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The site represents the curtilage of the Grand Island Hotel, Bride Road, Ramsey, which is located on the eastern side of the Bride Road and north of Vollan Crescent, additionally the site is located the furthest most northern point of Ramsey.
The application site is within an area recognised as being within an area of Predominantly Tourism and Leisure, under the Ramsey Local Plan. The site is not within a Conservation Area. The Grand Island Hotel building is not a Registered Building.
The following previous planning applications are considered relevant in the assessment and determination of this application.
Demolition of existing two bungalows and development of site to provide a hotel with function and conference facilities, and 96 residential apartments - land bounded by Park Road, Premier Road and Mooragh Promenade, Ramsey - 07/01790/B – PENDING CONSIDERATION
Approval in principle for alterations - 94/00650/A – APPROVED Approval in principle for alterations and extension - 94/00241/A – APPROVED Approval in principle for construction of 30 apartments adjoining Grand Island Hotel - 92/01640/A – REFUSED
The application proposes the approval in principle to demolish existing hotel and creation of 68 apartments contained in three buildings, car parking and landscaping.
The Ramsey Commissioners do not object to this Application, certain matters were raised which would be submitted as observations, these being:-
Highways Division have no objection subject to the imposition of the following conditions:-
A full transport assessment will be required, this will determine the form of the new access, location of access and number of off street parking spaces.
The IOM Water Authority make no comment on the merit of the proposed development but request that an informative note be attached to any approval decision notice.
The Disability Access Officer makes no comment on the merit of the proposed development but request that an informative note be attached to any approval decision notice.
Estates and Housing Directorate:-
Application must consider 25% contribution to meet Island's Affordable Housing needs.
The S.P.M.C. & E has objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island Hotel has been a famous landmark for many years; The site is zoned as Tourism & leisure, not residential; And there are plenty of residential zoned land near-by where flats could be built.
The Isle of Man Natural History & Antiquarian Society has commented to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island Hotel is a major landmark in Ramsey, should the application be permitted the society recommends that a condition is attached to any approval requiring photography and documentation of the building.
Manx National Heritage have commented to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island Hotel is a major landmark in Ramsey and contributes significantly to the various elements of the landscape in this area; The seaward façade remains a particularly fine example of late Victorian architecture; And if approved, the replacements should provide a building of the very highest quality.
The Ramsey Heritage Trust have commented to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island Hotel has not been well maintained and business seems to have been less than brisk; While we would regret the demolition the applicants presents a convincing enough argument; We also consider the Grand Island is not the right place for a modern hotel; the new building should make some reference to the past glories, perhaps reflecting the tower and wing structures; The grounds of the Grand Island provide a delightful playground for families, the change of use to residential accommodation will presumably take this amenity out of the reach of most people.
The owner and/or occupant 11 Ormly Avenue, Ramsey, has objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island is the only place left large enough for functions; And loss of facilities.
The owners and/or occupants Apartment 505, Admiral’s Court, Mooragh Promenade, have objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; The Grand Island Hotel is a well respected property well worth preserving; The building is quite capable of conversion to apartments; And it is hard to see how such change of use can be justified in view of the applicants contemporaneous application to build another hotel/apartment complex on a nearby greenfield site, this is environmentally unsound, if there is proven need for another hotel why knock one down.
The owner and/or occupant Apartment 3, Kensington, Queens Promenade, Ramsey, has concerns to the planning application which can be summarised as; The two applications should be linked with a planning condition.
The owner and/or occupant Ballagrest, Bride Road, Lezayre, have objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; design should be in keeping; I question whether the Grand Island Hotel needs to be completely demolished as it is perhaps the most imposing and best sited property in Ramsey; I cannot envisage the proposed three block property offering much in replacement value or landmark restoration; And the new development would overlooking over my property resulting in a loss of privacy.
The owner and/or occupant 15 Ellan Park, Ramsey, have objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; Loss of services of the existing Grand Island Hotel; Will the new hotel in an inferior position offer the services; And the Grand Island Hotel is such an imposing building and would be a great loss to the coastline of Ramsey.
Mr A Jessopp, Seacliffe, Old Castletown Road, Port Soderick has objected to the planning application which can be summarised as; the proposal doesn’t contain any detailed justification other than it is a desirable site for the developer to build some apartments.
