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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 15/01339/D Applicant : RL360 Management Services Ltd Proposal : Erection of illuminated signage Site Address : RL360 House Isle of Man Business Park Douglas Isle of Man IM2 2SP

Case Officer : Miss Melissa McKnight Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application site is the curtilage of Royal London 360 Offices, Isle of Man Business Park, Douglas. The building is situated at the entrance to the Business Park off the A24 Cooil Road.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Consent is sought for the erection of illuminated signage on the north east elevation of the existing building.

2.2 The signage would have an overall height of just less than 2.1 metres and width of 1.9 metres and would sit just less than 2.6 metres above ground level.

2.3 The sign would be built up stainless steel letters on brass locators sprayed red, black and grey line which are the standard Royal London colours. The sign would be illuminated via clear acrylic back trays with white LED's for halo illumination.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 Advertisement was consent was granted in 2014 under PA 14/00701/D for the erection of road-side advertising signage.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Braddan Local Plan of 1991as "Master Plan to be prepared which will include areas of Industrial Use, Science Based Industries, High Density Residential Use, Landscaping and Secondary School of approximately 16 acres". This succeeded a planning application in principle for the development of a business park of 40 acres, which was approved on appeal under PA 89/04166. This required, inter alia that the business park comprise light industrial use, warehousing, development associated with new technology companies predominantly involved in scientific, commercial or industrial research and development or electronic systems, micro-engineering, biotechnology, office accommodation as the corporate headquarters of companies which utilise the new information technologies and service other park users but specifically excluding financial and professional services to visiting members of the public, including banks, building societies, estate agencies and betting offices. The approval also required that buildings should cover no more than 25% of the business park.

4.2 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains three policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application:

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General Policy 2 states: "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: (a) is in accordance with the design brief in the Area Plan where there is such a brief; (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;

General Policy 6 states: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

(a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed; (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard."

General Policy 7 states: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Braddan Commissioners have no objections to the current application (21/12/2015).

5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services do not oppose the application (15/12/2015).

6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 The proposed signage would be associated with the application site building and would reflect its use and therefore the proposal is acceptable in principle. The main issues to consider in the assessment of the application are the design and material of the signage, the impact to the surrounding area, and impact to highway safety.

6.2 The proposed signage is fairly simplistic in appearance but is considered to be of a high quality in terms of materials and the design of the signage. Given the simplistic approach it is considered that the proposal would not cause a highway safety hazard.

6.3 The Business Park has a number of business headquarters, it is considered that the proposed signage is of a quality which would be in keeping with the area and would make a positive contribution to the site.

6.4 The proposed sign is not in a position that is would result in a distraction to highway users or compromise highway safety. It is also important to acknowledge that Highway Services do not oppose the sign proposed.

7.0 RECOMMENDATION 7.1 It is recommended that consent be granted.

8.0 PARTY STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013, 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;

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(c) Persons to whom notice has been given under regulation 10(3)(a)(i) (d) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material (e) The Highways Division of the Department; (f) The Ports Division of the Department; (g) The operator of the railway or tramway; and (h) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless otherwise directed by that Order.

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 11.01.2016

Conditions and Notes for Approval: C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents.

This consent granted relates to Location Plan, Proposed elevation and Photograph of the application building and proposed sign all date stamped as received 10th 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 : 13.01.2016 Determining officer

Signed : J CHANCE

Jennifer Chance

Head of Development Management

Customer note

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This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.