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                                                 16/00218/D
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 16/00218/D Applicant : Food Programme Delivery Orchid Group Proposal : Erection of signage (in association with 16/00219/CON) Site Address : Co-op Store The Parade Castletown Isle of Man IM9 1LG

Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE

1.1 The application site is the curtilage of the Co-Operative shop in Castletown, which is Registered Building No.32 and has been in the ownership of the Co-Operative group of companies for many decades. The shop lies on the southwestern side of The Parade and sides onto the lane leading to Farrant's Way behind. To the south, attached to the application building is 7 The Parade, which is a private residence and also Registered (RB No.37). The building is three storeys in height and has a shop front to The Parade, within which is also the Post Office for the town.

1.2 The unit has above its shopfront a timber backboard with pole-mounted lettering, expressing the name of the shop business operating from the site. Either site of this are attached vinyl signs for the Post Office. A projecting sign just to the right of the entrance door is also present. None of these signs is illuminated.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Express consent is sought to replace the two vinyl signs and the one projecting sign. The existing 'The co-operative food' pole-mounted lettering, along with the timber backboard, is to be retained although both the backboard and letting is to be freshly painted with more or less identical colouring to that at present. None of the signage is to be illuminated.

2.2 The new vinyls are essential identical to the existing but are indicated to be needed as the existing is badly faded. The projecting sign is to be of timber finish and hung from a cantilevered bracket, and would carry vinyls expressing the same 'The co-operative food' letting and of the same colour as the freshly painted lettering, but here is to provided by way of a vinyl.

2.3 This application is accompanied by an identical application seeking Registered Building Consent for the same works. Both state that the advertisements would be in place for a period of five years only.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 This application, along with the accompanying identical application seeking Registered Building Consent, reflect efforts on the part of the owner of the building to renovate and alter it - which is also in common with other renovation work proposed to the same owner's properties across the Island. The works at this site, to include alterations to the shopfront, new fire exit door and safety railings, internal alterations as well as replacement windows, have been approved or

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                                                 16/00218/D
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granted consent under applications carrying the reference numbers 15/01090/GB, 15/01091/CON, 14/00697/GB and 14/00698/CON.

3.2 The site has also been the subject of a scheme to enable the construction of the plant on the roof of the building, which appears to have been especially controversial, initially being refused in 2008 (PAs 08/02269/R and 08/02270/CON), following which another proposal was refused in 2010 (PAs 10/00761/GB and 10/00762/CON) before eventually an acceptable scheme was approved also in 2010 (PAs 10/01197/GB and 10/01198/CON).

4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES

4.1 The site lies within an area designated as Mixed Use on the Area Plan for the South 2012. The site lies within the Castletown Conservation Area (designated in 1990) and, as noted, both the application site and its adjoining neighbouring building is Registered. In fact, a number of buildings in the area, which sits nearby Castle Rushen, are also Registered.

4.2 With all this in mind, it is considered that the relevant policies of the Strategic Plan are General Policy 6 and Environment Policies 32 and 37. The policies within Planning Policy Statement 1/01 (Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man) are not considered to apply to this proposal as none of those relate to advertisements.

4.3 General Policy 6 reads: "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."

4.4 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."

4.5 Environment Policy 37 reads as follows: "As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

(i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area; (ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area; (iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and (iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals."

It is considered that EP37 should carry much greater weight than GP6 though both are valuable to be considered together.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Highway Services of the Department of Infrastructure stated that the proposal had no highway implications on 21.03.2016.

5.2 Castletown Commissioners did not comment.

6.0 ASSESSMENT

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                                                 16/00218/D
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6.1 Generally speaking, applicants seeking Registered Building Consent are expected to justify their proposals. The extent to which this justification has to be made depends on the importance of the building and also the scale of the changes proposed. In this case, though, what is proposed is extremely small in scale and would, on an objective reading, revitalise the existing signage by replacing somewhat tired and faded examples with newer versions of what is ostensibly a very limited change from that already in place. As such, the proposal is therefore welcomed and concluded to be in compliance with the relevant Development Plan policies. Accordingly, it is recommended that Express Consent be issued.

7.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

7.1 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; (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 of Infrastructure; (f) The Ports Division of the Department of Infrastructure; (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.

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 04.04.2016

Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal O : Notes attached to refusals

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.

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The express consent hereby issued relates to the two Site and Location Plans (scale 1:500 and 1:1250) and Drawings 1/2 and 2/2 as well as the untitled sheet showing New Sign B, all variously dated as having been received 22nd February 2016 and 25th February 2016.

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                                                 16/00218/D
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I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Interim Director of Planning and Building Control in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted

Date : 11.04.2016

Determining officer

Signed : J CHANCE

Jennifer Chance

Interim Director of Planning and Building Control

Customer note

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.