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17/01252/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 17/01252/B Applicant : T S Keggen & Son Ltd Proposal : Alterations to property in connection with a change of use from retail to funeral directors Site Address : Shop Orchard Street Port Erin Isle of Man IM9 6AJ
Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.01.2018 __
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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
Plans/Drawings/Information:
This decision relates to drawing 1 and the location plan, both received on 22nd November, 2017.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following persons should be given Interested Person Status as they are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
The owners and proprietors of the Station Hotel
It is recommended that the following persons should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
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The proprietors of Erin Bike Hut and Port Erin Pets which are not close enough to the site to be considered to be directly affected by the proposal.
The owners of Brooklands, Athol Park and 9, Lhag Beg which are too far from the premises to be considered to be directly affected by the proposal.
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Officer’s Report
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE DUE TO THE NUMBER AND NATURE OF OBJECTIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN RECEIVED
THE SITE 1.1 The site is a single storey commercial unit which most recently accommodated a pharmacy, situated on Orchard Road which links Church Road and Station Road in the commercial heart of Port Erin. The building is currently unused. The building is a flat roofed single storey building with a shopfront facing onto Orchard Road and a vehicular and pedestrian entrance onto the lane at the side. This lane proceeds west from Orchard Road and turns through 90 degrees to exit onto Church Road between the Post Office and another pharmacy.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the conversion of the pharmacy to a funeral director's premises. The physical works proposed include the stone facing of the front plinth and side elevations and the removal of the existing vehicle and one of the pedestrian entrances onto the side lane, and their replacement with a wider, 4.5m garage door in the new aperture. Samples of a slate like or a limestone like panel have been provided.
2.2 A funeral director's premises include the provision of administrative advice to the bereaved, the preparation and care of the deceased before burial or cremation together with facilities for the bereaved to view the deceased and the storage of the vehicles associated with the transportation of the deceased to their final resting place. The internal layout reflects this with a garage, stores, lobby, office and chapel of rest.
PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Mixed Use and just outside the proposed Conservation Area which has not been progressed since the adoption of the Plan.
3.2 Funeral directors' services do not fall within any of the prescribed Use Classes and are a use of their own type although in the UK this use is within the category of "shop". Within the IOM Use Classes Order, the use would fall more readily within the category of
"2 Class 2 Financial and professional services
Use for the provision of -
(a) financial services (including the services of a bank, building society or insurance broker); (b) professional services (other than health or medical services), including estate agency, but excluding legal or architectural services; (c) a betting office; (d) a booking office for a driving school; or (e) a job centre,
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where the services are provided principally to visiting members of the public" although there is an element of retail function within the use.
3.3 Funeral directors' premises tend to be within town or village centres, such as Eric Faragher in Onchan, Corkhill and Callow and Cowle's, both in Ramsey, Howard Kissack in Crosby and Kingswood Funeral Home in Douglas. All of these, whilst in town and village centres are in inconspicuous locations, often tucked beside or behind other commercial premises. The applicant's present location is at a private residence on Shore Road in Port St. Mary. This proposal includes the provision of the chapel of rest which is not wholly retail or office/consultancy use.
3.4 The nature of the business however, providing a service to the public is akin to many town and village centre operations and as such the proposed use is considered to be in accordance with the land use designation. As such, the provisions of General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan are considered relevant as follows:
"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; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space and (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways."
PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The site has been the subject of a number of previous applications including changes to and from retail, office accommodation and an estate agent's office, all approved. A current application proposes the introduction of advertising in the form of vinyls on the windows and the name of the operator above similar to the existing signage (17/1286/D).
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Port Erin Commissioners support the application (15.12.17).
5.2 Highway Services comment as follows: "The application is concerning the change of use from an existing pharmacy to a funeral directors. It is considered that traffic issues such as parking, deliveries, visitors would not be increased due to this change of use and may indeed be reduced. The access to the garage space at the rear of the property is to be widened with visibility splays remaining unaffected. Therefore, Highway Services does not oppose this application" (21.12.17).
5.3 The owner of Brooklands, Athol Park suggests that this is a terrible idea as the premises should be used for a retail use which will attract shoppers and visitors and link the two retail streets and this will not happen with the type of use proposed (08.12.17).
