electricity Authority (MEA) request the applicant contacts the Network Operations Department of the MEA to discuss working practices around cables and overhead lines which may be required to be diverted before any work can be carried out on site.
7.1 It is imperative to consider the impacts of the vehicular entrance alterations on the existing appearance of the application site and street scene of Homefield Road along with having regard to the safety of road users using both the Isle of Man College and nearby residential dwellings and offices.
8.1 Should the appointed person be minded to recommend that the application be permitted, the following conditions are recommended:
C1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C2. The development hereby permitted shall not be carried out except in full accordance with drg no P02 and P02 rev A received on 4th March 2014.
This statement has been prepared by the Planning and Building Control Division (Department of Infrastructure)
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