DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00269/D Applicant: Mr Kenny Lees Proposal: Tesco Express fascia sign; Tesco Express projecting sign; internally illuminated vinyl signs applied to glazing x 2; Hello/Store Directory sign; Tesco Express box fascia sign; internally illuminated Entrance This Way sign (retrospective) Site Address: Supermarket Arbory Street Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1LH Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Photo Taken: 11.04.2024 Site Visit: 11.04.2024 Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 14.06.2024

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. There shall be no internal or external illumination of the signage other than what has been hereby approved. Reason: for the avoidance of doubt and in the interest of the amenity of the neighbours.

N: DOI Highways have stated the projecting sign will need an oversailing the highway licence as per the Highways Act 1986, as such the applicant should get in touch with Highway Services regarding this matter.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The installation of the non-illuminated and one illuminated signage on the site complies with The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 and is also in accordance with General Policy 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, dated received on 26th March 2024;

• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 1000
• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1- XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0800
• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0801
• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0802

• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0803 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of a supermarket situated to the South of Arbory Street, between No.19 Arbory Street and No.9 Arbory Street. The site has two entrances the main entrance onto Arbory Street and the rear entrance with car park to the Farrants Way. - 1.2 All the signage apart from Sign 2 were already installed during the officers site visit. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the installation of the following signage;

• Sign 1 - Aluminium fascia, which measures 4.073m by 0.464m with the raised wording Tesco express in two separate fonts measuring 0.322m & 0.209m by 2.409m in the colours red and blue. This sign is to be situated above the entrance doors upon Arbory Street.
• Sign 2 - Aluminium fascia, which measures 1.982m by 0.914m with the wording Tesco express in two separate fonts which are translucent due to there being internal illumination to the letters only. This sign is to be situated above the loading bay situated to the rear on Farrant's Way.
• Sign 3 - Aluminium dibond coloured blue with the graphic "Entrance this way" with an arrow which is to be affixed to the existing timber fencing within the rear car park. Sign is to measure 0.629m by 1.650m.

Vinyl Sign 1 & 2 - Vinyl sign to be applied to the existing glazing to the front elevation and is to measure 1.536m by 2.069m. One sign is to have two people and state, "Serving Castletown's customers, communities and planet a little better every day, and the other sign is to show baked goods with the working, "Baking fresh from our ovens every day."

Projecting Sign - Aluminium projecting sign, powder coated white with blue to the sides, top and bottom measuring 0.6m by 0.8m with a width of 0.150m. Wording upon the sign is to state Tesco express. The sign is to be externally lighted.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There are several previous applications upon the site, of which PA89/01463/B is the most relevant and was for "Demolition of property and construction of retail store with associated car parking," which was Permitted. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use" on the Area Plan for the South, Map 5 Castletown. The site is situated within a Conservation Area and part of the rear car park is situated within a Surface Water - Low Likelihood Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 In the first instance due to the site being situated within a Conservation Area, Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) is the most relevant in the assessment of this application which is then followed by Environment Policy 35 which seeks that development must either preserve or enhance the Conservation Area, Environment Policy 37 which gives the general policy on signage within a Conservation Area, General Policy 2 which sets out general development standards, General Policy 6 which sets out what is expected of external advertisements and General Policy 7 which sets out that the display of adverts must be in relation to the site they are situated upon. - 4.3 This is then followed by The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 which 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. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "1. Projecting signs should be minimum of 2600mm above the adopted highway as per Manual for Manx Road Guidance. Therefore, the proposed projecting sign is too low off the ground at its nearest point an amended height needs to be considered if retaining the projected sign.