As the site is located within an area of Residential / Office use, therefore the following policies are relevant:-
Strategic Policy 2: New development will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions(2) of these towns and villages. Development will be permitted in the countryside only in the exceptional circumstances identified in paragraph 6.3.
General Policy 2: 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:
Housing Policy 1: The housing needs of the Island will be met by making provision for sufficient development opportunities to enable 6000 additional dwellings (net of demolitions), and including those created by conversion, to be built over the Plan period 2001 to 2016.
Housing Policy 4: New housing will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions(1) of these towns and villages where identified in adopted Area Plans: otherwise new housing will be permitted in the countryside only in the following exceptional circumstances:
In granting planning permission on land zoned for residential development or in predominantly residential areas the Department will normally require that 25% of provision should be made up of affordable housing. This policy will apply to developments of 8 dwellings or more.
Development of land which is zoned for residential development must be undertaken in accordance with the brief in the relevant area plan, or, in the absence of a brief, in accordance with the criteria in paragraph 6.2 of this Plan. Briefs will encourage good and innovative design, and will not be needlessly prescriptive.
Where feasible the retention of existing tourist accommodation facilities is preferred. Any proposals to increase provision on existing sites or to provide accommodation on new sites will be considered on their merits, with particular regard to visual impact, potential increase in traffic generation, the need for additional car parking and proximity to residential areas.
Material Planning Issue to be considered with the application include:-
The site is zoned for Predominantly Tourism and Leisure, whilst the proposal seeks to change the use of the site to residential use. Generally, permission would not be granted for schemes which proposed the change of use of land from its designated use as indicated within adopted Local Plans. However, there are exceptions; in this case the applicant has also submitted application 07/01790/B, which proposes the demolition of existing two bungalows and development of site to provide a hotel with function and conference facilities, and 96 residential apartments at the land bounded by Park Road, Premier Road and Mooragh Promenade, Ramsey. If approved, this application would provide hotel accommodation and in essence would be swapping the Tourism and Leisure use from the Grand Island site to the Mooragh Promenade site.
There have been concerns raised by the Ramsey Commissioners and local residents that the two applications are not linked and that there are no safeguards in terms of ensuring the continuity of hotel accommodation on either of the two sites, which could, therefore lead to the possibility in the loss of the Grand Island Hotel facility with no guarantee that the hotel accommodation proposed adjacent to the Mooragh Promenade would be provided.
Whilst this is a major issue with the two applications, I consider that with an appropriate Legal Agreement, which the applicant would be required to enter, should approval of this application is given. This would ensure that the proposed hotel accommodation at the Mooragh Promenade site would be required to be in place and in operation prior to any works commencing on the Grand Island site.
Overall, I consider if the appropriate Legal Agreement is in place as indicated above, then as far as planning policy I am of the opinion that the proposal would be acceptable to change the use of the site to residential.
A concern made by the majority of the objectors is the loss of the Grand Island Building if the application is approved. The objectors of the proposal consider the building is a landmark and a prominent feature of north Ramsey and the Island. Whilst in some respects I would agree, I unfortunately consider due to the numerous extensions which have been made to the building in the past, the Grand Island has consequently, in my opinion, lost its former glory and grandeur it once had. This is particularly apparent when travelling along the Bride Road towards Ramsey, where the real architectural damage has been done to the original building, as a number of extensions which are made up of various types of designs, including flat roofed extensions, hipped roofed extensions all of which have various different heights and sizes.
Unfortunately, the northern elevation of the Grand Island Hotel is not the only elevation which has escaped the past inappropriate development, the southern and eastern elevation have also been subject to a number of extensions, whilst not as noticeable or detrimental compared to the extension to the northern elevation, they still have a negative visual impact upon the original building.
The eastern elevation it is generally agreed to be the most prominent and most attractive elevation of the Grand Island Hotel, currently and in the past. However, even this elevation has been spoilt with a large three storey extension and a single storey flat both of which have flat roofs. The extensions designs have no detailing to neither match the original façade, nor do the windows within the extensions replicate or re-produce the style of the original windows of the building. I would however still consider this elevation is still is the most prominent and attractive elevation of the building, but whether it is attractive enough after the past extensions, to warrant to refuse of this application on these grounds, I have my doubts.
