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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/01202/D Applicant : Jacksons (Isle Of Man) 2015 Ltd Proposal : Installation of illuminated signage to walls and buildings and erection of two illuminated totem pole signs Site Address : Jacksons Car Sales Eden Business Park Cooil Road Braddan Isle Of Man IM4 2AZ

Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken : 19.11.2019 Site Visit : 19.11.2019 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.12.2019 __

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;

This approval relates to drawing numbers Hart 203-2/001, Hart 203-2/002, Hart 203/003, Hart 203/004, Hart 203/005, 3543, 135569 A, and 26059v01 date stamped and received 30 October 2019. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The application site is Jacksons Car Showroom in Eden Business Park on the south side of the Cooil Road outside of Douglas. The site is a recently developed area featuring two

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buildings associated with car sales and a large area of parking. The main showroom is sited alongside Cooil Road, set back approximately 25m form the road.

1.2 The showroom is constructed using a contemporary design on split level, with a large amount of glazing and stone façade on the elevations and the use of sharp edges - particularly around roof features. There is a small entrance porch at the rear (south west) of the building.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The planning application seeks planning approval for the Installation of illuminated signage to walls and buildings and erection of two illuminated totem pole signs.

2.2 There would be five components to the application which would be described in the following sections:

2.2.1 Erection of illuminated sign to 1m high rendered wall erected on both sides of the entrance to the property. This sign displayed on the 5m long wall on the right side of the entrance will display "Welcome to Motormall", while the sign displayed on the wall righjt of the access which is similar in length to the former will display "Welcome to Jacksons".

2.2.2 Installation of illuminated sign to canopy of the Motormall showroom building. The signs will be LED signs and will be installed on the three sides of the canopy.

2.2.3 Installation of illuminated sign to canopy of the Jackson's showroom building. The signs will be 3500 x 770mm stainless steel signage with halo lighting. The signage will be installed on the three sides of the canopy and will display "Jacksons".

2.2.4 Installation of Totem signs on the south-east and north-east sections of the Jackson's show room building on the green verge separating the driveway at the rear of the building from the pedestrian/cycling path by Cooil Road. These illuminated signs will be 1700mm x 6000 and will sit on a base 300mm high; making the totems 6300mm high from the ground level.

2.2.5 Additional works will involve the installation of an illuminated sign on the southern gable of the Jacksons show room. The signage would be mounted on glazing bars and will display "Mercedes Benz". PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The proposal site is within the Braddan Local Plan 1991 but is not zoned for development. Within the Draft Area Plan for the East, it is within a proposed industrial zone.

3.2 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 make it clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of amenity and public safety. In the case of amenity, such things as the general characteristics of the area need to be taken into account along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest and the public safety should consider the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome including the obscuration of any traffic sign or similar.

3.3 Due to the designation of the site and the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider the following polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016:

3.4 General Policy 6 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

(a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed; (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and

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(c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard'.

3.5 General Policy 7 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted'.

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The site is currently the subject of an application for an entrance canopy on the showroom, linked to this application (19/01199/B) which is pending consideration.

4.2 An application for illuminated signage at the same complex (19/00052/D), as well as another application for Erection of an entrance canopy (18/00281/D) were approved in February this year.

4.3 Numerous other applications for signage in and around nearby industrial buildings have been approved in recent years. REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division confirms that they 'do not oppose' in the letter dated 18 November 2019.

5.2 Braddan Parish Commissioners have stated that they have no objections to the application in a letter dated 25 November 2019.

5.3 Manx Utilities Authority which have previously written in to object to the application on the grounds that there is a fibre optic underground cable in the area of the totem poles (21 November 2019), have written in to withdraw their objection on the grounds that the totem poles will not interfere with the fibre optic cables in a letter dated 22 November 2019.

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The key consideration in the assessment of this planning application is the impact on the visual amenity of the area and the buildings, as well as the possible impacts on highway safety.

6.2 Proposed illuminated signs on canopy and gable of building 6.2.1 The signage installations proposed for the canopy of the Motormall showroom, as well as the Jacksons showroom would not be directly visible from the public thoroughfare of Cooil Road. From the north of Cooil Road, views would be largely restricted due to the orientation of the Jacksons showroom building and the nature of the site topography. When viewed from the south, the site orientation, size of the signage to be installed on the Motormall canopy, and the distance of the building from the highway which is beyond 100m will restrict views to what is proposed.

6.2.2 The installation on the south elevation of Jacksons showroom would be partly visible to traffic on Cooil Road northbound but would likely not be a stand out feature given the angle of installation of the proposed signage which would be away from the direction of the viewing traffic. Besides, these signs are a common feature within the area and as such the proposed would fit into the general character of the surrounding industrial area.

6.3 Proposed illuminated sign to 1m wall Regarding the proposed illuminated signs to be installed on the 1m x 5m high wall at the entrance to the application site, it is considered that the addition of the signs, in an industrial area, would not be unusual or visually unacceptable in principal. It is also noted that their position which would be partly obscured by the position of the wall on a section of the highway

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only used by the application site, as well as the orientation which places them at right angles to Cooil Road would diminish any impacts on highway safety. Based on the foregoing, it is not considered that this component of the proposal would have unacceptable impacts on the character of the application site and the surrounding area.

6.4 Totem signs With regard to the impact of the totem signage, the application site is situated within Eden Business Park, in addition to being located on the site it is related to. Moreover, the design of the proposed signage is considered to be sympathetic to its surroundings and does not harm the visual character of the area. Granting the signage will be situated by the highway (the closest distance which is about 10m) it is considered that its illumination will be subordinate to the illumination provided by the suburban levels street lighting which exists along the highway. As such, it is not considered that the proposed totem signage would have negative impacts upon the character of the area and therefore fully accords with GP 6 of the Strategic Plan.

CONCLUSION 7.1 In summary, the proposed signage installations comply with the aforementioned policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and the application is recommended for approval.

INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013, 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) Persons to whom notice has been given under regulation 10(3)(a)(i) (d) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material; (e) The Highways Division of the Department; (f) The Ports Division of the Department; (g) The operator of the railway or tramway; and (h) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. __

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 : 18.12.2019

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

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