Planning Statement
Planning and Design Statement
Change of Use East Building, Nunnery Mill, Old Castletown Road, Douglas IM2 1QA.
JS Associates Ltd December 2025
- 1.0 Site and Surroundings
- 2.0 The Proposals
- 3.0 Planning History and Policy
- 4.0 Drainage & Services
- 5.0 Refuse
- 6.0 Environmental
- 7.0 Parking and Access
- 8.0 Fire
- 9.0 Regeneration
- 10.0 Summary
Contents
- 1.0 Site and Surroundings
- 1.1 The proposed development site includes two buildings, East & West, located within its own grounds off Old Castletown Road. The site is owned by the applicant and previously operated as offices.
- 1.2 The site presently is unused. Historically the usage of the buildings have been
- o Nunnery Mills formed part of the wider estate of The Nunnery Mansion House, which dates back to 1187-1190.
- o Nunnery Mills were mill buildings and the gap between them would have formed the millrace.
- o The Mill buildings were sold by the owner of The Nunnery (Julian Baccus-GoldieTaubman) in 1972
- o The Mill buildings were restored in 1996 with a view to creating residential accommodation but the market favoured offices.
- o Bibby Shipping occupied the offices from 1996 until 2012
- o Anglo International Group (which changed its name to Derwent Group) took up occupation in October 2012
- o Exterior lift added to East Building in 2013
- o Sundowner Limited (Nasaleze) took up occupation of East Building in 2013 and remained until 2023
- o Number of Employees in West Building – 15-20 (Approved Change of use)
- o Number of Employees in East Building – 5 (Change of use building)
- 1.3 Above ground floor, are currently the first, second and third floors of offices.
- 2.0 The Proposals
- 2.1 The applicant would like to maximise the use of the available, redundant and unoccupied space in the East building to create three apartments, for private letting on the upper floors, whilst the ground floor would be a single apartment & for communal usage.
- 2.2 The proposed works to East Building includes,
- o Internal alterations to convert the existing above ground Offices into three two Bedroom apartments.
- o The existing ground floor space will be for single apartment & communal usage.
- o Cycle storage will also be included on the ground floor, together with mailboxes.
- o There is an existing bin storage
- o No major visual alterations will be made. Change of one external door into window.
- 2.3 The proposal seeks to change of use of the East building from class 2.1 Offices to class
- 2.4 The West Building has Planning Permission to convert the building into Three Two Bedroom Apartments. At the time of this application, there were no plans to convert the East Building.
- 3.0 Planning History and Policy
- 3.1 Planning History – Overall Site
- o 24/91378/C – Change of Use from Offices to Three Residential Apartments at West Building – 10 March 2025 – Permitted
- o 17/01152/D – Erection of Signage – 22 Jan 2018 – Permitted
- o 12/00116/B – Construction of Glass Lift to East Elevation & Canopy to North Elevation – East Building - 5 Mar 2012 – Permitted
- o 11/01489/D – Erection of an advertisement board (retrospective) – 14 Dec 2011 Permitted
- o 05/00225/B – Replace existing font door with uPVC door – West Building – 27 May 2005 – Permitted
- o 97/01196/B – Erection of satellite Dish – 24 Nov 1997 – Permitted
- o 94/00298/B – Renovation and alteration for conversion into Office Accommodation 23 Mar 1995 – Approved at Appeal
- o 93/00410/A – Approval in Principle for conversion to Office Accommodation – West Building – Refused
- o 92/01506/A - Approval in Principle for conversion to Office Accommodation – West Building – Refused
- o 92/00668/B – Alterations to create 10 Apartments - Refused
- o 91/00233/B – Renovation and Conversion of disused Mills to 19 Apartments Permitted
- o 87/04614/A- Approval in Principle to renovate and convert existing disused Mill to a) Domestic Apartments or b) Office Development – Permitted
- 3.2 The buildings are not registered or located within a conservation area.
- 3.3 The national flood risk maps and infrastructural constraints map with the draft Area Plan show the area as a high risk of tidal flooding. The buildings are existing and in mitigation against any potential flooding, the ground floor currently has flood defences installed. It is proposed to convert part of this floor into a one Bedroom Apartment.
