Officer Report

Application No.: 17/00758/B Applicant: Ross Charlton Proposal: Erection of commercial flue in connection with vehicle preparation Site Address: Unit B Garage / Store Demesne Road Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3DS Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken: 24.08.2017 Site Visit: 24.08.2017 Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.09.2017 _________________________________________________________________

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.

Plans/Drawings/Information:

The development hereby approved relates to the plans, drawings and related information datestamped as having been received 14th July 2017. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is an irregularly shaped parcel of land accessed off Demesne Road in Douglas (to the east), and includes a single industrial building. It is understood from the

• application that this building is used by the tenant for the fixing and / or physical alteration of private motor vehicles.
• 1.2 The immediate surrounding area is primarily also industrial / commercial in use, although there is also a building that until it became vacant recently provided nursing accommodation. However, to the west are situated private residential dwellings and a dental practice, and to the northeast a primary school. The application site building itself, though, is surrounded by similar uses with the sole exception of the aforementioned empty nursing accommodation.

2.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the installation of a cylindrical, aluminium chimney stack in the roof. The chimney would be 4m in height, but only 3m proud of the pitched roof's apex. The applicant explains that the chimney will allow heat extraction from a baking oven that dries freshly applied vehicle paint. The applicant has explained that a similar chimney for a similar purpose had been installed on the adjacent building.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Neither the site nor the surrounding buildings have been the subject of applications judged to be materially relevant to the assessment of this application. However, the applications that have been submitted in the area do clearly identify that this is a small pocket of established industrial / mixed-use commercial land.

4.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN - 4.1 The site is within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Douglas Local Plan. Given the nature of the site and its immediate surroundings and also the nature of the proposal, it is considered appropriate to assess the proposal against General Policy 2, Environment Policy 22 and Business Policy 1 of the Strategic Plan.

5.0 CONSULTATIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services of the DoI stated the application had no highways implications on 28.07.2017, and Douglas Borough Council offered no objection on 04.08.2017. - 5.2 Following queries raised by the Senior Planning Officer (Enforcement), the case officer contacted Environmental Health colleagues in the Department to ascertain whether or not they had any concerns with the application. They responded on 22.09.2017 as follows: "Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

"In response to you initial questions, I don't think there would be a need for our input at this stage, other than to advise the applicant that any odour/noise emitted from the flue/premises in general, must not cause statutory nuisance.

"There is undoubtedly a need for this type of extraction in order to protect the health and safety of those working within the premises. For this reason, I have also passed the application to Health and Safety colleagues, who may wish to discuss the paint spraying process in further detail with the applicant."

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The key issues here are the extent to which the chimney stack proposed is appropriate in appearance and in terms of the impact it would have on neighbouring amenity. - 6.2 This is quite an unusual situation inasmuch as a small area of industrial uses have become (or continued to be) established in an area that is perhaps not ideally suited to such uses: there are both private residential dwellings and a primary school nearby, and both of these 'receptors' may be considered to be particularly sensitive to the kind of disturbance often

• associated with industrial uses and processes. Moreover, there is a limited amount of available parking in the area, both on- and off-road, and this too may normally contribute to a difficult or problematic relationship between the existing and proposed uses in an area.
• 6.3 However, it is to be noted that the businesses in the area seem to operate comfortably within their own environment without negatively affecting those nearby. The lack of objection to this application is perhaps something of a testament to this view. There does not seem to be any reason to refuse the application on grounds of the impact of the chimney on local amenity. It is also to be remembered that there is provision within Environmental Health legislation regarding the prevention of statutory nuisance, and that the assessment of such a 'nuisance' is difficult to make unless and until there is an actual impact to assess. In advance of the chimney being installed, then, it does not seem appropriate or reasonable to object to the application on this ground. This has been confirmed by the Environmental Health Officer in her response to the application, and that Health and Safety have also been advised of the situation provides further comfort in this regard.
• 6.4 The group of buildings in which the application site sits are industrial in appearance and use. The site is obscured from Demesne Road and other nearby highways from these buildings and the nursing accommodation. The new chimney would not be especially visible above those buildings but, inasmuch as it would be visible, there are other flues and other larger buildings of limited architectural or visual merit that draw they eye more readily and powerfully. The proposed chimney flue would not go above the existing roofscape such as to break the skyline in a meaningful or significant fashion, with the buildings beyond in each direction largely being higher or more distantly visible. It is therefore concluded that there is no sustainable reason to refuse the application on grounds of visual impact.

7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 In view of the above conclusions, it is recommended that the application be approved. While a condition requiring the flue's removal were it no longer needed was considered, in view of the tolerable visual impact it would generate, it is judged that such a condition would not be necessary to make the application acceptable.

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 decision-maker 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.

8.3 The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is responsible for the determination of planning applications. As a result, where officers within the Department make comments in a professional capacity they cannot be given Interested Person Status.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 22.09.2017 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Senior Planning Officer

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