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Application No.: 18/01128/B Applicant: Peel Town Commissioners Proposal: Alterations to internal road layout and access, creation of a children's play area, parking spaces, and a bus stop layby and removal of trees and planting of replacements Site Address: Swimming Pool Derby Road Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1SW Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken: 25.02.2019 Site Visit: 29.11.2018 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 25.02.2019 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
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.
Reason: The parking of larger vehicles within the layby for longer periods of time would impede visibility of and from the new access, contrary to the interests of highway safety.
Reason: The site is adjacent to the highway and if overly high or of an inappropriate design could have an unacceptable impact on the appearance and character of the area.
This decision relates to drawings P00, P02 and P03 all received on 26th October, 2018 and P01A received on 20th November, 2018.
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owner/occupier of the following property should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
Rose Cottage, Derby Road is not within 20m of the application site and the development is not automatically required to be the subject of an EIA by Appendix 5 of the Strategic Plan, in
The manager of the Western Swimming Pool is not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4) on the basis that they do not refer to the relevant issues in accordance with paragraph 2C of the Policy and as they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use of land owned or occupied by them and in relation to the relevant issues identified in paragraph 2C of the Policy, as is required by paragraph 2D of the Policy. _____________________________________________________________________________
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE DIRECTOR OF PLANNING
1.1 The site is a piece of land which fronts onto Derby Road and shared by the Western Swimming Pool and Peel Camp Site. The site accommodates an existing access to both facilities in the form of a turning circle providing one access for entry and exit. There is a grassed area to the left of the entrance, in front of the swimming pool with a pedestrian path bisecting the area and with trees on the western side of the path. To the east there are trees which sit atop a grassed bank held up by a low sandstone wall which has a seated area included within it off the pavement. Within the turning circle there is a bus layby marked in paint.
1.2 There are parking restrictions on the highway in the form of double yellow lines and no waiting zig zags between the existing access and that serving Peel Clothworker's School to the west. The school exit and the campsite/pool entrance/exit are 56m apart. The double yellow lines extend to the east of the pool entrance/exit for a further 10m beyond which there are no parking restrictions. A public bus stop lies around 70m to the east of the pool entrance/exit. - 1.3 The grassed area in front of the pool entrance is fenced off with 1m high vertical timbers with small spaces in between. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 Proposed is the redesign of the entrance and exit, moving it around 10m eastwards and removing the turning circle and the bus parking layby, reducing the amount of hard surfacing and introducing children's play equipment. Two ash and three Scots pine trees which sit in front of the campsite frontage will be removed and replaced with a Himalayan Birch, three Hornbeam and cherry laurel hedging across both sides of the new frontage. Fencing is shown on the plan but no details of this is included. It is assumed that this will be a continuation of the existing fencing in front of the pool entrance. This could be erected without planning approval under the terms of the Town and Country (Permitted Development) Order 2012 either Class 10i or 39. The former would allow any form of fencing whereas the latter only up to 1m next to the highway and 2m elsewhere. - 2.2 The applicant, the local authority in this case, propose to provide the children's play facilities to cater for the various residential developments which have been delivered in recent years without such facilities. They consider the siting appropriate as it is adjacent to the swimming pool which is also used by local residents and can also be used by those using the campsite and the swimming pool. They do not consider the facility to attract significant numbers of cars as many users will either already be using the facilities on site or will walk. - 2.3 Whilst there is an existing bus/coach layby within the site, there will be provision within the scheme for a 20m long, 2.75m wide layby across the frontage of the swimming pool, convenient for the footpath access directly to the swimming pool front door. This is sufficient to accommodate a standard 15m long, 2.55m wide coach whilst allowing the passage for two way traffic past the parked vehicle, along Derby Road whilst passengers alight or board. The new layby will have modern access for disabled users and this is not presently available. This will also serve buses which are required to stop at this point and whilst the official guidance requires a length of 23m, this is between parked vehicles where there is none in this case, it will also provide an offset between the two bus stops on each side of the road which will assist traffic flow. They note that school buses serving Peel Clothworkers' School currently park in the turning circle and use the swimming pool toilet facilities which is not authorised and when the school was subject to alterations at the front of the site, alterations were carried out which were to facilitate bus and coach access directly to the school. - 2.4 The existing roundabout arrangement of the turning circle has led to users of the campsite becoming confused and exiting the access at the wrong point. The new layout makes it clearer where the swimming pool parking is accessed and separate from that of the campsite. - 2.5 The junction with Derby Road has dimensions which would serve a residential development of 300 homes and the combined traffic from the swimming pool and campsite amounts to less than the equivalent 210-300 vehicles per hour which would be generated by this number of dwellings. They explain that the access will provide greater visibility - 2m by 70m to the east and 3m by 80m towards the town centre and this complies with the requirements for this road where the speed of traffic is limited to 30mph., reducing to 20mph at school operating times. - 2.6 The play equipment varies between formal structures, such as a castle which is up to 5m in height, smaller slides, ship structures, an aerial runway (3.5m by 20m) and a swing frame.
