Officer Report

Application No.: 18/01008/GB Applicant: The Manx Co Operative Society Limited Proposal: Redirection of existing soil vent pipe from rear of building to front of building (in association with 18/01009/CON) Site Address: The Co Op Food Store The Parade Castletown Isle of Man IM9 1LG Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken: 24.10.2018 Site Visit: 24.10.2018 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 30.11.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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.

• C 2. Prior to the installation of any new external pipework, the details of these materials must be approved in writing by the Department and the development undertaken in accordance with the approved details. The applicant is encouraged to consider cast aluminium rather than uPVC which would better reflect the original materials for this historic building.

Reason: To ensure that the development is appropriate for this historic building within a Conservation Area.

Plans/Drawings/Information:

This decision relates to drawings 0014579160-001, 0014579160-002 and 0014579160-003 and the site and locations plan all received on 24th September, 2018.

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons none

Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The site is the curtilage of 8, The Parade which is currently occupied by the Co-op grocery store with the shop at ground floor level and ancillary uses above. The property fronts onto The Parade and backs onto Farrant's Way with an area of coach parking immediately to the rear of the back of the site. The front of the building is a traditional commercial frontage, the side to a public lane, has the gable of the building and a high part rendered, part stone wall which runs to the rear of the plot. - 1.2 The rear of the property has a traditional rear elevation, alongside which are ventilation units which can be seen from Farrant's Way along with pipework which is visible as it is white in colour against the dark grey render of the building. There is a two storey lean-to annex at the rear which adjoins a similar structure on the property next door. The remainder of the rear of the property is formed by a single storey flat roofed extension which is generally hidden behind the existing wall. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the re-routing of the existing pipework associated with the foul drainage of the building, to separate it from that of the adjoining property into which it presently discharges. The current pipework runs down the left hand side of the back of the building at first floor level, from eaves level to under the first floor windows where it crosses beneath the windows to run alongside the lean to annex around which it wraps before descending into the adjacent property. This pipework is white. - 2.2 Proposed is the replacement of this with black uPVC thinner pipework in the form of two runs parallel with each other to the left of the first floor windows, one emerging above the eaves level (the soil vent pipe) and the other linking in to the eaves level gutter. The pipework will cross under the windows with connections to the rooms within the building then stop. No pipework will wrap around the lean to and none will discharge into the adjacent property. Surface water will be discharged onto the flat roof deck. All redundant pipework will be removed. - 2.3 Internally the new pipework will run within the suspended ceiling void above the shop, down through an existing boxed off area and discharge into existing pipework in front of the shopfront which will then connect into the sewer beneath the highway.

PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site lies within an area of Mixed Use on the Area Plan for the South (2013) reflecting the mix of commercial, civic, residential and tourist uses in the area, albeit that the property concerned is exclusively commercial. The property is also within a Conservation Area and the building is Registered (RB32). - 3.2 The Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 both provide guidance which protects the character and appearance of properties within the Conservation Area and provide an additional layer of protection of Registered Buildings which is also concerned with the interior of the building with which conservation and planning policies are not usually concerned. These policies are set out as follows:

Strategic Plan 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 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.

Planning Policy Statement 1/01: 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.

PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 The property has been the subject of a great many applications for planning approval and Registered Building consent for alterations and extensions and the installation of plant, none of which is considered relevant to the current application. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Castletown Commissioners have considered the latest information and have no objection provided that there is no new external pipework on the exterior of George Lane or The Parade (29.11.18). ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The scheme has been discussed with the Conservation Officer, whose suggestions regarding the material of the pipework at the rear and the use of cast aluminium, if possible, have been included in the recommendation and the applicant has indicated that they would be prepared to consider this. The works have a neutral impact on the Conservation Area and the Registered Building, either not being visible at all or having little or no effect on the existing situation as pipework is replacing pipework. CONCLUSION - 7.1 The scheme is considered to accord with the relevant Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement requirements and is supported. 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 the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 30.11.2018 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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