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19/00268/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 19/00268/B Applicant : Castletown Commissioners Proposal : Alterations including replacement windows, roller shutter doors and signage, removal of wall to car park area and change of use from fire station to a community centre. Site Address : Fire Station Farrants Way Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NR
Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken : 10.04.2019 Site Visit : 10.04.2019 Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 17.04.2019 __
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.
C 2. No approval is granted to the removal of the existing stone roadside wall as shown in the submitted drawings.
Reason: In the interests of the character of the area and the nearby Conservation Area.
C 3. The community brewing may only be undertaken within the area shown on plan 04 unless otherwise approved by the Department.
Reason: To reflect what has been proposed and to control the use of the site.
C 4. No items may be stored outside of the building.
Reason: To control the use and appearance of the site and to ensure that the car parking areas are available for such purposes.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This decision relates to drawings 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and 06 all received on 11th March, 2019.
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19/00268/B Page 2 of 5
Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are 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):
53, 54, 56, 58 and 59, Scarlett Road as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018).
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties 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):
60, Scarlett 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 accordance with paragraph 2B of the Policy. __
Officer’s Report
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THERE ARE MORE THAN THREE OBJECTORS WHO WOULD BE AFFORDED INTERESTED PERSON STATUS AND THE APPLICATION IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL
THE SITE 1.1 The site is the former Fire Station situated on the south western side of Farrant's Way. The building on the site is currently laid out to accommodate the fire appliance and associated staff changing rooms, toilets with staff kitchen, office and lecture room and with associated car parking around the building.
1.2 The building is a flat roofed building with the section accommodating the appliance higher than the lecture room and staff facilities.
1.3 To the rear is a terrace of two storey properties which back onto the application site, numbers 53-59, Scarlett Road.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the conversion of the building, which is now redundant following the relocation of the service to Ronaldsway Industrial Estate, to a community facility which is shown in the plans as accommodating a community area, storage, community brewing area, kitchen, office and toilets. Parking spaces are retained as they currently are but with the walls on the right hand side of the building being removed being removed to facilitate better access.
2.2 The building is to be changed through the blocking up of the fire appliance door with new glazing and new boarding. Two existing windows on the front of the lower section of the building will be replaced with full length glazed units. The high level windows on the rear are to be retained.
2.3 The supporting information explains that the brewery will be a nano brewery with the capability to produce around 200 litres of craft beer per brew and the kit and on-site craft brewer will be available to run brewing workshops for the local community and they hope that this would appeal to local home brewers who wish to try their hand at commercial brewing, people wishing to produce one off beers for a special occasion and local businesses looking for team building days of a unique beer for their venue.
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2.4 The remaining space will be available to the community and for pop up events.
2.5 They consider that there is sufficient car parking for the proposed use and the local community with a dedicated delivery area and they also note that there are two public car parking areas in close proximity and there are nearby bus stops.
2.6 In terms of noise, they foresee very low levels of noise for the manufacturing and packaging processes and expect noise levels to be consistent with that of general noise levels in the area where there is a busy public house, restaurant and outside seating nearby. They would not foresee any significant increase in traffic levels and note that nearby is the delivery route for a supermarket.
2.7 Whilst there will be limited odours related to the brewing process, due to the size of the brewery these will be minimal if detectable at all outside the building. All materials are biodegradable and will be discharged through the main sewer system. The main byproduct, spent grain, can be re-used for animal feed.
PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South (2013) as land for Community, Civic and other purposes and just outside the town's Conservation Area.
3.2 The proposed land use is consistent with the designation and as such General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 36 of the Strategic Plan are applicable here:
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:
(b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them; (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; (j) can be provided with all necessary services; (k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan and (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them".
Environment Policy 36: "Where development is proposed outside of, but close to, the boundary of a Conservation Area, this will only be permitted where it will not detrimentally affect important views into and out of the Conservation Area."
3.3 The Area Plan has no site specific guidance for this site but includes the following:
"8.17 Other Facilities 8.17.1 There are no firm proposals for development associated with the police or fire services, community health care facilities, hospitals, places of worship or community centres. A proposal to develop new facilities associated with these services/activities would be considered against the Policies contained within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan."
PLANNING HISTORY
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19/00268/B Page 4 of 5
4.1 There have been previous applications which proposed alterations to the building, none of which is relevant to the consideration of the current application.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 There have been objections made from the owners of the following properties:
53, 54, 56, 58, 59 and 60, Scarlett Road. 60m Scarlett Road sits to the south west of the terrace: the remainder are part of the terrace which backs onto the site with the short rear lane separating some from the site. All but one of these representations were undated and received on 3rd April, 2019: the representation from 54, Scarlett Road was received on 9th April, 2019.
5.2 These objections all relate to the impact of the proposed use in terms of noise experienced by the residents of the houses directly behind, the increased usage of the lane which runs behind the houses, the lack of need for a community facility so close to existing similar facilities in the town and the potential waste of money on a building which is of poor construction. There is concern that there is nothing to prevent inter-visibility between the existing windows of the application building and the houses, resulting in potential impact on the privacy of the occupants of these properties
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The proposed use is consistent with the land use designation as it will be available to the public. The applicant is the local authority and the land is owner by Government (Department of Home Affairs). There is therefore a dual element of control if the works prove not to be available to the community or unneighbourly in any way. The town's police headquarters is directly opposite alongside the applicant's premises (town hall).
6.2 The site is close to the town centre and most recently used for a purpose which involves the coming and going of vehicles, including large emergency vehicles albeit that the comings and goings are likely to be more frequent than the existing/previous use. Its location close to the town hall, town centre, police station and car parks makes it suitable for a community use in that it is accessible and in a location where the community is likely to be.
6.3 Whilst a brewery could be considered an industrial process, the nature and scale of its operation together with the inclusion within the building of other community bases uses results in a combination of uses which are considered appropriate to the land used designation and the location of the premises.
6.4 The physical changes to the building will not significantly or adversely alter its appearance or character.
6.5 Whilst there are concerns from nearby householders that there may be unneighbourly impacts from the proposed use, the building exists and should be used for some purpose. Its layout and design limits what it could be used for but considering this and its designation for civic, community or other uses, it is not considered unreasonable that it should be used by the community. Whilst it is close to the residential properties, it is in turn, very close to the town centre, directly opposite the town hall, the police station and a pizza cafe, with the George Hotel close by and pedestrian accesses to the town's main shopping streets and the site is on the town's main bus route in and out. The area is therefore already frequented by the public without any level of control. There is sufficient car parking to accommodate the use and the applicant indicates that the car park will also be made available to non-users of the site.
6.6 The proposal involves the removal of the existing roadside wall which is 1m in height. This does not inhibit visibility for those in vehicles emerging from the site. The wall currently helps to soften the impact of the parked vehicles and its stone character adds to the feel of the area.
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19/00268/B Page 5 of 5
Its removal is not considered necessary for highway safety and its retention would be preferable in the interests of the Conservation Area and EP 36.
CONCLUSION 7.1 The use and works are considered to be appropriate and the application 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.
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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:...29.04.2019
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).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
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