3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Peel Local Plan of 1989 as Camping Ground/Swimming Pool - essentially Open Space and Buildings of Civic, Community or Other Use. What is proposed is consistent with this, and as such, the following Strategic Plan policies are relevant:
Strategic Policy 10: New development should be located and designed such as to promote a more integrated transport network with the aim to:
General Policy 2: Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:
4.1 The two sites have been the subject of a number of applications for alterations and extensions, none of which is particularly relevant to the consideration of the current application. 05/01272/B proposed a range of modifications of the school, including the creation of a new access all of which are now in place. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 DEFA Arboricultural Officer expresses concern that some of the existing trees have not been shown on the drawings and that additional planting should be incorporated (21.11.18). Amended drawings have been submitted in this respect but no further comments have been received from the Arboricultural Officer.
5.2 Highway Services initially objected to the application, suggesting that the visibility splays are below standard in terms of the set back distance of 2m, not 2.4m and the visibility splays should be drawn to the nearside kerb. They are concerned that the visibility in the Peel direction will be obscured by buses parked in the layby and note that the bus or coach would be parked there longer than would a bus or coach dropping off or picking up schoolchildren or individual passengers. They understand that the existing off street bus stop is used both in connection with the pool and the adjacent school. They suggest that the bus stop is moved further towards Peel to move it further from the access or an independent safety review should be prepared by a third party in accordance with the Highway Services new road safety policy to enable Highway Services to agree that the proposal for an on-street bus/coach layby. They
oppose the application on highway safety grounds as it has not been demonstrated that there woud be sufficient highway visibility for the new site access and the location of the proposed
5.3 Following the submission of further information from the applicant, Highway Services confirm that they remain opposed to the scheme, having undertaken their own (unsigned) Road Safety Review Stage 1 which concludes that there are the following problems:
Highway Services remain of the view that the proposed access is unsafe and contrary to the Strategic Plan and that it has not been demonstrated that the proposed access would be safer than the existing. They state that the access should meet the DMRB (Design Manual for Roads and Bridges) standards regardless of traffic levels for it to be considered safe.
They recommend that ways of addressing the issues would be as follows:
They suggest that Manual for Streets 2 standards require a streetscape feel to the highway adjacent to the development which necessitates the creation of an urban rather than a nonstreet rural type road where there is an absence of frontage development and community facilities. They note that there are no properties which have direct access onto Derby Road and they believe that the provision of a play area creates a community/urban/street environment that is subject to higher levels of pedestrian crossing movements across the carriageway which justifies the application of Manual for Streets standards rather than DMRB and as such a sign/line traffic management scheme would be required to extend the streetscape environment to the east of the site access to allow the application of MfS 2 standards and the associated reduction in visibility standards.
They suggest that new bus stops should be located in the safest positions on the public highway regardless of where other bus stops have been located in the past. They consider the position of the new bus layby to be unsafe and whilst it has been said that coaches using the proposed layby would be in term-time and outside school opening times, this could not be enforced if the situation ever changed. They remain of the view that the bus layby should be relocated to a safer location between the proposed access and the school which should not affect the school keep clear markings. Alternatively the layby could be removed and customers
use the school bus stop facility or the bus stop to the east of the pool. Any use of the layby by any vehicle will increased the obstruction of visibility of and from the new access and is not supported (21.02.19).
