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                                      19/00459/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/00459/B Applicant : Castletown Commissioners Proposal : Formation of one roof light from two existing and installation of glazed railings over entrance to Centre Site Address : Castletown Civic Centre 1 Farrants Way Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NR

Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken : 26.07.2019 Site Visit : 26.07.2019 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.07.2019 __

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 102 and 103 both date stamped and received 18/04/2019. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE 1.1 The application site is the extents of the Civic Centre in the middle of Castletown. The existing building is situated along Farrants Way although can be access on foot from the main square and Parade.

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1.2 The existing building comprises a mix of styles and materials and is made up of both single storey and two storey projections and extensions linking together to provide one building and which is also the main office for the local Commissioners.

1.3 The main entrance into the Civic Centre opens onto a small shared courtyard also home to the recently approved Secret Pizza Company. The main entrance sits within a flat roof extension infilling a section between two projections. This is installed with large glazing and doors. Towards the rear the flat roof connects with the roofslope of the main building, this slope has 4 pairs of rooflights across its length.

1.4 The site is within the designated Castletown Conservation Area.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the replacement of 1 pair of rooflights to provide a much larger roof light which will provide an entrance hatch onto the flat roof. The application also includes the creation of a roof terrace through the installation of glazed panels and associate balustrading along the edge of the flat roof and above the main entrance.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 There have been a number of previous applications submitted for the site, the most recent being:

o 19/00581/B - Formation of a coach layby on Farrants Way - APPROVED o 19/00580/B - Alterations, creation of a bin store and installation of replacement windows- APPROVED o 16/00028/B Creation of a public entrance to Police Station- APPROVED o 15/01258/B Alterations and extension to Civic Centre (comprising amendments to PA 15/00569/B) - APPROVED o 15/00569/B - Alterations and extensions and accommodation of re-located police station, Castletown Civic Centre/Farrants Way and three parking spaces within George Paddock car park, Castletown - APPROVED

4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES 4.1 The application site is within an area zoned as "Mixed Use" identified on the Area Plan for the South 2013. The site is also within the Castletown Conservation Area. Given the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan.

4.2 General Policy 2 states in part: "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:

g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality."

4.3 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."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Castletown Commissioners - no comments received as of 29/07/2019.

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5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services - No Highways Interest (07/05/2019).

6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of the application are the visual impact of the proposed alterations on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and whether there will be any amenity impacts on the adjacent properties as a result of the proposed roof terrace.

6.2 The existing building is made up of a mix of styles and forms, although being situated within the designated Conservation Area is perhaps not considered to positively contribute to the overall historic or architectural character and appearance of the predominantly medieval surroundings including the Castle and a significant number of Registered Buildings which front The Parade, The Smelt monument and Castle Rushen.

6.3 The specific area of the proposed works is perhaps the most modern section of the existing building with a flat roof entrance with floor to ceiling glazing and modern grey framed roof-lights on the roof slope behind, the modification of 2 of these roof-lights to provide a slightly larger single roof-light allowing access on to the flat roof is likely to have an overall negligible impact on the wider appearance of this modern section of the building and the matching of the general proportions in terms of the width and depth of the remaining roof- lights helps to maintain the general rhythm of the roof-lights.

6.4 In terms of the roof terrace, there are two areas for consideration the visual impact on the proposed glazing and balustrades, and the consequential amenity (noise and privacy) impacts from the occupation of the roof terrace. The existing flat roof sits between two pitched roof sections of the wider building form, and its modern appearance here has the capacity to allow for the additional installation of fairly modern glazed balustrades without resulting in any harm to the general character of the building or without impacting the wider historic character or appearance of the Conservation Area.

6.5 The properties in the immediate area and surrounding the small public courtyard comprise a mix of uses including a pizza eatery, gym, coffee shop, bank and a public house. The Civic Centre itself also contains a mix of uses including the Commissioner Offices and the Police Station. When it comes to town centre locations such as this it would be reasonable to say that there is a general level of noise and overlooking between properties which is perhaps to be expected given the close knit nature of such a built up areas. On carrying out a site visit to understand the neighbouring properties and uses, it was not considered that the creation of a roof terrace here would result in any adverse impact or harm on the neighbours to cause concern. Any views achievable from here are not likely significantly different from those achievable from the public courtyard, the gym is around 20m away (general rule of thumb in limiting overlooking and privacy impact) and the recessed nature and orientation of the existing building and proposed terrace is also likely to result in oblique or limited views towards other neighbouring buildings.

7.0 CONCLUSION 7.1 In light of the above findings the proposed works are likely to have an overall negligible visual impact on the existing building and ultimately preserving the general character and appearance of the wider Conservation Area in line with EP35 and that of the amenity impacts as a result of the creation of a roof terrace are considered to be acceptable in terms of GP2 (g), as such the application is recommended for approval.

8.0 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;

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(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 Planning Committee 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. __

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 : 31.07.2019

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.