DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 22/00066/CON Applicant: Mr David Kneale Proposal: Registered Building consent for the installation of replacement external metal railings (in association with 22/00065/GB) Registered Building Nos. 173 Site Address: Central Apartments Central Promenade And Broadway Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 4EL Registered Buildings Officer: Mr Ross Brazier Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 24.02.2022 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The works hereby granted registered building consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this consent.

Reason: To comply with paragraph 2(2)(a) of schedule 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented registered building consents.

• C 2. Registered Building Making Good Any damage to the registered building during the course of the works hereby approved shall be made good upon completion of said works. All making good works shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department and thereafter implemented within time period to be agreed with the Department. Reason: to ensure the satisfactory preservation of this registered building

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposals are considered to be in accordance with the Strategic Plan policies, Policies RB/3 AND RB/5 of Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and are acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following: Site LOCATION PLAN PROPOSED RAILINGS DRAWING And all information all received on 14.01.22

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

DOI Highways have not indicated any land that they own that would be impacted on by the development and are not afforded IPS as a Government Department under the RB Regs. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The site is the Registered Building Central Apartments Central Promenade, Douglas now apartments but was constructed as a hotel in the 1890's. It is a good example of a brick building with terracotta and stucco architectural elements in a lavish Victorian style typical of seaside resort architecture. The property is located within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposals seek registered building consent for the installation of replacement external metal railings. The railings are the subject of the accompanying planning application (22/00065/GB). PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 S16 Registered buildings: supplementary provisions

• (3) In considering —

• (a) whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting, or
• (b) whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the relevant 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.

S18 Designation of conservation areas

• (4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act

3.2 National policy: THE ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 Strategic Policy 4: Proposals for development must: (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings(1), Conservation Areas(2), buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest; Environment Policy 32: 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.

• Environment Policy 34: In the maintenance, alteration or extension of pre-1920 buildings, the use of traditional materials will be preferred.
• Environment Policy 35: 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.

3.3 Planning Policy Statements: 1/01 Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man

POLICY RB/3 General criteria applied in considering registered building applications The issues that are generally relevant to the consideration of all registered building applications are:-

• o 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;
• o 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;
• o 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 it shares particular architectural forms or details with other buildings nearby (including other registered buildings).

POLICY RB/5 ALTERATIONS AND EXTENSIONS 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 effect upon the building's special interest as a result of several minor works which may individually seem of little consequence.

POLICY CA/2 SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application. Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected

PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 The site has been subject of a number of applications since being registered those considered of note to this case are the following; 84/00306/B- Construction of new exit- Permitted 91/01753/A- Approval in principle for conversion into kiosk shop units & self-contained flats Permitted 93/01273/A- Approval in principle to conversion of upper floors into offices, creation of car park & retention of public house- Refused at Appeal 95/01607/B- Demolition part of two chimney stacks- Permitted 99/01668/B- Conversion to 52 bedroom hotel with associated facilities including parkingPermitted REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Douglas Corporation made no objection on the application (25.01.22)

5.2 Highways Services indicated there is no highway interest in the application (25.01.22) - 5.3 Manx National Heritage (MNH) were consulted (19.01.22) but provided no comments.

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The issues in this case are whether the proposed works to the building will preserve the registered building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses and whether the works will preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the conservation area.

6.2 The existing railings and boundary wall were installed when the hotel was converted to residential apartments. The railings due to their exposed location have now corroded and need replacement. - 6.3 The proposals will result in replacement railings that are more traditional in their design than the existing railings. It is considered that the replacement railings are suitable for the location and will preserve the character of the building and conservation area.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposals are considered to be beneficial to the building helping to preserve it and will have no impact upon the character or appearance of the conservation area and to be in accordance with the Strategic Plan policies, Policies RB/3, RB/5, CA/2 of Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and is supported. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Registered Buildings) Regulations 2013 (As Amended), the following are automatically interested persons:

• o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• o Manx National Heritage, and
• o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

8.2 In addition to those above, the Regulation 9(3) requires the Department to decide which persons (if any) who have made representations with respect to the application, should be treated as having sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings relating to the application.

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 and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 01.03.2022 Determining officer Signed : J CHANCE Jennifer Chance Director of Planning and Building Control

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