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Application No.: 16/00950/D Applicant: Carrera Digital Ltd Proposal: Erection of an advertising board Site Address: 7 - 17 Wellington Street Douglas Isle of Man IM1 2PQ Case Officer : Mr David Cooper Photo Taken: 02.09.2016 Site Visit: 02.09.2016
Officer’s Report '1.0 THE SITE
1.1 The site relates to the left hand portion of a pair of gables at the western elevation of 7 to 17 Wellington Street. - 1.2 The pair of gables are comprised of a relatively plain rendered surface with minimal mounding in the form of two arches on the upper part of the gables. The mouldings are painted white which is a contrasting colour to the cream coloured render. - 1.3 The façade is visible within the streetscene and fronts an area of car park at the rear of Barclays Bank that is located on Victoria Street. - 1.4 The site is bound by a pedestrian thoroughfare, Wellington Street, to its northern elevation, which allows for a degree of pedestrian access from Prospect hill through to Duke Street. - 1.5 The thoroughfare runs from Prospect Hill easterly to Duke Street and comprises of the pedestrianized Nelson Street crossing Thomas Street to the pedestrianised Wellington Street. - 1.6 The gables are highly visible to pedestrian and vehicular traffic with the entrance to M&S multi-storey car park located on Thomas Street. - 1.7 There is a mix of uses within the row of buildings although immediately adjacent to the application site there are two established businesses. Carrefour Health Club occupies the upper floor of the building immediately coupled with the façade in question and the ground floor and basement are occupied by the Basement Sports Bar - JUST pizza and pasta.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal relates solely to the erection of an advertising hoarding measuring approximately 2.0 metres in height by approximately 4.8 metres in width. No details of the projection are submitted with the application therefore the bulk of the projection and the massing of the proposal is absent. While the proposal denotes the use of the building as retail units, in reality the uses are not retail.
3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 'THE ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 Towards a Sustainable Island' contains relevant policies. - 3.2.1 '6.6.1 The Department controls the display of advertisements in the interests of amenity or public safety, under the Control of Advertisements Regulations 2005 [now 2013]'.
4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 Historically the twin gabled façade has housed adverts relating to the businesses in the building. These adverts were removed to allow the renovation of the building. Subsequently a separate application has now been submitted for an advert to serve the business known as Carrefour Gym.
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Douglas Corporation made comments in support of the application. - 5.2 Department of Infrastructure - Wellington Street is predominantly pedestrianised and the sign overlooks a car park; as such it is set well back from Thomas Street, between Nelson Street and Victoria Street, and will be out of direct eyeline of drivers leading to minimal distraction to traffic on the highway. Highway Services has no opposition to this application.
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The Government's Strategic Plan is explicitly clear in how it expects applications for advertisements to be considered. Those adverts that relate to the uses of the building to which they are attached are generally seen as being reasonable. Advertisements that are not related to the land or building to which they are attached are generally not acceptable. The reasoning for this is obvious, if adverts are acceptable on land that is unrelated to them, then there would be no restrictions on adverts and this would lead to an unwarranted proliferation of adverts that would compromise the tidyness and attractiveness of towns and villages, not to mention the countryside. - 6.2 The Scheme as proposed would constitute a large advert of unspecified subject type which the applicant has indicated would not necessarily be related to the existing businesses contained within the building upon which the proposal would be erected. - 6.3 In terms of highway safety the current proposal raises no issue. - 6.4 The proposal would be erected amid a setting of carefully designed advertisements within the existing scene that relate entirely to the businesses contained within the buildings upon which they are sited and therefore would be in addition to those which would be expected as a result of existing undertakings. - 6.5 Whilst the application is deficient in detail relating to the subject matter, it is the intention of the applicant to display advertisements whose subject matter does not necessarily relate to the
businesses housed in the building upon which the proposal is mounted. The proposal is therefore considered to be contrary to General Policy 7.
7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 That Advertisement Consent be refused.
By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
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: Refused
Date of Recommendation: 11.01.2017
R 1. The application seeks consent for a digital hoarding to display generic advertisements unrelated to the building upon which it is to be attached. The proposal would display a variety of changing digital images giving rise to unwarranted clutter that would detract from the appearance of the area and be contrary to General Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Director of Planning and Building Control in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Refused Date : 16.01.2017 Determining officer Signed : J CHANCE Jennifer Chance Director of Planning and Building Control
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