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                                      19/01108/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/01108/B Applicant : Dandara Commercial Limited Proposal : Erection of 20 industrial units in three separate blocks Site Address : Plots Adjacent To Block F Balthane Park Off Balthane Road Balthane Industrial Estate Ballasalla Isle Of Man

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.11.2019 __

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. The units hereby approved may be used for general industrial purposes or for storage with or without associated distribution.

Reason: to clarify the extent of the approval.

C 3. Prior to the occupation of any building the car parking and manoeuvring areas shown on drawing APL 221 shall be provided and remain free from obstruction thereafter and remain available to the users of the corresponding industrial unit.

Reason: To ensure that the strategic plan car parking standards are met in the interest of highway safety.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to drawings APL 220, APL 221, APL 222, APL 223, APL 224 and APL 225 all received on 1st October, 2019. __

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                                      19/01108/B                                     Page  2  of  4

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is a roughly rectangular area situated to the north east of an existing row of industrial buildings all at the northern end of Balthane Industrial Estate. The existing units are all similar in design, finish and height and accommodate a range of industrial uses and with some having been approved for alternative uses including dog grooming (18/00127/C in unit 22D) and storage (16/00378/B and 12/00062/B). The most recent addition to the complex was blocks E and F (18/01110/B) which are shown on the current application as in place and were approved simply as industrial units.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the erection of three further blocks - G, H and J which comprise a mix of different sized units from five units at 69 sq m, ten at 125 sq m and five at 93 sq m. The units are the standard type in this part of the estate - rendered cavity blockwork walling with sheeting above in contrasting grey colouring with similarly coloured roller shutter doors and pedestrian accesses.

2.2 Three parking spaces will be afforded to the 125 sq m units, two each to the 93 sq m ones and two each for the 69 sq m units.

2.3 None of the units is shown as having a mezzanine level although once built, these could be added without planning approval under Section 6.3a of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 unless there were a condition imposed upon the initial approval to suspend such provisions and require planning approval for it although none of the approvals granted in this part of the estate have contained such a restriction.

2.4 The applicant wishes for the development to be usable for storage with or without distribution but they suggest that the size of the units is unlikely to facilitate large scale commercial distribution with associated large articulated vehicles. They refer to previous phases also being for storage but nothing is referred to in the notices for these phases.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated as Industry on the Area Plan for the South (2013). The Written Statement describes Balthane as a major employment area which dominates the surrounding area in terms of its built form and suggests in Landscape Proposal 19 that any industrial development visible from the railway line should be of high quality functional design. It is relevant that almost all of the closest views, and these are at a distance of at least 240m, will eventually be completely obscured by the residential development approved under 19/00137/B, which has commenced, on land between the railway and the site which is designated for residential development.

3.2 There is also a reference to the "generally poor environment" of Balthane in the general landscape considerations at paragraph 3.24 and Employment Recommendation 1 and that Balthane would be the preferred location for a new civic amenity site and any bulking up facility for kerbside recycling, commercial waste facility and any additional or replacement waste facilities (paragraph 9.6.1).

Employment Proposal 1: "All industrial uses, other than small scale light industrial uses considered to be acceptable within the Mixed Use areas, or those uses deemed appropriate by

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                                      19/01108/B                                     Page  3  of  4

the Isle of Man Strategic Plan Business Policy 7, will be located on the Industrial Estate at Balthane and where appropriate Ronaldsway and the Freeport."

3.3 Development which is in accordance with the prevailing land use should accord with the principles of General Policy 2 as follows:

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; , particularly trees and sod banks; (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; (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them and (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

3.4 Transport Policy 7 requires that development provides an appropriate level of car parking and the standards in Appendix 7 require that industrial development is provided with one space for every 50 sq m of gross floorspace. Storage and distribution use demands one space per 100 sq m of gross floorspace.

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The relevant applications are referred to earlier in this report.

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Malew Parish Commissionershave no objection to the application (06.11.19).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The development is in accordance with the land use designation and is very similar to previous phases in the adjacent area. As such, the requirements of General Policy 2 are considered to be met as they were with earlier approvals.

6.2 The parking provision accords with the standards set out in the Strategic Plan.

CONCLUSION 7.1 The application is supported subject to conditions which require that the parking and access are laid out and available for use prior to the use of the building as approved, and that the use extends to industrial and storage with or without distribution use.

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;

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                                      19/01108/B                                     Page  4  of  4

(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 can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted

Date: 14.11.2019

Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer

Principal Planner

Customer note

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