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Design and Access Statement
February 2021
Prepared by:
Ochre Building Design
The Pump House
Coton Hill
Mewesbury 9Y1 2OP
01743 891961
www.ochredesign.co.uk {{image:109835}}
Client Kerresforth Ltd. 14 Albert Street Douglas IM1 2QA
1.01 Introduction 1.02 Planning History
2.01 Location View 2.02 Historic Views 2.03 Existing Views of the Site
3.01 Planning Statement 3.02 Sustainability
This Design and Access Statement has been prepared by Ochre Building Design, in support of its full planning application to remove the existing garages, which were built as part of the development, from the original planning approval.
It is fully understood that this would reduce the overall parking provision available to the residents of The Elms but, in the 17 years since the development was completed the garages have not been used other than some occasional storage.
This application is made with the detailed knowledge of the operation of the site since it was first completed and, it is felt, the existing parking provision is significantly more than is required in practice.
The site was purchased in 2002 and a planning application was submitted and approved for 12 apartments (02/01454/B Approved 12 th December 2002).
A further planning application was made for 20 apartments and is the one that was carried out to completion (03/00345/B approved 17th July 2003).
The Elms
Google Earth View July 2006
The Elms
Google Earth View March 2012
View of the car park with the garages on the left View of the car park with the garages on the right View of the entrance gates to the car park with the garages to the right
The extant planning approval is for 20 apartments ( bed and bed) with a parking provision of 24 car parking spaces and 8 garages, including 3 disabled spaces, giving a parking provision of . From the time the development was completed the car park has been under utilised and the garages have had almost zero interest apart from 2 being used by the building owner for storage. This has been the case over the 17-year history of the development.
The Elms is a gated development so, as can be seen from the historic Google Earth views on previous pages, there is no incidental or opportunist parking resulting in a car park which is hardly used. Further, the nature of the apartments is such that it does not lend itself to mature families with older children and is mostly occupied by a mix of younger and older couples or people living on their own. This results in a much smaller number of vehicles per household than would normally be expected and it is highly unlikely that this will change in any significant way.
The site is well positioned to make best use of all the services that Ramsey, the second largest town in the Isle of Man, has to offer. The site has been considered in terms of its accessibility by non-car modes and the following conclusions can be drawn:
The reason behind this application is that the garages are a wasted asset as part of the approved development. We feel it is quite clearly demonstrated that this is the case over the 17 years since the project was completed. Also, the residual parking ( 24 spaces) has never been used to capacity in all that time.
It is felt that, by separating the garages from the extant approval, they can be sold or let independently and separately which is for the greater good as there is always a need for good quality garages from the wider community. This will not preclude current residents from owning or leasing the garages subject to availability.
We made an initial enquiry to gain an indication as to whether this application was likely to be successful and one of the negative reasons was that more journeys would be generated if the garages were split from the overall development. We do not feel this is the case as we are not increasing the number of garages and parking so the number of journeys would be commensurate. Further, it is likely that the garages will be used for storage and/or leisure related activities such as sailing, motor bikes or older cars. The site, being a gated development, will not encourage additional overspill parking in the local area as only those with permitted access will be able to open the gates to reach the garages.
We fully understand the need for parking provision and the formula that is in use for new developments. However, in this particular instance, it can be seen that the current parking provision is excessive, under utilised and unlikely to change at any time in the foreseeable future.
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