Loading document...
The site defined in blue represents the Mount Murray Country Club and associated hotel and golf course which sits on the northern side of the A5 Castletown Road and on both sides of the Ballacutchel Road. The site defined in pink represents three tennis courts located at the northern end of the existing hotel and golf course car park.
The blue-edged site lies within an area designated on the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982 and the Braddan Local Plan of 1991 as a combination of Tourist Accommodation in Parkland at the southern end of the site, and the remainder being Woodland, an Area of High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance and Open Space.
The site has been the subject of a large number of applications for the development of the hotel and country club, the golf course and sports facilities.
PA 92/0130 proposed the layout of the 18 hole golf course including parking and landscaping and PA 92/0584 proposed the relocation of the golf driving range, tennis courts and bowling greens to the position in which they now are (the tennis courts were previously on the southern side of the hotel building).
Proposed now is the removal of the tennis courts and their replacement with 75 additional car parking spaces. Also proposed is the provision of a covered walkway alongside the northern end of the hotel building. This will be a simple galvanised pole-edged linear structure with laminated sheeted sides and a metal sheeted roof with an unobstructed internal width of 1.55m. The surface material of the new car park is not specified: however, it should be in tarmacadam or gravel to match the existing car park surface.
There was no explanation of why these works are proposed included in the initial submission. However the applicant has provided additional information in this respect. The applicant explains that the tennis courts have had few members and were rarely used by hotel guests. Internal rearrangements within the hotel, added to the provision of the walkway and car parking will enable the fitness suite to be accessed and used more separately from the hotel and its residents and guests.
The issue of the loss of the sports facilities is not dissimilar to the proposal for the conversion of the sports hall to the golf clubhouse. In that proposal, PA 04/2391, the Inspector appointed to hear the appeal concluded that "some 10 years on the use is not regarded as commercially viable by the owners and operators and in those circumstances it is perfectly legitimate for the owner to seek a different use of a building for which they feel they no longer have a need or commercial justification" (paragraph 14). He goes on "I turn to whether the original permission for the sports hall provided any linkage between the permitted use and provision of facilities for the public, it appears that the sports hall application followed on after the initial Mount Murray consents and therefore played no part in the consideration in respect of the initial decision to development in this countryside location. Moreover, the permission given for the sports hall is not conditioned in any way so as to secure what might have been seen as a planning gain, nor was there any legal agreement to that effect. There may well have been a hope of public gain through access to the facility in the minds of the Planning Committee but there is no cogent evidence before me that it was a determining factor in the decision" (paragraph 15).
"Therefore the main issues are whether the new use would lead to a loss of facilities that ought to be retained in the public interest, the need for the proposed use and, if permission is refused, whether there is any reasonable likelihood of the sports hall use recommencing. There is no objection to the external physical changes proposed" (paragraph 16).
The Inspector concluded that the use of the building as a sports hall was unlikely to resume and that the permission of that application may obviate the need for a free standing building for the golf clubhouse. The application was approved on appeal.
This application is a little different in that I doubt that were the application to be refused, there would need to be provision for more car parking facilities elsewhere as the car park has always been largely empty at this end of the facility and there would appear to be ample space to accommodate the cars associated with the health and fitness facilities here even without the car parking spaces proposed in this application. However, there is no guarantee that the Hotel and Country Club will continue to make the courts available and it may be perceived as unreasonable to insist that the operators maintain a facility which clearly is not being used sufficiently to make it a viable aspect of the hotel operation and one which was not obviously dedicated to the public from its inception. Following on from the approval for conversion of the sports hall to the golf club house, the proposed parking spaces may however, prove useful to cater for any overspill for this new use.
There are objections to the application, on the basis of the loss of the sports facilities, from the Department of Tourism and Leisure who objected unsuccessfully to the loss of the sports hall, the Mount Murray Tennis Club (MMTC) who suggest that the courts are well used, the occupant of 23 Queen Street, Castletown who is a tennis player, the Isle of Man Lawn Tennis Association (IOMLTA), and residents of Mount Murray (2 in number) and further afield all of whom are concerned at the loss of the facilities and some of whom suggest that the tennis courts were paid for by the tax payer. This latter point has been referred to the Department of Tourism and Leisure and a response has been requested prior to the meeting of 26th October, 2006.
Whilst the loss of the facilities may be regrettable and whilst there may have been some public funding of some of the scheme, the tennis courts, like the sports hall were not built or restricted to public use and the application is very similar to that for the conversion of the sports hall in this respect and the principle of the loss of the facilities should not be objectionable in this planning context for the same reasons.
Some of the parking spaces should be dedicated for use by disabled persons in accordance with Planning Circular 1/91 so that those disabled persons who may wish to use the facilities in the hotel or associated area may be able to park conveniently.
The Department of Transport and the local authority are, by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5) (c) and (d), considered "interested persons" and as such should be afforded party status.
Whilst the Manx Electricity Authority and Fire Prevention Officer represent statutory authorities, the points raised in correspondence relate to working practices and Building Regulation matters and not planning issues and as such should not be afforded party status in this instance. Manx Electricity Authority has in any case withdrawn its interest in the application following the submission of additional information.
Disability Access Officer represents a statutory authority and raise matters which are relevant to planning and as such should be afforded party status in this instance.
Isle of Man Lawn Tennis Association and the Mount Murray Tennis Club are or were clearly regular users of the facilities and ones who benefited perhaps most directly from them. However, the arrangement for use of the courts is a private matter between the Country Club and the IOMLTA/MMTC and the Country Club would appear to have informed the Club of the dismantling of the courts although may not have refunded what ever monies the LTA feel is still owing in this respect. This arrangement could be, or may well already have been terminated. For the reasons set out above I am not satisfied that the Isle of Man Lawn Tennis Association nor Mount Murray Tennis Club should be afforded party status in this case.
Department of Tourism and Leisure represent a statutory authority and raise matters related to planning in their correspondence and as such should be afforded party status in this instance. The Department of Tourism and Leisure was afforded party status in respect of the earlier application for the sports hall.
The resident of Port Soderick and those at 70, Murray's Lake Grove and Queen Street, Castletown are not directly affected by the proposal and should not be afforded party status in this case.
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 17.10.2006
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C 2. This permission relates to the erection of a covered walkway and the creation of car parking spaces on the tennis courts all as shown in drawings reference W2815-P01 and -02 received on 29th June, 2006 and M2815-P03 and -05 both received on 23rd August, 2006.
C 3. The car parking spaces must be finished in gravel or tarmacadam to match the existing car park.
C 4. There must be no discharge of surface water to the main foul sewer.
C 5. At least three of the proposed car parking spaces must be laid out and reserved for use by disabled person. Such spaces should be a minimum of 3.6m in width and located as close as is possible to the facilities which the spaces are to serve.
Decision Made : ... Committee Meeting Date : ...
Copyright in submitted documents remains with their authors. Request removal