- 3.4 The proposal would be subject to General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and the Douglas Local Plan of 1998.
- 3.5 Paragraph 4.2.1 of the Strategic Plan 2016, Strategic Policy 1 states that; Development should make the best use of resources by:
- (a) optimising the use of previously developed land, redundant buildings, unused and under-used land and buildings, and re using scarce indigenous building materials;
- (b) ensuring efficient use of sites, taking into account the needs for access, landscaping, open space and amenity standards; and
- (c) being located so as to utilise existing and planned infrastructure, facilities and services
The current buildings are not in use and have not been for the previous five years, we would suggest that this application falls into (a).
- 3.6 Housing Policy 17: of the Strategic Plan 2016, states that;
The conversion of buildings into flats will generally be permitted in residential areas provided that:
- (a) adequate space can be provided for clothes-drying, refuse storage, general amenity, and, if practical, car-parking;
- (b) the flats created will have a pleasant clear outlook, particularly from the principal rooms and
- (c) if possible, this involves the creation of parking on site or as part of an overall traffic management strategy for the area.
The design takes into account of the above points and satisfies them all.
4.0 Drainage & Services
- 4.1 The existing Surface & Foul Drainage are presumed to be into a separated system.
- 4.2 The design does not create any new external foul or surface drainage.
5.0 Bin Storage
- 5.1 Douglas Borough Council require the following based on their Douglas Borough Waste Management guidelines; The existing external bin store has 3 x 1100litre wheelie bins. The Change of use will require
- o Commercial: (Per Unit) 1x1100L for Refuse 1x1100L for Card
- o Apartments: (Combined) 1x1100L for Refuse 1x240L for Cans/Plastic 1x240L for Glass 1x240L for Paper/Card
6.1 This application will result in the creation of four apartments in total, as follows.
- o 3 two-bedroom apartments for two-to-four-person occupancy,
- o 1 one-bedroom apartment
- 6.2 The application includes storage space on the ground floor for 8 bicycles.
- 6.3 Clothes drying will be provided via electrical appliances in the kitchen of each apartment.
- 6.4 Each kitchen will incorporate 3 section bins, to promote recycling.
- 6.5 This application creates additional amenity space, by removing 10 car parking spaces. It will create an area demarked and separated off from the existing car park for seating overlooking the River, already approved under the 2025 application (24/91378/C) .
7.0 Parking and Access
- 7.1 There is an established car parking area of 42 spaces (2.400m x 4.800m). 10 spaces have been used to create external amenity space, as part of the 2025 application (24/91378/C). along with an area of amenity space. Leaving 32 dedicated spaces for the apartments and West building
- 7.2 A cycle store has been provided on site for the exclusive use by the occupants.
- 7.3 The Manual for Manx Roads 2 states,
“Achieving a greater uptake of walking and cycling, or ‘active travel’, leads to a wide range of benefits such as:
- o improvements in health and wellbeing
- o reduced costs to the health service in tackling issues such as obesity and
- o respiratory diseases a more efficient movement of vehicles within the road network leading to decongestion and improved air quality
Design solutions should give precedence to walking and cycling over motor vehicles wherever practicable. To maximise their uptake, designers should seek to create pleasant, inter-connected and overlooked places which deter anti-social behaviour, allowing people to feel safe when walking and cycling”.
8.1 All apartments will contain full sprinkler systems and will benefit from a single,compartmentalised emergency escape route.
9.0 Regeneration
- 9.1 The provision of additional apartments in this location will generate benefits, by regenerating buildings that are presently redundant and unoccupied, and will support town centre initiatives to increase living accommodation in the area, to benefit the town’s economy.
- 10.0 Summary
10.1 This planning statement has been prepared on behalf of the applicant, in support of afull planning application for Change of Use to the East Building Nunnery Mill, Douglas.
- 10.2 The applicant would like to maximise the use of the available, redundant and unoccupied space to create four apartments, for private letting.
- 10.3 The building is not registered or located within a conservation area and the proposal would be subject to General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 1 & Housing Policy 17 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and the Douglas Local Plan of 1998.
- 10.4 Overall, the proposed development is in accordance with current planning policy, and we therefore respectfully request that the Planning Committee grants permission for this application.