The applicant should reassess the proposals and provide additional information/plans where necessary taking account of the above. The projecting sign will need an oversailing the highway licence under the Highways Act 1986 from the DOI." (05.04.24)

5.3 No comments have been received from Castletown Commissioners at the time of writing this report. ASSESSMENT

6.1 When looking at applications such as the proposal here, the main issue to consider is whether the proposed works would preserve or enhance the overall Conservation Area as per Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999) and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

- 6.2 SECTION 18(4) - CHARACTER

• 6.2.1 When looking at the character of the area, it is noted that the site is within the Castletown high-street, which means that signage is not an item which is out of place. Firstly the proposed signage to the rear is situated within the car parking area of the site. The area of which looks like a rear entrance to a site. As such the character of this area is not impacted by the proposed signs and the Conservation Area is preserved.
• 6.2.2 With regards to the character of the front elevation of the site, as stated above the site is situated within the main Castletown high-street as such, signage of such a shop would be expected. Overall the signage to this part of the property is modest and in keeping with the already existing signage for the previous supermarket. The signage is not impacting the character of the Conservation Area and as such deemed acceptable.

6.3 Section 18(4) - Appearance

• 6.3.1 Turning towards the appearance of the proposal on the Conservation Area, as stated above there was already signage in place with the previous owners of the site, as such whilst the wording has changed and the two vinyl's to the windows at the front of the site have changed, the proposal is not altering how the appearance of the site is within the Conservation Area and as such deemed acceptable.

6.4 SIGNAGE

• 6.4.1 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.

• 6.4.2 Further to this paragraph 6.6.2 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 makes it clear that "within our towns and villages, well designed and sensitively sited advertisements can contribute positively to the character of a building or area, and can be of help to the general public. However, advertisements which are too bright, overlarge or poorly sited may endanger safety by distracting or confusing highway users and may, both individually and cumulatively, detract from amenity by being intrusive, by introducing clutter and visual confusion or by masking features of interest or attraction". Paragraph 6.6.3 furthers on this stating that "within rural areas, advertisements can be disruptive features which affect adversely the appearance of the landscape and the countryside. Lighting can pollute the night sky, and may be contrary to nature conservation interests".
• 6.4.3 With the above in mind and noting that The Department has a duty to determine whether suchy proposals would be in keeping with the surrounding streetscene, whilst noting the special character of the area. As stated above the site is situated within the main Castletown high-street, with both the front and rear signage being acceptable for the proposed areas.
• 6.4.4 When looking at Environment Policy 37, for part i), the signage would preserve the Conservation Area as stated above. The signage is of an appropriate style for the character of the area and is of traditional materials, as such the proposal would meet parts ii) & iii) and also iv) due to there being no illuminated box fascia's or projecting box signs.
• 6.4.5 The proposed signage is situated for where it is proposed, it's modest in size and height and is readable by a variety of users, which would be an interest within the locality rather than an intrusion to the enjoyment of the area and will have information situated within it which will be specific to the supermarket specifically.
• 6.4.6 There is only one sign which includes lighting, which is situated to the front elevation and is only lighted from the above and not internally. The lighting is facing the signage itself and as such it is deemed that there would be no highway visibility or safety issues from the proposed lighting, which means that the proposal meets the general standards set out in The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013.

6.5 HIGHWAY SERVICES

• 6.5.1 The comments raised by Highway Services are noted, however during the officers site visit, it could be seen that the sign in question was already erected and that the dwelling adjacent to the site sits further into the highway than the proposed sign and that there was a

public bin situated below the sign which took up the corner area left. As such from this point of view, the sign in question is not impacting the highway enough to warrant it being situated higher up the site.

• 6.5.2 Whilst this is the case it is noted that Highway Services state a highway licence under the Highways Act 1986 is required for the proposal. As such a note should be added to the application. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 It is considered that the proposed signage would not impact the character nor appearance of the Conservation Area by reason of its size, scale, siting and design, as such the proposal would preserve the Conservation Area in accordance with Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) and Environment Policy 35 & 37 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

7.2 The proposed signage would not have any adverse visual or amenity harm to the public or public safety and would provide a community facility. As such the application would accord with The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013, as well as meeting with the principles of General Policies 6 and 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

7.3 For the avoidance of doubt there shall be two conditions added, one to ensure no illumination apart from on the small illuminated sign and a second to require its removal in the event that it is no longer needed.

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;
• (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 Acting Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 20.06.2024

Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development Management

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