DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 22/01274/C Applicant: Clear Pharmacy (IOM), (Mr. John Ferris) Proposal: Change of use from bank (class 1.2) to a retail (class 1.1) and dispensing pharmacy Site Address: Former IOM Bank 28 Atholl Street Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1HQ Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 24.01.2023

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The proposal will be in keeping with the existing uses already within Peel Town Centre, of which there should be limited impact upon parking within the overall streetscene, and the proposal not impacting the surrounding streetscene enough to warrant refusal, the application is therefore recommended for approval.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 14th October 2022;

• o Drawing No. EX01 Rev A
• o Drawing No. EX02 Rev B
• o Drawing No. P02 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage the Former IOM Bank, 28 Atholl Street, Peel which is two storey building which is situated upon a corner plot where Atholl Street meets Derby Road, meets Atholl Place, meets Christian Street, meets Bridge Street. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the change of use from bank (class

• 1.2) to retail (1.1) and dispensing pharmacy.
• 2.2 The application does not propose any external alterations. PLANNING HISTORY
• 3.1 The previous applications are not relevant in the assessment of this application. PLANNING POLICY
• 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use" on the Peel Local Plan 1989 Map. The property is not within a Flood Risk Zone but is within a Conservation Area.

- 4.2 PEEL LOCAL PLAN

• 4.2.1 With the Peel Local Plan policies 7.9 and 7.10 are applicable to the assessment of this application and are regarding parking within retail sites. The policies suggest that parking spaces are to be provided off the highway for permanent staff and that parking for the loading and unloading of stock is required.

4.3 CONSERVATION AREA

• 4.3.1 The site is situated within a Conservation Area, as such Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) is the most relevant in the assessment of this application. Followed by paragraph 7.29.2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, which set out development in Conservation Areas will only be permitted where they preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area.

4.4 ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016

• 4.4.1 Turning towards the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, of which the following are relevant in the assessment of this application; Strategic Policy 9 - seeks all new retail development must be situated within the town and village centres. General Policy 2 - which seeks general "development control" considerations Business Policy 1 - which seeks that the growth of employment opportunities are encouraged Business Policy 9 - which seeks that new retail provisions in existing retail areas would not have an adverse effect on adjacent retail areas. Transport Policy 7 - which sets out parking standards in connection with Appendix 7. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking. The Applicant is advised to consider the installing cycle parking and an electric vehicle charging point." (22.12.22)

5.3 No comments have been received from Peel Town Commissioners at the time of writing this report. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 Due to the proposed works being in a Conservation Area it is necessary to test the application under section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999), see section 4.2 of this report, on whether the works preserve or enhance the Conservation Area first.

6.2 There are to be no alterations to the external elevations of the building and as such it is not considered that there would any visual impacts or impacts on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area which is to be preserved in line with EP35. The main concerns for this application are the principle of the development and whether there would be any impacts on the neighbours or highway safety.

6.3 The building itself has two car parking spaces associated with it, of which after clarification from the agent, these parking spaces will be used by the existing staff. With this in mind, it is clear to see that the site itself does not have the parking required as per Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7, whilst this this the case the site is within walking distance of many off street parking along Atholl Place, Atholl Street and Derby Road, with there being a bus stop just up the Derby Road. CONCLUSIONS - 7.1 Overall it is deemed that the proposed use would not be increasing the footfall above and beyond what was existing to warrant refusal on a parking basis, with there being many possible available parking spaces surrounding the site.

7.2 The proposal will be in keeping with the existing uses already within Peel Town Centre and should not impact the surrounding streetscene enough to warrant refusal and is therefore recommended for approval.

INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 25.01.2023 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.