The Grand Island Hotel has been subject for consideration to be Registered. The Recommendation of the study stated:-
Dating from the late nineteenth century, The Grand Island Hotel is not of a significant age and due to the large number of buildings which have survived from this time, assessment and selection is necessary in order to identify the best examples which have remained in substantially their original condition.
The main architectural core of the hotel is the eastern section which includes the Georgian-style east elevation, the central tower with its distinctive red tiles and the remaining internal features, such as the main staircase and cornicing details to the ceiling at ground floor level.
However, architecturally the exterior of the hotel is a shadow of its former self as many of the visual features have been removed and modern alterations have taken away the uniformity of the building. In addition to this, there are very few original features which remain inside the hotel and although the main staircase has survived, the balustrades were removed in order to accommodate the lift which was added during the early 1960's.
Therefore, in our opinion, we cannot recommend The Grand Island Hotel for Registration.
A suitable replacement building on the site would be of a similar size to the Grand Island with high architectural qualities and an elegant eastern elevation.
The application is only in principle, and therefore the plans are only indicative. However, the applicant has indicated a specific number apartment (68) and therefore the submitted drawings show a plan of the proposed redevelopment of the site, which show three blocks of apartments. Additionally, the applicant has submitted details of how the proposed apartments would sit in location and height compared to the existing hotel buildings. The drawing indicate that Block A would be five storeys and Blocks B & C would be four storey.
As the application does not go into full detail regarding elevations and floor plans, it is not possible to give a definite opinion whether the site can adequately accommodate 68 apartments, I do consider though it would seem reasonable that 68 apartments could be accommodated within the three substantial blocks, whilst providing adequate provisions for the occupants.
The Department has been in discussion with the applicant regarding the provision for affordable housing. From these discussions it has been agreed that a monetary contribution will be made in lieu of the affordable housing provision, which will be implemented by an appropriately worded Legal Agreement which will require the applicant to enter into.
In conclusion, the application site is zoned as being within an area of Predominantly Tourism and Leisure, however with an appropriate worded Legal Agreement in place, to ensure hotel provisions being provided at the Mooragh Promenade site, I consider from this aspect the proposal to change the use of the site into residential would be acceptable. Additionally, on balance, I consider that the demolition of the Grand Island building to be acceptable due to the reasons given previously within my report, which related to inappropriate past development of the building. Accordingly, it is recommended that the planning application be approved.
I consider that the following meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should be afforded interested party status:
I consider that the following parties that made representations to the planning application do not meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should not be afforded interested party status:-
Recommended Decision: Defer Legal Agreement
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
C 1. This approval is in principle only and will remain valid for a period of two years within which time no development may take place until such time as details of the reserved matters (siting, design, external appearance, internal layout, means of access, landscaping) have been approved by the Planning Authority. Such reserved matters should form the subject of a single application.
C 2. This approval relates to the submitted documents and drawings P-01, P-02, P-03 and P-04 received on 21st September 2007 and 19th November 2007.
C 3. In the interest of road safety, a Full Transport Assessment will be required to be submitted at a Reserved Matter Application stage, this will determine the form of the new access, location of access and number of off street parking spaces.
C 4. PRIOR to the commencement of any building / demolition works, a photographic survey must be undertaken to record all existing internal and external features of interest for the approval of the Planning Committee. Such a record to be prepared in consultation with the Conservation Officer of the Department.
N 1. For connections that comprise more than a single connection to a water main or service, or where new water mains and hydrants will be required, the applicant should contact the IoMWA Planning and Projects Section, tel. 69 59 58.
For connections to Flats and Apartments the following apply - "Water Supply To Flats And Apartments - Regulations", and if applicable a "Form Of Undertaking In Respect Of Supply Pipes" will be required. Copies of these documents can be obtained from the IoMWA or alternatively by contacting the IoMWA Byelaws Inspector (Michael Karran), tel. 69 59 57
N 2. The applicant is advised to consult Disability Access Office with regard to the needs of disabled users within the building.
Decision Made : ... Committee Meeting Date : ...
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