5.4 The operators of Erin Bike Hut, which lies to the north on the corner of Church Road and Orchard Road, objects to the application, considering that the village has recently had a lot of work done to revitalise the retail area and the location of a funeral parlour in the middle of this area would not be fitting to the changes that have been made. They note that the access serving the site is one way only and this causes a lot of traffic issues with the shops and public house's deliveries throughout the day: the funeral director's would also require access will add to the issues here. They consider that it is not appropriate for people to have to pass a funeral
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director's whilst visiting the shops and public house. They consider that if a hearse were to be seen with a coffin inside it, this would be a morbid experience and depressing for staff working in the area. They consider that the premises should be used for retail purposes (22.12.17).
5.5 Port Erin Pets who are located at 9, Station Road object to the application on the basis that the rear lane is poorly surfaced and in almost constant use to service the Station Road shops: an assembly of vehicles will lead to road congestion and blockages. They also note that the area has been upgraded and this part of the village is now an attractive pedestrianised area in which a funeral director's is not considered appropriate. They add that it is an undignified way for the person being buried to start their final journey from a rundown land at the back of a group of shops (15.12.17).
5.6 The proprietor of the Station Hotel whose car park and side elevation are opposite the site. They are concerned about unauthorised parking and consider that the proposal is bound to result in an increase in unauthorised parking and congestion. They believe that there is already a problem for those trying to deliver goods to the site and do not believe it to be the case that traffic will not increase as a result of the proposal. They do not consider that it is appropriate for mourners to be able to mingle with those enjoying themselves and having a drink. (03.01.18)
5.7 The owner of 9, Lhag Beg supports the application, noting that the premises has been vacant for some time and does not consider that the location is inappropriate (18.01.18).
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The issues in this case are whether a funeral director's premises are an appropriate use for this site. The service is one which is a valuable and essential one for local communities and in many cases, some referred to above, the service is provided discreetly within a town or village centre where it is visible but not particularly prominent. Interestingly, UK case law focuses more on the impact of such uses within residential areas and particularly close to elderly persons' accommodation rather than a mixed use settlement centre. In Onchan and Ramsey, these facilities are provided in locations where hearses, before and after burial of the coffin, will be travelling through the main part of the settlement. As such, as proposed here, the use is no more inappropriate than in these other locations. If a settlement centre location was found to be unacceptable, one must ask, where could such a use be located and this is likely to be closer to residential properties where the coming and going of customers, staff and vehicles could well result in an inappropriate impact to a residential area.
6.2 The frontage is to be subtly finished (see also the application for the advertisements, 17/01286/D, which proposes the application of vinyls on the windows with information and decoration) and its outward appearance will be that of a smart premises offering services of some kind. The only clue to the specific nature of the use will be the presence of hearses coming and going from the site which will not happen so frequently as to result in something which is considered inappropriate for this location. The shop is not on the main retail frontage of the village although vehicles will have to travel through it to leave the village. It is relevant in this respect that two of the three main churches which serve the village are located in the town centre and would necessitate the passage of hearses and funeral corteges through the village regardless of where the funeral director was located.
6.3 Whilst the rear lane may not be particularly well made up or finished, this is not a matter on which the decision should turn as the quality of highway finishes can change and is not subject to planning control. The fact that the Highway Authority has not objected to the application is something on which the decision should be based and is in its favour.
6.4 The Station Hotel opposite has its car park to the rear which is opposite this site. Whilst the concern of unauthorised parking is perfectly understood, in this case, the premises exist and there would be a traffic and parking requirement generation whatever it would be used for. It
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could be argued that if the pharmacy was still in existence, there would be a higher turnover of customers then for the use of the site as a funeral director's where there would be fewer customers staying for a longer period and where customers may well be more likely to find an authorised parking space rather than calling in for limited items where they may be more likely to use a close-by unauthorised space. It is not accepted that the proposal will result in an unacceptable change in the use of parking spaces in the area.
CONCLUSION 7.1 The application is supported.
INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested; (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.
8.2 The decision-maker must determine:
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I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Decision Made : Permitted
Committee Meeting Date: 29.01.2018
Signed : Miss S E Corlett Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required
YES/NO
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