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Application No.: 17/01263/B Applicant: Two Fellas Limited Proposal: Conversion of a retail unit (Class One) to a public house (Class Three) Site Address: 33 Michael Street Peel Isle of Man IM5 1HD Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken: 16.01.2018 Site Visit: 16.01.2018 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.01.2018 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
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.
Reason: To clarify the extent of the approval and to control the impact on those in nearby residential properties.
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):
The owner of 2, Ballquinnea Cottages which is too distant from the site to be directly affected by the proposal
_____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE
1.1 The site is the curtilage of 33, Michael Street, a three storey property situated on the northern side of Michael Street which is the main pedestrianised retail street in Peel. The property has a full height glazed shopfront with glass doors in the centre and glass above. Above this, on the first floor are two timber framed sliding sash windows and above that, a flat roofed dormer with casement windows either side of a single glass pane. There is an extendable canopy above the frontage. The ground floor is used as a shop but is currently vacant. The upper floor is used as a unit of residential accommodation. - 1.2 The units on each side are retail on the ground floor. - 1.3 The application property has a basement beneath the ground floor accessed from within one of the rear rooms. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 Proposed is the conversion of the ground and basement levels from a shop to a public house. The applicant describes the use as a micro pub although the planning system would not differentiate between a public house and any particular sort of this type of use. The use falls within Class 3 which also includes eating as well as drinking on the premises. - 2.2 The building will be used as a bar with seats on the ground floor with toilets at the rear of this floor and the basement will be used as an office at the rear and a cellar and store in front with the stairs retained as they are. - 2.3 Externally the shop front will remain as is but there will be two security cameras installed either side of a proposed advertising sign board and a small cigarette bin on the right hand side of the doors as one looks at the frontage. The canvas awning is to be removed. The CCTV cameras are 127mm by 97mm and the cigarette bin positioned 750mm above pavement level and will be 375mm by 220mm and projects out 75mm from the wall to which it would be attached. - 2.4 The hours of operation would be seven days a week 1200hrs to 2230hrs although it is unlikely that they would be operational for all those times. It is not their intention to seek a music licence or to have children on the premises. - 2.5 The applicant explains that the premises have been vacant for four years and he notes that within 100m of the application site, there are at least 10 commercial/retail activities which operate with unrestricted hours into the late evening. The vacant premises have created a dead frontage within the Conservation Area and the introduction of a new use will revitalise this part of the commercial area with a use which is compatible with adjacent uses. Whilst people live at first floor level, this is within a town centre environment but the hours of operation will be likely to mitigate any adverse impact on them. PLANNING POLICY
3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Local Plan (1989) as Mixed Use and also within the town's Conservation Area. As such, the proposed use is compatible with a town centre, commercial location. The Strategic Plan promotes sustainable development and containment of development, suggesting that, "the promotion of development in individual villages and towns promotes the interaction of those who live and work there thus promoting the social qualities of life and the provision of social facilities (shops, public houses, cinemas, sporting facilities etc) in an economical and efficient form" (page 68). Paragraph 10.8 deals specifically with retail units and public houses and considers them together:
"The loss of facilities such as neighbourhood shops in towns and or village shops and public houses reduces customer choice and can also necessitate people travelling further to meet their needs. This is a particular problem in rural areas where village shops, post offices and public houses can be central to village life. It would be preferable to retain viable facilities, or those that can be made viable and where a change of use or re-development is proposed developers will be expected to show evidence of attempts to market the property as a business in these areas."
Community Policy 4: "Development (including the change of use of existing premises) which involves the loss of local shops and local public houses, will only be permitted if it can be demonstrated that the use is no longer commercially viable, or cannot be made commercially viable."
3.2 Where development is compatible with the development plan, General Policy provides guidance on the detailed considerations which are relevant to the determination of individual development proposals:
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:
REPRESENTATIONS
4.1 Highway Services indicate that there is no highway interest in the application (21.12.17).
4.2 The owner of 1, Ballaquinnea Cottages, Marown supports the application subject to appropriate consideration of the impact on neighbours and appropriate opening hours (04.01.18). - 4.3 Peel Town Commissioners support the application, initially suggesting that a condition should be imposed to require a mirror for internal supervision of clients. When this was shown to be not relevant to the planning application, they indicated that they were content for the application to be approved without such a condition (19.01.18 and 07.02.18),
5.1 Planning approval was sought for additional storage under 94/00701/B and was approved. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The issues here are whether the proposed use would be compatible with other adjacent uses. The principle of a public house within a Mixed Use area is deemed acceptable in policy terms. It is relevant that Peel Town centre is limited in area and that there are a number of commercial units which have residential accommodation above, as is the case in other town centres. In this case, the surrounding uses are retail which are unlikely to involve late night opening and a single venue opening until 2230hrs is not considered to be objectionable. Other premises in the surrounding area, particularly around Atholl Place (the various restaurants and take aways and the Royal Public House) which all open until later than is proposed. The Indian operates between 1700hrs and 2300hrs and is closed only on Mondays: the Chinese is open 7 days a week, between 1700 and 2330 Sundays to Thursdays and on Friday and Saturdays, is open between 1700 and 0015hrs. The Royal Hotel, a public house operates round the corner on Atholl Street and the Centenary Centre lies further down Atholl Street on the other side of the road, which provides music and theatrical events.
6.2 The proposal would introduce a new facility for the town which may draw more visitors to the central area which may in turn boost the business in other existing businesses. It would also introduce a new use for a shop unit which does not presently contribute particularly positively to the streetscene as a place of interest and vitality (there were items of clothing hanging in the window and a for sale sign). CONCLUSIONS - 7.1 The application is supported subject to conditions around the hours of operation as stated in the application. ASSESSMENT - 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:
8.2 The decision-maker must determine:
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 08.02.2018 Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler
Head of Development Management
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