Why Was This Refused?
- ✓Prominent harbour-area location with high visual sensitivity
- ✓Building height, massing, and design judged visually harmful
- ✓Loss of existing green space and trees on the upper part of the site
- ✓Adverse impact on the outlook of nearby residents on Douglas Head Road
- ✓Proximity to a Registered Building (swing-bridge control tower) to the east
- ✓Site sits between South Quay and Douglas Head Road with an 18-metre level change
- ✓character
- ✓design
- ✓scale
- ✓highways
- ✓Land use, in terms of zoning and sustainability
- ✓Site Clearance, in terms of demolition and loss of trees and green space
- ✓Highway Issues, including parking provision, adoption / maintenance of the public parking space, traffic movements on the Head Road, South Quay, and at the junction, and pedestrian movements
- ✓Appearance / Visual Impact, in itself, in the broader context of the harbour, and as it would affect the setting of the Registered Building
- ✓Impact on neighbours, principally in terms of traffic, parking, and outlook
- ✓Impact on the development potential of the Clover Asphalte site
- ✓Quality of the environment for the flats
- ✓Provision of Affordable Housing
- ✓Establishment of precedent for further harbour-side development
Permission was sought to erect a 60-apartment block with associated parking on a site between South Quay and Douglas Head Road in Douglas, Isle of Man. The lower part of the site was in use as an oil distribution depot, while the upper part above the retaining wall was scrubland with trees. Immediately to the east stands the swing-bridge control tower, a Registered Building. The Planning Committee refused the application in September 2006, in line with the officer's recommendation. The committee identified two formal reasons for refusal: the building's height, confused massing, and generally bland design would create a negative visual impact in the prominent harbour setting; and the loss of green space in favour of a car park and the rear elevation of the building would harm the character of the outlook for residents on Douglas Head Road. The officer's report also identified a range of wider issues considered during assessment, including land use and sustainability, loss of trees and green space, highway and parking matters, the setting of the nearby Registered Building, impact on neighbouring residents, and the quality of the environment for future flat occupants.
The Planning Committee refused the application on two grounds. First, the proposed building's height, confused massing, and bland design would cause a negative visual impact on the prominent harbour area, as seen from nearby, across the harbour, and from the Head Road. Second, replacing existing green space with a car park and the rear of a bland building would harm the outlook for residents on Douglas Head Road.
Site Observations
- •The site comprises an irregularly shaped area of land between South Quay and Douglas Head Road, the lower part of which is used by Manx Petroleums as an oil distribution depot.
- •Immediately east of the site are the swing-bridge control tower, which is a Registered Building, and the steps which lead up to the Head Road from South Quay.
- •There is a fall of some 18m from the Head Road to South Quay, and the upper part of the site, above the retaining wall, is essentially scrubland with some trees - hawthorn, elder and holly for the most part.
Refusal Reasons
- ✕Having regard to the prominent position of the site within the harbour area, the proposed building would, by virtue of its height, confused massing, and generally bland design, have a negative visual impact as viewed from nearby, from across the harbour, and from the Head Road.
- ✕By virtue of the change in the character of the north-facing outlook, whereby existing green space would be replaced by a car-park and the rear of a rather bland building, the proposed development would have an adverse impact on local residents living on Douglas Head Road.
