DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/01068/C Applicant: Levkas Limited Proposal: Change of Use from Offices to 4 no Residential Flats Site Address: Offices Rectory Court St Pauls Square Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1LB Planning Officer: Mr Toby Cowell Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 21.12.2023

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 development is considered acceptable in principle whilst providing additional residential accommodation in an appropriate location following the reuse of vacant office space. The proposals would pose no material impact upon the visual amenities of the locality or indeed the amenities of surrounding residential properties, whilst providing a good standard of living for future occupants. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 2, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan (2016).

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to drawings referenced;

• 1074-10 - site location plan
• 1074-11 - site plan
• 1074-12 - existing floorplans
• 1074-13 - proposed floorplans Covering letter

Existing site photographs Received 15.09.23 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

It is recommended that the following Government Departments should be given Interested Person Status on the basis that they have made written submissions relating to planning considerations:

Department of Infrastructure Highways Services Department of Infrastructure Flood Risk Management Division _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site comprises 2 no. offices laid across the first and second floors of the western portion of the Rectory Court building in St Pauls Square, Ramsey. The remainder of the upper floors of the building are understood to be in residential use whilst commercial uses predominate the ground floor. It is understood that the offices have been vacant since 2016 and comprise a total floor area of circa. 212sqm.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Planning permission is sought for the conversion of the vacant offices to 4 no. 1bedroom apartments, each comprising a total floor area of circa. 52sqm. No external alterations to the building are required to facilitate the proposed conversion, with only internal alterations proposed. The development would not be afforded any dedicated parking provision.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 None of relevance.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The application site is identified in the Ramsey Local Plan as land zoned for 'mixed use' purposes within the defined Town Centre of Ramsey. The site is not within a Conservation Area but located within close proximity to the boundary of Ramsey Conservation Area to the immediate north. The site also falls within an area identified as being within a high risk flood zone (tidal). - 4.2 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered pertinent in the assessment of this application;

Strategic Policy

• 2 Priority for new development to identified towns and villages
• 3 To respect the character of our towns and villages 5 Design and visual impact

Spatial Policy

• 2 Development in Service Centres

General Policy 2b,c,g General Development Considerations

Environment Policy 10 Development and Flood Risk 42 Designed to respect the character and identity of the locality

Transport Policy

• 4 Highways safety 7 Parking

4.3 Ramsey Local Plan (1998)

Policy R/R/P4 - The upper floors above shops are often underused. Use of this space for residential purposes will be encouraged subject to compliance with the Housing (Flats) Regulations.

Policy R/TC/P3 - The use of upper floors as retail units, offices and apartments shall be encouraged particularly where premises are currently vacant.

Paragraph 9.7 - The site falls within the defined Town Centre of Ramsey where the importance of residential uses is recognised, whilst considering that residential uses on upper floors of commercial buildings should continue to be permitted to assist in the buildings' maintenance and refurbishment.

4.4 Residential Design Guide (2021) This document provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing property as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential properties and sustainable methods of construction.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Ramsey Town Commissioners - No response received at the time of writing. - 5.2 Highways Services - Development would have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking due to the sustainable location of the proposals near local amenities. Residents can use existing bin storage and parking arrangements for the building. (22.09.23) - 5.3 Flood Risk Management - The proposed property is in a tidal flood zone. If the planning application is permitted FRM recommend that a Flood Escape Plan is posted in a prominent area of each apartment. (25.09.23) - 5.4 Manx Utilities Authority - no response received at the time of writing.

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are as follows:

• - Principle of development (SP2)
• - Design and visual impact (STP5, GP2, EP42)
• - Impact upon neighbouring amenity (GP2g)
• - Other matters (EP10, TP4,7)

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 The site falls within the defined Town Centre 'mixed use' area of Ramsey where the principle of residential development is acceptable. Furthermore, the reuse of upper floor commercial units is further supported by policies R/R/P4 and R/TC/P3 of the Ramsey Local Plan. The premises relates to 2 no. vacant offices laid out across two floors, and therefore the proposed conversion to 4 no. apartments would accord with the aspirations of these policies whilst delivering 4 additional residential units to the local housing stock. Moreover, the use of such space for residential purposes would be compatible with existing residential apartments located throughout the remainder of the first and second floors of the building above the ground floor commercial units.

- 6.3 DESIGN AND VISUAL IMPACT

• 6.3.1 The proposals would not require any external alterations to the building whatsoever in order to facilitate the proposed conversions. As such, no concerns are raised from a design and visual impact perspective, including any residential impact upon the setting of the adjacent Conservation Area. The proposals are therefore considered to be compliant with General Policy

2 (b) & (c). 6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.4.1 The proposals would not necessitate any external alterations to the existing building, and would pose no material impact upon the amenities of existing apartments present across the first and second floors of the building. The building's relationship with surrounding buildings and residential uses represents an existing situation, and in any case the separation distance between existing windows of the building and surrounding buildings is considered to be sufficient to ensure that the amenities of any surrounding apartments/residential properties would be sufficiently safeguarded.

• 6.4.2 The proposals would further ensure each apartment would consist of an appropriate level of internal floorspace, with all units to benefit from sufficient degrees of natural light and ventilation from the existing fenestration arrangements. The apartments, as per the existing situation, would be accessed via a corridor which also serves a series of existing apartments. The corridors are served by stairwells at either end, one of which has been labelled as emergency exit/fire escape stairs.
• 6.4.3 In light of the above, the proposals are not considered to result in a material impact upon the amenities of surrounding residential properties within close proximity to the site, whilst providing a good standard of amenity for future occupants of the proposed apartments. The development is therefore deemed further compliant with General Policy 2 (g) and (h).

6.5 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.5.1 The site falls within an area of high flood risk and therefore Flood Risk Management have requested that a flood escape plan be posted in a prominent area within each apartment. This is a matter which falls outside of the realms of planning to require or indeed enforce. It is further noted that the apartments would be located across upper floors and therefore would not realistically be susceptible to flooding in any case.

• 6.5.2 Whilst it is noted that no parking would be provided as part of the development, it is noted that the existing offices are also not served by any dedicated parking spaces, the requirement for which would be circa. 4 spaces (1 x 50sqm of office floorspace), which is comparable to the 4 spaces required for the proposed development (4 x 1-bed apartments). It is therefore acceptable that the proposals would not facilitate any realistic uplift in dedicated parking provision, with Highway Services further noting that the site falls within a sustainable town centre location and have therefore raised no objections to the proposals.
• 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The development is considered acceptable in principle whilst providing additional residential accommodation in an appropriate location following the reuse of vacant officer space. The proposals would pose no material impact upon the visual amenities of the locality or indeed the amenities of surrounding residential properties, whilst providing a good standard of living for future occupants. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy

5, Spatial Policy 2, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan (2016). The application is therefore 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 the Director of Planning and Building Control 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 : 22.12.2023 Determining officer Signed : J CHANCE Jennifer Chance Director of Planning and Building Control

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