DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 18/01297/B Applicant: Bettridge Motors Proposal: Installation of wall mounted lighting and erection of a lighting column (retrospective) Site Address: Garage Showroom Bettridge Motors Mines Road Foxdale Isle Of Man IM4 3EX Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Refused Date of Recommendation: 20.04.2020 _________________________________________________________________ Reasons for Refusal R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons R 1. The lack of lighting cowls and the accumulation of illumination at the site results in an adverse spill of light generating an unacceptable level of glare and brightness that is considered to harm neighbouring amenity and the semi-rural setting of the village contrary to General Policy 2 (b, c, g and i), General Policy 8, Environment Policy 22 and Paragraph 6.6.3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties 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):

Old School House, Foxdale as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018).

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties 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):

2 Marguerite Place, Foxdale as they do not satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018) and are in support of the application. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the existing site of Bettridge Motors, Foxdale. The site is located on the south side of Mines Road (A24) which runs through Foxdale and opposite Foxdale School. Bettridge Motors is an established car sale business on the Isle of Man and their site in Foxdale sits amongst a cluster of other industrial units on this side of the road and which are surrounded by a number of existing residential properties. - 1.2 The site was recently approved for the erection of a new showroom building under PA 16/01229/B, during the consultation period the local Commissioners raised concern for exterior lighting at the site and they felt that conditions should be added to control the spread and times of operation of any lighting as to not cause local nuisance. The application was considered by the Planning Committee and a condition restricting external lighting was added to the approval. This condition stated:

"There shall be no external lighting of the development hereby approved unless a planning application is submitted for such. Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area."

1.3 The approved showroom building has been constructed and is in use. Recently an application was approved for external signage fixed to the new building displaying the 'Bettridges' company name, this illuminated signage was approved with restrictive conditions on hours of illumination. Planning history is set out in more detail in 3.0 of this report.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current application seeks approval for the installation of 9 outside LED lights fixed to the external elevations of the existing building, 5 of these lights have already been installed on the primary front elevation and side elevation facing Mines Road, a further 4 lights are proposed on the rear elevation and between the workshop doors. The application also includes the erection of a lighting pole 100mm diameter and measuring 6m tall within the north east corner of the site and adjacent to the bend in Mines Road. The lighting pole is to be fitted with two LED lamps at the top. - 2.2 In an email dated 13/03/2020 the agent for the application indicated that the "light units mounted on the building are to be fitted with a cowl to direct light downwards, and the lumen output of the light units is 186. With regard to the light units on the tall pole at the North East corner, they will be directed onto the car sales area only and the lumen output of the units is 200."

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There have been a number of applications which have been considered on the site, the most relevant in this instance being the original application PA 08/01624/R for the change of use of site for the sale and storage of vehicles which was approved in 2008 and the most recent application 16/01229/B approved for the new workshop/showroom building approved in Feb 2017 subject to the condition referred to in 1.2 regarding no installation of external lighting. - 3.2 Since the coming into use of the building the owners have submitted two applications, this one for the installation of external lighting, and one for the retrospective installation of signage fixed to the building PA 18/01298/B.

3.3 Each advert sign fixed to the building was individual letters, blue with a yellow trim and all letters internally illuminated. The larger sign 225 lumens and the smaller two signs 186 lumens each. The application was approved with the following conditions:

• o C2. The signage hereby approved may only be illuminated when the building is open to the public, and no earlier than 0800 hours and no later than 1900 hours in all cases. Reason: In the interests of visual and neighbouring amenity.
• o C3. The sign(s) hereby granted consent shall not be lit by an intermittent source. Reason: In the interests of amenity and/or public safety.

4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES - 4.1 The application site is within an area zoned as "Light Industrial" identified on the Foxdale Local Plan 1999. The site has recently been redeveloped with a new replacement vehicle showroom approved under PA 16/01229/B. Given the nature of the current proposal both GP2 and E22 of the Strategic Plan are relevant and which set out the general standards towards development and environmental matters to consider as part of the assessment. While not for signage it may also be relevant to consider paragraph 6.6.3 and General Policy 8 which layout best approach to illumination of signage. - 4.2 General Policy 2 states (in part): 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;
• d) does not adversely affect the protected wildlife or locally important habitats on the site or adjacent land, including watercourses;

• 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;
• i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them;"

4.3 Environment Policy 22: "Development will not be permitted where it would unacceptably harm the environment and/or the amenity of nearby properties in terms of:

• i) pollution of sea, surface water or groundwater;
• ii) emissions of airborne pollutants; and
• iii) vibration, odour, noise or light pollution."

4.4 Paragraph 6.6.3: "Within rural areas, advertisements can be disruptive features which affect adversely the appearance of the landscape and the countryside. Lighting can pollute the night sky, and may be contrary to nature conservation interests." - 4.5 General Policy 8: "Within rural areas the display of external advertisements will be permitted only where:

• (d) they are located on or directly next to the premises to which they relate;
• (e) they do not detract from the appearance of either the immediate area or the landscape;

• (f) they are normally constructed of traditional materials unless the nature of the display or location would render such materials inappropriate;
• (g) any illumination, which will be permitted only where it is essential, is kept to a minimum and is so hooded as to prevent undesirable escape of light;
• (h) they are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard; and
• (i) any illumination will not have an adverse effect on areas of ecological value."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only. - 5.1 Patrick Commissioners - requested deferral 21/12/2019 and provided subsequent comments 17/01/2019. These comments highlighted the concern that the Commissioners raised for lighting as part of 16/01229/B and that they have received negative comments from many residents regarding the wall mounted lighting and the blue illuminated signage which has been considered invasive. The Commissioners are keen to encourage local business and provided key comments to be seen as constructive:

• o Wall mounted lights, if essential, must be shaded or otherwise directed downwards to avoid spillage from the site, and timed as to be illuminated no later than 7pm;
• o Better lighting might be achieved through more columns with lights pointing into the site avoiding spillage and that these mirror the time of the streetlights in Foxdale.
• o Alternative use of Passive Infra-Red for security purposes;
• o They are not convinced of the need for the signage to be illuminated, if it's necessary the degree of illumination should be significantly reduced, and should mirror the 7pm cut off similar to the wall mounted lights.

