BP8

Policy: BP8 - Business Policy 8

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 need 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: