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Application No.: 15/00610/B Applicant: Andaz Limited Proposal: Creation of an outside seating area (retrospective) Site Address: Former The Clarendon, Farmers Retail & Douglas Hotel Site North Quay Douglas Isle Of Man Case Officer : Miss Abigail Morgan Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation
1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is part of the highway area to the front of Douglas Hotel/Farmers Building / The Clarendon Public House along North Quay, which is within ownership of the Department of Infrastructure. - 1.2 Farmers Building / The Clarendon Public House is currently operated on the ground floor as a restaurant, known as "Barbary Coast". The property is an end of block corner building in a prominent location which faces South on the corner of North Quay and Harris Lane, adjacent to a surface car park. - 1.3 The site is within the Douglas (North Quay) Conservation Area and the Douglas Hotel is a registered building.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the change of use of the highway adjacent to the frontage of Farmers Building / The Clarendon Public House know known as 'Barbary Coast' North Quay to an outdoor seating area along with the erection of post-and-rail banners to separate the area from the Highway. The new area would provide for an additional 52 covers across fourteen tables; the banners proposed to surround this proposed seating area are proposed to be 1m-high stainless steel, the banners have advertising on them. The adverts are the subject of a separate application 15/00611. - 2.2 The proposal includes the approved banner type barriers of a minimum height of 1000mm between stainless steel posts following stainless steel sockets set flush into the pavement. - 2.3 Following consultation with Highways the scheme was amended (plans received 13 November
2015) so that the proposed seating area is 1800mm away from the road.
2.4 This work has already been carried out. - 2.5 A Registered Building application was not considered necessary as the application was not for an alteration or extension to the Registered Building and given the context it was considered that the proposals would not affect its setting or character as a building of special architectural and historic interest.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The application site and surrounding area has been the subject of a number of planning applications, the following of which are considered to have material relevance to the determination of the current planning application: At 14 North Quay:
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site is within a wider area zoned for Town Centre uses on Map No.1 (Central Area) of the Douglas Local Plan Order (1998); no Written Statement accompanies the Douglas Local Plan. As the site is also within the Douglas (North Quay) Conservation Area, there are two policies of specific relevance within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (2007): General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35. - 4.2 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 (relevant parts quoted):
landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
spaces around them.
4.3 Environment Policy 35 states: "Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development". - 4.4 Transport Policy 4 states that .. 'new and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the environmental objectives of this plan'.
4.5 Transport Policy 6 also states that; "In the design of new development and transport facilities the needs of pedestrians will be given similar weight to the needs of other road users". - 4.6 The wording of three policies of PPS 1/01, which is entitled 'Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man', is worthy of note. - 4.7 Policy RB/3 - 'General Criteria applied in considering Registered Building Applications' states:
"The issues that are generally relevant to the consideration of all registered building applications are:
4.8 Policy RB/5 - 'Alterations and Extensions' states:
"In considering whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting and in considering whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the Department shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.
"Registered Building consent is required for the building's alteration in any way which would affect its special architectural or historic character. There will be a general presumption against alteration or extension of registered buildings, except where a convincing case can be made, against the criteria set out in this section, for such proposals.
"Applicants for registered building consent for alteration or extension to a registered building must be able to justify their proposals. They will be required to show why the works which would affect the character of the registered building are desirable or necessary and they should provide full information to enable the Department to assess the likely impact of their proposals on the special architectural or historic interest of the building and on its setting. Where registered buildings are the subject of successive applications for alteration or extension, consideration will also be given to the cumulative effect upon the building's special interest as a result of several minor works which may individually seem of little consequence."
4.9 Policy CA/2 - 'Special Planning' states:
"When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application.
"Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected."
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highways Division - following the requested amendments to the plan have no objection subject to a condition; 'An area of footway 1.8m wide shall be kept free from obstruction between the edge of the barrier and the storm drain or kerb edge whichever is closest to the barrier. Reason: to ensure free passage of pedestrians on the footway in the interests of highway safety.' 19.11.15. - 5.2 No other representations were received at the time of writing.
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The key issues to take account of are the extent to which the proposal would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Conservation Area, the impact on highways safety and any impact on the Douglas Hotel, which is a registered building. - 6.2 The North Quay is increasingly becoming an attractive, pedestrian friendly area with alfresco dining and drinking facilities for the establishments on the Quay. A number of restaurants and public houses are found here, and a number of these have outdoor seating areas. The re-laying of the highway (both pavement and road) along North Quay that was completed apx ten years ago has resulted in a number of such areas being granted planning approval where these have been found to not have a negative impact on highway safety. External seating areas provide cafes, bars and restaurants with additional facilities to provide customers with the option of being able to sit outdoors whilst enjoying beverages and meals - 6.3 It is not considered that adding to an existing seating area would in itself have a negative impact on the Conservation Area or the Douglas Hotel; indeed, the proposal would allow the success of the area in this regard to continue and, as such, the proposal is considered to comply with Environment Policy 35. For similar reasons, the proposal is likely to comply with those elements of General Policy 2 that require attention be paid to the amenity of an area in term of use and its visual impacts. - 6.4 The distance between the seating area and the highway would still allow pedestrians 1.8m of width between the edge of the seating area and the highway. This is considered acceptable as there would be adequate width between the edge of the proposed seating area and highway to allow people to pass with ease without impacting upon the safety of pedestrians. The positioning near a road junction, as well as the shared surface used here, is such as to be likely to reduce vehicle speeds to sufficiently low levels adjacent the application site. - 6.5 It is therefore considered that there are no fundamental objections to the proposal in respect of the relevant planning policies or Local Plan zoning. This view is taken having had regard to the planning history of the site and the surrounding area.
6.7 With regards to the details of the proposed furniture, full details are not given however the supplied illustration indicates that they will be silver framed with brown/black slatted finishes and the finished colour of the screening and posts are a modern black and silver and are similar to other features within the locality. - 6.8 It is noted that the banners shown in the submitted plans do carry advertising, these are the subject of a separate application 15/006101/D. - 6.9 It is considered that addition of an external seating area could be beneficial to the visual amenities of the area, and enrich the existing quality of the street scene and Conservation Area in
Regarding the potential impact upon the Registered Building Environment Policy 32 indicates any extensions or alterations to a Registered Building which would affect detrimentally its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest will not be permitted. As indicated within paragraph 2.5 of this report, the works were not considered to require a Registered Building application, are rather modest in street scene terms and the wider context of North Quay and would contribute to the future of North Quay and alfresco nature of dining in the area. Overall, it is considered the works would not have an adverse impact upon its character or setting as a building of special architectural or historic interest.
7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 It is recommended that the application is approved.
8.0 PARTY STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture Fisheries are part of the same Department as is the planning authority and as such should not be afforded interested person status under the Order.
With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless otherwise directed by that Order.
Recommendation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.07.2015 Conditions and Notes for Approval: C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.
Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
This approval relates to Location Plan date stamped as recieved on 11th June 2015 and Side Elevational Plan and Illustrative Image date stamped as received on 1st June 2015 and Front Elevation and Layout Plan both date stamped as received 13 November 2015.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Director of Planning and Building Control in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 11.12.2015 Determining officer
Signed : M GALLAGHER Michael Gallagher Director of Planning and Building Control
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