5.2 DOI Highways Division - do not oppose (21/12/2019)

• 5.2.1 There are already 5 lamps fitted to the building, and the proposed lighting on the building is to be located away from the public highway and should not therefore have an adverse highway impact.
• 5.2.2 The site plan shows that the proposed lighting column would be situated close to the adopted highway boundary and lighting zone should be within the site and not extend onto the highway. Provided that there would be no spillage of light from the site onto the highway then no new highway issues should be created by the proposals.
• 5.3 The owner of the Old School House, Foxdale - OBJECTION (19/12/2018 and 14/01/2019). These comments state that the lights shine straight across in their eyeline when leaving their drive making it difficult to check for cars, the lights also light up far more than the car yard including lighting up their house, both the signage and the lights create blue and white glare and result in a visual impact to their outlook and on the scenic views of the area and are not in keeping. A selection of photographs were included in the later comments showing the lighting and signage on the vehicle showroom and impact on their property and surrounding area, the comments state that the signage is illuminated 7am for around an hour and 4pm-7pm each day including Christmas day and bank holidays. They would be happy for the lighting to light their own area facing inwards, but it should not face outwards interfering with residential living.
• 5.4 The owners of 2 Marguerite Place, Foxdale - In support (16/01/2019) - no objection to the lighting and feel that the lit up sign gives character to the plain grey clad building. The previous lighting was floodlighting which imposed on their property, but the new lighting does not affect us at all.

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The fundamental matters to consider in the assessment of this application are the visual impacts of the physical works in fixing the lamps to the building and the physical erection of a lighting pole and the subsequent amenity impacts as a result of the proposed illumination of both lighting installations. - 6.2 The lights fixed to the building and the lighting pole are not uncommon features and can often be found across various industrial estates, business parks or town centre car parks around the Isle of Man. In this specific case the physical fixing of the lights to the existing car showroom building and the erection of a lighting pole within the curtilage would present an acceptable level of physical development that would not result in any visual impact on the existing building or to the character and appearance of the streetscene or surrounding area. - 6.3 Where the issues arise is in the type of lamps to be fitted, the style of lighting and the level of illumination to be emitted. Those lights already fitted to the front elevation of the building are not fitted with any sort of cowl and no detail for cowling has been provided and therefore cannot be considered. The installation of poor or no cowling in this case results in light being expelled outwards and upwards, while not so much of an issue during the day or lighter evenings, this level of illumination during hours of darkness and winter months as evidenced by the existing front elevation lights results in an adverse spill of light from the site and a considerable brightness and glare within the immediate area, and the further installation of lights fixed to the rear would only seek to make this situation worse. - 6.4 The 6m pole is to be fitted with 2 LED lamps each 200lumens, compared with those fixed to the building it's likely that these lamps are to be fitted facing down and into the external car show area although there is no specific detail or lighting scheme provided as to fully determine this. While the lighting on the pole in its own right and if positioned pointing downwards may not be so detrimental as to cause harm to the amenities of the area, when coupled with the lighting fixed to the building the cumulative impact the overall spill of light from the site particularly during winter months or at unsociable hours of darkness would result in an adverse impact and harm to the semi-rural character of Foxdale village and the amenities of the adjacent residential properties. - 6.5 PA 18/01298/B was recently approved for illuminated signage to the building, the level of illumination was considered only to be acceptable subject a condition restricting the hours of illumination, the signage was not to be illuminated before 8am or after 7pm and was only to be illuminated when open to the public. - 6.6 Determination of applications such as this can be difficult and often there needs to be a balance struck in the needs of both the applicant (the business owner in this case) and the amenity of the area (village setting and residential amenity). While the applicant might require the lighting to help facilitate the operation of the business the other seeks the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of the semi-rural setting and the enjoyment of their own homes. - 6.7 A similar condition to PA 18/01298/B could be considered here and could help to avoid the unnecessary illumination of the site outside of the opening hours or at unsociable hours and helping to limit the adverse impacts and light pollution emitting from the site. However the lack of a cowl detail for those lights already fixed to or proposed to be fixed to the building would still result in an unacceptable outwards spill of light, and when paired with the level of illumination from the approved signage and the lighting column would have an overall illumination impact that would be considered unacceptable to the amenities of both the semirural context of the surrounding village and streetscene and to the amenities of the immediate neighbours.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 Given the negative findings for the lights fixed to the building and subsequent accumulation of illumination and the site and adverse spill of light resulting in glare and

harming neighbouring amenity and the semi-rural setting of the village the application is considered to fail the tests of General Policy 2 (b, c, g and i), Environment Policy 22 and Paragraph 6.6.3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan and also fails the principle test of General Policy 8.

8.0 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 Planning Committee 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 in Article 6(4) 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.

Decision Made : Refused Date: 18.09.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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