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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 15/01383/CON Applicant : Crema Limited Proposal : Registered Building Consent for the installation of two air conditioning chiller units to rear elevation (RB no 223 in association with PA 15/01382/GB) Site Address : 18A-20 Victoria Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 2LE
Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken : 06.01.2016 Site Visit : 06.01.2016 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Officer’s Report
1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE
1.1 The site is the curtilage of the former Burtons Building, 18-20 Victoria Street, Douglas, which is situated on the corner of Duke Street and Victoria Street in the heart of Douglas Town Centre. The building is three storeys and has a flat roof at the top level on which there is a lantern light. The façade is notable for being faience in the Art Deco Style favoured by and synonymous with Montague Burton and his Burton's stores of the early 20th century. It is a Registered Building (223) and also lies within a Conservation Area.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL
2.1 Registered Building Consent is sought for the erection of a pair of air conditioning units to the external fabric of the building. The units would be on the western elevation, which is visible only from within the access lane that lies between the application site and no.22 Victoria Street further west. The proposed siting of the two units has been shown in both elevation and plan form; the nearest would be just over 10.5m from the highway to the south. The units would be of different size but of fairly typical construction and design, white metallic with internal fans covered by what appears to be steel mesh; the larger would be further from the highway and measure 1050mm by 330mm by 1338mm, while the smaller unit would measure 800mm by 285mm by 550mm. The units are described as "chiller units" on the application form.
2.2 An application seeking planning approval (PA 15/01382/GB) was submitted concurrently and contains identical information as this application seeking planning approval. It is undetermined.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY
3.1 The site has been the subject of a number of historical applications for planning approval, advertisement consent and Registered Building Consent, but of most relevance are those that were sought during 2015 that together combine to allow the unit to be used as a café with external seating. These applications (15/00059/GB, 15/00060/CON, 15/01029/GB and 15/01030/CON) were all approved, though the decision regarding the applications seeking approval for the advertising signage (15/01152/D and 15/01153/CON) remain undetermined at the time of writing (4th January 2015).
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3.2 Although the site has in the fairly recent past been in use as a coffee bar of some description, the current application(s) appear to be the only ones submitted seeking approval for the installation of air conditioning units.
4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES
4.1 The application site is an area zoned as an area of Predominantly Shopping Use in the Douglas Local Plan Order 1998 Map No. 1 (Central Area).
4.2 As the former Burtons Building is Registered and located within the Athol Street/Victoria Street Conservation Area as designated in November 2007, there are a number of relevant planning policies from the Strategic Plan considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application.
4.3 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; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality."
4.4 Environment Policy 22 states: "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."
4.5 Environment Policy 32 states: "Extensions or alterations to a Registered Building which would affect detrimentally its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest will not be permitted."
4.6 Environment Policy 34 states: "In the maintenance, alteration or extensions of pre-1920 buildings, the use of traditional materials will be preferred."
4.7 Environment Policy 35 states: "Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development."
4.8 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 also provides some useful guidance in the form of policy RB/3: 'General Criteria Applied in Considering Registered Building Applications'. The issues identified as being generally relevant to the consideration of all registered building applications are:
"1. The importance of the building, its intrinsic architectural and historic interest and rarity, relative to the Island as a whole and within the local context; "2. The particular physical features of the building (which may include its design, plan, materials or location) which justify its inclusion in the register; descriptions annexed to the entry in the register may draw attention to features of particular interest or value, but they are not exhaustive and other features of importance, (e.g. Interiors, murals, hidden fireplaces) may come to light after the building's entry in the register; "3. The building's setting and its contribution to the local scene, which may be very important, e.g. Where it forms an element in a group, park, garden or other townscape or landscape, or where
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it shares particular architectural forms or details with other buildings nearby (including other registered buildings)."
4.9 RB/5: 'Alterations and Extensions' states: "In considering whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting and in considering whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the Department shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.
"Registered Building consent is required for the building's alteration in any way which would affect its special architectural or historic character. There will be a general presumption against alteration or extension of registered buildings, except where a convincing case can be made, against the criteria set out in this section, for such proposals.
"Applicants for registered building consent for alteration or extension to a registered building must be able to justify their proposals. They will be required to show why the works which would affect the character of the registered building are desirable or necessary and they should provide full information to enable the Department to assess the likely impact of their proposals on the special architectural or historic interest of the building and on its setting. Where registered buildings are the subject of successive applications for alteration or extension, consideration will also be given to the cumulative affect upon the building's special interest as a result of several minor works which may individually seem of little consequence."