5.4 The applicant has provided additional information in response to the original objection from Highway Services (06.02.19). They suggest that the comments do not suggest that there will be any increase in traffic generation on the site nor any comment about increased risk to pedestrian safety within the site so they assume that this aspect is acceptable. They believe that increased visibility splays required by DMRB are only required where there would be an increase in traffic. They believe the proposed access is safer than the existing, providing better segregation of traffic from the nearby busy school egress and improves visibility towards the nearside traffic from the Peel direction with visibility towards the roundabout to the east being maintained. They note that no accident data has been provided to demonstrate that this is an issue currently with the existing access which does not comply with DMRB standards. - 5.5 They refer to the nearest existing bus stop being on the approach to the Reayrt ny Keylley roundabout, to the east of the swimming pool access which would be retained in the current proposal. If it is decided that the proposed layby should not be used as a bus stop then the existing stop can continue to be used which adequately serves the swimming pool. They advise that Bus Vannin does not have permission to enter the pool grounds with their public service buses as the swimming pool grounds are privately owned. The Commissioners consider that relocating the bus layby closer to the school egress will reduce pedestrian safety including children and vulnerable persons and vehicles leaving the school site. The proposed alternative position for the layby will result in the loss of trees and would be partially contained within the school clearway markings. They also advise that pedestrians leaving Reayrt ny Keylley cross Derby Road in this area to access the school and the pool. The placement of the bus layby here would increase congestion and risk this busy school entrance and should be avoided, in their view. - 5.6 As provision was made within a previous application for the school, 05/01273/B, buses and coaches should not be parking on the swimming pool land or in any new roadside layby. They also note that the majority of the existing roadside bu stop provision are located at road junctions or private accesses and refer specifically to those on Ballaquane Road/Ramsey Road and those outside QEII which are all adjacent to junctions and accesses and cater for significantly greater amounts of traffic. A recent Government sponsored application in Colby has a similar arrangement. - 5.7 They describe the only coaches which will be using the layby are associated with school swimming lessons and occur in term time and not during the busy open and closing period for the nearby school. They advise that the Western Swimming Pool Manager has had confirmation from DESC that the Peel Clothworkers' School access road and bus layby may be used for this purpose and as such the new layby may not need to be used for this purpose. They note that there are no parking restrictions beyond the school clear area and as such, vehicles could legitimately park in the area of the new bus stop, on the existing carriageway. This is more likely to happen with greater segregation of school and pool accesses. The proposed layby could provide short term parking for dropping off and picking up at the pool and could regularise the parking which is likely to occur here. This could result in an increase in safety here where signing and lines could not achieve this. - 5.8 Finally the Commissioners comment that in respect to the requirement for an independent Road Safety Audit, there is no requirement in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan which was reviewed as recently as 2016 but with no provision added for this information as part of any development proposal. - 5.9 Peel Commissioners do not oppose the application (13.12.18).
5.10 The owner of Rose Cottage, Derby Road notes that there is a proposal to undertake a road traffic survey before any decision is taken, which he supports. He also believes that there should be a 20mph speed restriction on the full length of Derby Road (22.01.19). - 5.11 The Manager of the Western Swimming Pool supports the application and hopes that any issues can be resolved sooner rather than later so that the works can be completed before the start of the camping season. She advises that many of her young customers are keen for the plans to progress. She hopes that any issues can be addressed simply and quickly (22.01.19).
6.1 The issues in this case are whether there would be any adverse environmental impact from the proposal, particularly in respect of highway safety and visual appearance of the character of the area. Highway safety
6.2 It is clear that there are contrasting views on the application from Highway Services and from the applicant in terms of the interpretation of policies and which policies are actually applicable. The Isle of Man's highway standards have their basis in Manual for Manx Roads, a document adopted by Department for Infrastructure and based on various UK manuals including Manual for Streets and Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, each having various versions. From a planning perspective, non-compliance with any of these documents is not in itself always a reason for refusal of a planning application: for example, any of these documents may have standards for particular aspects of highway design but the application of these may be varied in a planning decision due to environmental or other reasons, such as impacts on sensitive areas or where there may be an improvement over an existing situation
6.3 The existing situation is that there is a single access with turning facility which allows vehicles including buses and coaches, to access the site which includes the camp site and the swimming pool. This is not considered ideal from the applicant's and operator of the swimming pool's view and the proposal seeks to maintain access in a safe manner for those who need to access the sites. The proposal makes satisfactory provision for visibility provided that there are no vehicles within the visibility splay, given that the visibility will be little different from what exists. If the layby is used by buses or coaches it is likely that these vehicles could be parked for longer periods than just dropping and picking up and as such, Highway Services' concerns in this respect are accepted on the basis that buses and coaches are adequately provided for within the school car park which has an existing pedestrian link to the pool and which would enable children to access the swimming pool without having to walk on the footway adjacent to the carriageway. The proposal to address perceived highway safety concerns about the layby by relocating it closer to the school entrance is not without its problems: this would bring the parked vehicles closer to and within the visibility splay of this entrance, thus just moving rather than resolving the problem and would necessitate the removal of more trees and banking which currently contribute positively to the character of the area and which screen the pedestrian link between the school car park and the pool entrance. - 6.4 The existing situation does not prevent vehicles from parking on the highway to the east of the access for any length of time. As such, there is nothing preventing vehicles from blocking visibility from and of the pool and camp site entrance/exit. What is proposed in the form of the layby, if used by cars rather than buses and coaches, could be controlled (through the introduction of waiting restrictions) to allow dropping off and picking up only. As such, whilst there could be impediment of the visibility splay, which can occur anyway through vehicles parked on the highway, this would be for short periods only and where parked vehicles are not impeding the flow of traffic otherwise on Derby Road. Public buses can use the existing bus stop on the highway between the new entrance and the roundabout.
7.1 Subject to conditions preventing the use of the layby by buses or coaches and for dropping off/picking up only and requiring the details of the fencing and gates on the new path, the application is considered to accord with the relevant Strategic Plan and Peel Local Plan policies 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:
8.2 The decision maker must determine:
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 confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 04.03.2019
Signed : S CORLETT Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
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