20 November 2007 · Committee
20, St Georges Street, Douglas, Isle Of Man, IM1 1ah
The proposal was for a five-storey building (including a semi-basement) providing 1,400 sq.m of net office floor space and 15 car parking spaces on a cleared corner site at Hope Street and St George's Street, backing onto St George's churchyard. The site, which falls approximately 3 metres from its northern to southern corner, was already in use as a surface car park pending redevelopment, and is zoned for office use in the Douglas Local Plan. The officer identified three principal issues: land use, parking provision, and visual impact on the street scene and churchyard. On land use, the officer considered the proposal consistent with the Local Plan zoning and Strategic Plan policy BP7. On parking, the officer took the view that the reduced provision alongside a travel plan was acceptable and would support sustainable transport objectives. The Planning Committee disagreed and refused the application, overturning the officer's recommendation to approve.
The Planning Committee refused the application, going against the officer's recommendation to permit it. The precise reasons given by the committee are not fully set out in the available documents, but the key issues identified in the officer's assessment were parking provision against Strategic Plan standards (BP8 and TP7) and the building's visual impact on the street scene and churchyard. The committee's decision suggests it was not satisfied that the reduced parking provision or the design response was acceptable.
Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007
New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan
Business Policy 7: New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan; exceptionally, permission may be given for new office space (a) on approved Business Parks for Corporate Headquarters which do not involve day to day callers; or (b) in buildings of acknowledged architectural or historic interest for which office use represents the only or most appropriate practicable and economic way of securing future use, renovation and maintenance.
Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007
New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings and should accommodate parking space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 7 of the Plan
Business Policy 8: New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings and should accommodate parking space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 7 of the Plan. 9.4 Retailing 9.4.1 As with office accommodation, and for similar reasons, retailing is largely concentrated in our town and village centres. Of these, Douglas is the largest and includes branches of many of the shops which are familiarly found in high streets around the UK. However, locally based retailers add variety and interest to our shopping streets, and this is particularly noticeable in Ramsey, Peel, and Castletown. It is interesting to note that in Ramsey and Peel, locally based furniture shops operate successfully from within the town centres, whereas Douglas town centre has now largely lost its furniture shops to edge-of-town or out-of-town sites. 9.4.2 The reasons for directing retail development to town centre sites are essentially those set out in paragraph 9.3.3 in respect of offices, but to these must be added the nee d for there to be a sufficient range and choice of goods available in the one shopping trip, without the need to travel between sites. Experience in the UK illustrates the impact which out -of-town retail development has on the traditional town centre high street and on small village shops, and it is pertinent to note the reversal of policy by the UK Government. The Department therefore proposes to adhere to the established policy which was embodied in the Tynwald resolution of 1987 (see paragraph 9.2.5). 9.4.3 Exceptions to this general policy have been identified in paragraph 9.2.6. In addition, there are community benefits associated with neighbourhood shops (see paragraph 10.6.1). The following general policy is therefore appropriate:
Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007
The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards
Transport Policy 7: The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards. The current standards are set out in Appendix 7. 11.5.4 New development can have a significant impact in terms of the traffic generated by it and the impact on the various modes of travel. The Department considers that proposals which are likely to be significant traffic generators should be accompanied by a Transport Assessment(1) which should look at all modes of transport including access by public transport, cycling and on foot.