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 Highways Services within the Department of Infrastructure consider the proposal has no highway implications and commented as such on 05.01.2016.
5.2 Douglas Borough Council offered no objection on 12.01.2016.
5.3 It is understood that concern has been raised in respect of the previous (recent) applications by a person local to the application site, specifically with respect to ensuring that access to the rear lane is maintained during the works and once the development is complete. No such comments have been received in respect of this application, though it is a point worth bearing in mind.
6.0 ASSESSMENT
6.1 It is reasonable that the operators should wish to have air conditioning units in order to keep display units for food and non-hot drinks at a fairly cold temperature. As such, it is considered that there is a sufficient need for the units proposed, and that any objection to the principle would probably be unreasonable. It is therefore appropriate to consider the siting, design and size of the proposed units, having regard to the key policies (EPs 32, 34 and 35) of the Development Plan, and also those of the PPS Guidance.
6.2 The proposal is fairly limited in scale and is kept fairly out of direct public views. It is generally the case that air conditioning units do not offer a high quality visual impression and, with buildings as valuable and worthy of protection as this, keeping such units away from public view is to be preferred. The agent to the application was contacted with a view to installing the units within the courtyard area, which would make the units invisible from Victoria Street. He accepted that this would be ideal, but he further commented as follows: "...there are numerous drainpipes that we'd need to avoid. If we set the units off the wall on a bracket then they would impede the width of the fire escape, therefore the units will have to stay in the proposed location indicated on the drawings".
6.3 In this case, it is to be noted that the units proposed would relate solely to the ground floor in conjunction with the café business for which approval already exists. It is to be noted also that in
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order for the air conditioning units to be of significant utility to this ground floor then the units would need to be located as near as possible to this ground floor - locating them on the roof is therefore not really an option and could be even more visually prominent. Finally, it must also be noted that there are only three external walls to the building, and two of those face directly onto Conservation Areas whereas the third, where the units are proposed to be located, faces onto an access lane. These points are important to note because they indicate almost by process of elimination that the location proposed is the only reasonable option for the units. The agent's comments add further weight to this conclusion. It does not mean, however, that two air conditioning units would necessarily be acceptable - more that the positions proposed are the best available on the building.
6.4 The design of the units is typically functional and this is to be lamented. However, the more important conclusion is that they would be located well away from public views - even during daylight, the height of the buildings is such that the access lane is in almost permanent shade - and, while they would not positively contribute to the character or appearance of either the Conservation Area or Registered Building, they would equally not cause sufficient harm on any of these points to warrant an objection. There is no clear conflict with the wording of EPs 32, 34 and 35 of the Strategic Plan and, in view of the benefit that these units would bring to the operator of the business and therefore the use of the site, it is considered that an objection to the application on visual grounds could not be sustained.
6.5 A condition requiring the removal of the units within 3 months of the current lawful use of the ground floor unit would not be inappropriate. While the units have been judged acceptable from a visual point of view, this has been something of a balance and it would clearly be beneficial were the units to be removed once their need ceases.
6.6 The units are also sufficiently high above ground level (2.8m) that they would not impede access to the lane, in accordance with parts (h) and (i) of GP2.
6.7 Turning to one other matter briefly, air conditioning units can be noisy and harmful to living conditions as a result. However, there are no known residential units adjacent to or within the site such that there is no significant concern in respect of either Environment Policy 22 or part (g) of GP2.
7.0 RECOMMENDATION
7.1 In view of the above, it is concluded that the application is acceptable subject to the condition discussed and therefore is recommended for approval.
8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS
8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Registered Buildings) Regulations 2013, the following are automatically interested persons:
o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; o The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application; o Manx National Heritage; and o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 19.01.2016
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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.
C 2. Within three months of the cessation of the coffee shop use, the units hereby approved shall be permanently removed from the site.
Reason: In the interest of protecting the character and appearance of this Registered Building and the Conservation Area in which it sits.
The development hereby approved relates to plan 15/2481/40-A and the sheet showing the air conditioning units hereby approved, both date-stamped as having been received 18th December 2015.
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 : 21.01.2016 Determining officer
Signed : J CHANCE
Jennifer Chance
Head of Development Management
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