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24/00121/B Page 1 of 6
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. 24/00121/B Applicant : Braddan Commissioners Proposal Removal of condition one of PA 92/1210 which restricts the use of the property to being only a Commissioners Office Site Address Braddan Parish Commissioners Close Corran Union Mills Isle Of Man IM4 4LZ
Case Officer :
Vanessa Porter Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation
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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. Overall the change of use from a Commissioners office to a generic office is deemed acceptable due to the principle of an office already existing upon the site, the fact that the site can be returned to a residential property if required and that there would be a limited impact upon neighbouring properties and parking. The application is deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 1, General Policy 2, Business Policy 1, Business Policy 8 and Transport Policies 1, 4 and 7 in accordance with Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 1st February 2024; o Location Plan o Site Plan o Supplementary Plan o Covering Letter o Office Floor Plans o Site Report from PA92/01210/C o Site Layout from PA92/01210/C o Ray Corkhill Letter from PA92/01210/C o Conditions from PA92/01210/C
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o Braddan Commissioners Letter from PA92/01210/C o Richard Green Associates Letter from PA92/01210/C o Application Form from PA92/01210/C o Amended Conditions from PA92/01210/C o Amended Notice from PA92/01210/C o Amended Approval Letter PA92/01210/C
This decision also relates to additional information received regarding where parking is available on the site via a Site Plan, dated received 17th May 2024, __
Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
None __
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE DEVELOPMENT COULD BE CONSIDERED CONTRARY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
THE APPLICATION SITE
1.1 The application site is the located to the North East of Close Corran and was the previous Braddan Parish Commissioners office. The office use of the site was originally approved under PA92/01210/B, of which the surrounding properties are all residential.
THE PROPOSAL
2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for removal of Condition 1 of PA92/01210/C which states, "The proposed building may be used for commissioner's office purposes only: no general office use will be permitted without the prior permission of the Committee. This permission for permanent office accommodation is granted on the basis that adequate car parking facilities are made available, as indicated on plan no. 3/7/9 received 21st May 1993."
2.2 No exterior alterations or other works are proposed as part of the application.
PLANNING HISTORY
3.1 There have been several applications upon the site of which the following are the most relevant; PA92/01210/C - Change of design from 2 dwellings to local authority offices - Permitted PA93/01122/B - Erection of 6 metre high flagpole, site of new Commissioners offices - Permitted
3.2 Whilst not on the site itself, it is necessary to note PA21/00106/B which was for, "Erection of 26 two bed apartments and 6 one bed apartments with associated car parking, vehicle access and landscaping," and was Permitted.
PLANNING POLICY
4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Predominantly Residential" upon the Area Plan for the East, Map 8 - Union Mills/Strang. The site is not within a Flood Risk Zone nor a Conservation Area.
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4.2 In terms of Strategic Plan policy the following are considered relevant:
REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;
5.2 No comments have been received from Highway Services at the time of writing this report.
5.3 Braddan Commissioners have considered the application and state no objection.
ASSESSMENT
6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this application are
6.2 PRINCIPLE
6.2.1 Whilst the site is situated within an area zoned as "predominantly residential" on the Area Plan for the East, the site has been used as a commissioner's office since the change of use application in 1992. As such whilst the proposal does not meet the land zoning, the principle of the change from commissioner's offices into a generic office would be deemed acceptable.
6.3 IMPACT OF PROPOSED OFFICE USE
6.3.1 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan has established policies which seek to direct all new development to existing settlements, which includes offices, as such there is potential that the proposed office use could have an impact on the town centre.
6.3.2 It is noted that commissioners offices, by dint of what is required of their services and where they need to be situated (within the parish they are for), that the existing use as an office is acceptable. The change of use to a generic office and not a commissioner's office could potentially have issues arise. Whilst this is the case the proposed office is small in size, and as such would not be taking a large amount of office space
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away from the town centre and noting that the site is not going to be demolished or altered, the possibility is that the site could be returned back into a residential property in the future.
6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY
6.4.1 When looking at neighbouring amenity, the most likely issue arising from the proposed use of the site as an office is a) parking (discussed below) and whether there would be a nice/disturbance to the neighbouring properties.
6.4.2 Generally the site is question is not attached to any dwelling and is separate within its own gardens, as such the closest property is to the South West of the site and approximately 6 metres. Due to the proposal as an office, it is unlikely that the site will be used much outside of the hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, which is when the majority of home owners are at work.
6.4.3 It is further noted that we have not received any objections or comments from neighbouring properties which would have been received if there were any complaints from the existing use of the site. As such on balance, these aspects would be considered to be compliant with those sections of General Policy 2(g).
6.5 HIGHWAY SAFETY
6.5.1 Turning towards whether the site has enough parking for the proposed use, when looking at the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, Appendix 7 in accordance with Transport Policy 7 states that for out of town offices, 1 space per 15sq metres of nett floor area is required. Having measured the overall nett floor area of the site it is coming out at 428sq m total, as such there would be a requirement of 28 spaces.
6.5.2 Confirmation was received from the applicants with regards to the parking available on site, of which there are 7 specific parking spaces that the site itself owns which are used by staff and are situated directly behind the site. There are also another 6 spaces to the rear of the site which are available for visitors to the site, this totals 13 car parking spaces.
6.5.3 This would leave 15 car parking spaces for the site, when noting that there are several car parks in the immediate area of the office block, there is a bus stop directly to the end of the estate and a public footpath/cycle path in close vicinity that these spaces would be encompassed via these other methods.
6.5.4 As such from a Highway Services point of view the proposal is deemed acceptable.
CONCLUSION
7.1 Overall the change of use from a Commissioners office to a generic office is deemed acceptable due to the principle of an office already existing upon the site, the fact that the site can be returned to a residential property if required and that there would be a limited impact upon neighbouring properties and parking.
INTERESTED PERSON STATUS
8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf); (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material; (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
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(d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.
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 above who should be given Interested Person Status __
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to the it by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.
Decision Made : Permitted
Committee Meeting Date: 10.06.24
Signed : Lucy Kinrade 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
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.
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24/00121/B Page 6 of 6
PLANNING COMMITTEE DECISION
Application No 24/00121/B Applicant Braddan Commissioners Proposal Removal of condition one of PA 92/1210 which restricts the use of the property to being only a Commissioners Office Site Address Braddan Parish Commissioners Close Corran Union Mills Isle Of Man IM4 4LZ
Planning Officer Vanessa Porter Presenting Officer Lucy Kinrade
Addendum to the Officer Report
The application was presented by a different planning officer (Lucy Kinrade) who did not write the original planning officer report. The presenting officer recommended that the Members consider adding a further two suitably worded planning conditions; one to clarify the proposed use of the building being Use Class 2.1 Office only as requested within the application (and as verbally confirmed with the applicants before the item was heard), and one to ensure the 7 associated parking spaces within the red line remain available for use by the office at all times. The Committee considered the application with the two additional conditions being attached and unanimously agreed to approve the application.
Condition Wording:
C2. The use hereby approved is for Class 2.1 Office as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019 only. Reason: For the avoidance of doubt as the application has been assessed on this basis as requested in the application content.
C3. The parking area showing seven numbered parking spaces marked in red as detailed on a location plan drawing received by email dated 17th May 2024 shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking and turning of vehicles associated with the office development hereby approved and shall remain free of obstruction for such use at all times. Reason: To ensure that the associated off-street parking is provided in accordance with the details specified in the application and on which basis the application has been assessed in the interests of highway safety.
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