DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00676/D Applicant: 3 Shires ATM Solutions Proposal: The installation of an Illuminated Sign associated with an ATM Site Address: Castletown Civic Centre Farrants Way Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NR Planning Officer: Mr Hamish Laird Photo Taken: 12.07.2023 Site Visit: 12.07.2023 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 04.08.2023

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 37 of the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan - 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site comprises part of the front elevation of the Civic Centre, located on the NE side of Farrants Way, Castletown. It lies between the Library and the Town Hall, which all have car parking located to the rear. The site lies within the Town Centre and Conservation Area with

• Farrants Way marking the CA boundary. The surroundings are a mix of Commercial and Public Service properties, including the Fire Station, with residential properties accessed from Scarlett Road opposite to the south-west.
• 1.2 NB. Castletown Civic Centre is owned and operated by Castletown Town Commissioners. It is not an Isle of Man Government owned and operated premises.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the installation and erection of an internally illuminated signage panel on the front elevation and separate down-lighter located above the ATM which is running under a concurrent application 23/00673/B. - 2.2 The dimensions of the proposed advertisement are: 1600mm High x 826mm Wide x 40mm Deep and 540mm from the ground to bottom of the sign. The signage shall be predominantly dark blue and made from glass reinforced plastic, with lettering reading 'BARCLAYS Cash' at the top. - 2.3 The initial drawings submitted for the application replicate those which were submitted for concurrent application 23/00673/B, with the addition of the illumination details.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The application site has been the subject of several previous planning applications, PA 15/00780/B for the installation of a replacement ATM is considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site of the proposed retail unit is designated on the Area Plan for the South (Map 5)

• as 'Mixed Use'. The site is within a The Castletown Conservation Area, where according to the IOM Flood Risk Map, the Farrants Road carriageway is prone to a low likelihood of Surface Water flooding. As such, the following parts of the Strategic Plan are relevant:

3.2 General Policy 2 states that: "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:

• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan."

3.3 General Policy 6: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

• (a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed;
• (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and
• (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard."

3.4 Environment Policy 37: "As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

• i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area;
• ii) ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area;

• iii) iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and
• iv) iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The site has also been the subject of a number of applications which includes the detailed application PA 87/00172/B for the construction of the Civic Centre; and, PA 88/01891/B for the construction of a Clock Tower; and, PA 15/01258/B for alterations and amendments to the Civic Centre. These approvals that has been implemented on the site.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Department of Infrastructure Highway Services (19/6/2023) - comments: After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking. - 5.2 IOM Transport (13/6/23) comments: IOM Transport have no comment on the proposal. - 5.3 Castletown Commissioners - no comments had been received by the Report drafting stage. - 5.4 No comments have been received from neighbouring properties.

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The key considerations when determining and assessing this application are whether or not the proposed works will have an impact the visual amenity of the area or an impact on the character of the proposed Conservation Area. - 6.2 In terms of visual alteration, the installation of illuminated signage adjacent to the ATM machine is considered to have a neutral impact on the appearance and character of the area above what was previously in existence from the original ATM machine which had illuminated signs above. - 6.3 Within British Standards it is recommended that suitable illumination is provided for devices such as ATM machines in order to improve visibility of the devices and to improve the safety of those using the devices. British Standards BS8300 states "Card and coin operated devices, in particular ATMs, should be located in areas that are overlooked by people, and well lit at all times."

6.3 The proposal is considered to be of an appropriate style and material finish and it is not expected that the illuminated signage will detract views of the local area, impact the proposed regeneration area or create any adverse impacts on highway safety. Illuminated signage in such central town locations such as this is not uncommon, it has not been considered necessary to restrict the hours of illumination in this case. If the signage were to be illuminated

at all times it would be beneficial to those using the machine during hours of darkness for safety and visibility reasons.

- 7.0 RECOMMENDATION

7.1 For the reasons above the application complies with GP 6 and EP37 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 and is recommended for approval. - 8.0 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: 09.08.2023 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.