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                                      24/00822/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No. : 24/00822/B Applicant : MotaWorld Ltd Proposal : Erection of mezzanine floor for storage within Unit 48e and creation of 2 additional parking spaces. Site Address : Unit 48E Spring Valley Industrial Estate Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 2QS

Planning Officer: Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken : 23.08.2023 Site Visit : 23.08.2023 Expected Decision Level :

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.08.2024 __

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.

C 2. The use of the mezzanine hereby approved shall be for Use Class 2.4 Storage and Distribution only.

Reason: The application has been assessed on this basis in connection with the use of the rest of the building and as requested in the application.

C 3. The mezzanine hereby approved shall not be used until the two parking spaces have been provided in accordance with the approved plans. Such areas shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking and turning of vehicles associated with the development and shall remain free of obstruction for such use at all times.

Reason: To ensure that sufficient provision is made for off-street parking and turning of vehicles in the interests of highway safety.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal is considered to have an acceptable impact and to accord with General Policy 2, Business Policy 1, Transport Policy 7 and the principles of Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

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                                      24/00822/B                                     Page  2  of  4

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the following all date received 22/07/2024: Drawing numbers; o 1106-01 o 1106-02 o 1106-03 o 1106-04 o 1106-05 o 1106-06 And Covering Letter

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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons None __

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application relates to an existing block of 5 units within Spring Valley Industrial Estate No's 48A, 48B, 48C, 48D and 48E and the surrounding parking apron.

1.2 All of the units are understood to all be occupied by 'Motaworld' and were recently approved for Use Class 2.4 Storage or distribution as part of 23/00868/B with some degree of retail sales also conditioned as part of that approval along with a reiteration of 'no mezzanines' condition from the original 2005 approval.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the installation of a part mezzanine in Unit 48E for storage and the creation of 2 additional parking spaces.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 The site has been subject to a number of applications, most relevant in this case are: o 23/00868/B - Use of part of Unit 48a as sales/retail; use of part of Unit 48e as staff facilities; new first floor offices with Unit 48e. Installation of 12 new windows on north east elevation; installation of rain screen canopy over main customer entrance in Unit 48b; changing of colour of existing windows and pedestrian doors - APPROVED o 16/00290/B - Conversion of existing buildings from warehouse & light industrial to display, distribution, warehousing and sales of industrial / automotive products, creation of vehicular access and additional car parking and erection of fencing and boundary bollards - APPROVED

4.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN 4.1 The application site is located within a wider area designated as 'Industrial' under the Area Plan for the East 2020. The site is not recognised as being at any flood risk and is not within a conservation area.

4.2 Area Plan for the East relevant parts: o Employment Proposal 1: development of existing industrial land is supported for manufacturing; warehousing and distribution; office accommodation (subject to Business Policy 7); or retail outlets (subject to Business Policy 5).

4.3 The Strategic Plan 2016 relevant parts:

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                                      24/00822/B                                     Page  3  of  4

o General Policy 2 sets out the general standards towards acceptable development taking into account visual and amenity impact as well as highway safety. o Business Policy 1: supports the growth of employment opportunities o Business Policy 5: On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution o Paragraphs 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 - Industry and Storage and Distribution o Transport Policy 7 - parking standards o Appendix 7 - parking standards

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

5.1 Braddan Parish Commissioners - no objections (02/08/2024).

5.2 Department of Infrastructure Highway Services - Do not oppose (02/08/2024) no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking as the increase in mezzanine space is relatively small and the applicant is providing 2 extra parking spaces on the site to accommodate any potential increase parking demand.

5.3 No comments received from neighbouring properties.

6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 Parking and mezzanines were originally conditioned as part of the approval to convert the building into 5 separate units under 05/00642/B. At that time DOI highways had requested 1 space per 50sq m as they were concerned at the potential increased demand for parking as a result of the subdivision. Since then the entire building has had a number of separate approvals and most recently last year under 23/00868/B for 'Motaworld' to expand to occupy all the units and providing increased facilities including office and staffrooms and an increase to their retail floor area. The primary use of the whole building is as Use Class 2.4 storage and distribution, although it is recognised there are ancillary office and retail alongside this primary use.

6.2 Since the 2005 application the Strategic Plan has been introduced and Appendix 7 sets out parking standards for development including storage and distribution requiring 1 space per 100 square metres floor area. In isolation the creation of the 72sq m mezzanine floor space would require 1 parking space, and so the proposal including 2 spaces would be more than adequate.

6.3 Given the occupation of the site as a whole it would be prudent to understand the wider parking situation and not just the proposal in isolation. The primary use of the building is storage and distribution and with the new mezzanine would have a total gross floor area of 2015sq m, which would require 20.15 (rounded to 21) parking spaces based on 1 per 100 floor area, and with the creation of 2 new car parking spaces would bring the total to 47 spaces available on site and thus an overprovision by 26 spaces.

6.4 Although in reality 'Motaworld' also has an element of retail as well as staff offices and facilities throughout the entire building.

6.5 Appendix 7 indicates the following standards: o Out of town offices - 1 space for every 15 square metres of nett floor space o Town centre shops - Space for service vehicle use. o Neighbourhood shops - Spaces for staff, customers, and service vehicles will be required.

6.6 Supporting information as part of 23/00868/B indicated at that time 'Motaworld' employed 30 staff. With 47 car parking spaces at the site this would be enough for one space

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                                      24/00822/B                                     Page  4  of  4

per each member of staff and with 17 left over to accommodate any additional staff, customers/visitors, or accommodate larger delivery vehicles during drop off and pick up times. The fact that the applicant is in full occupation of all the units and is the sole user of all the parking spaces and parking apron is a considerable factor weighing in favour of this application.

6.7 No issues have been raised by DOI Highway Services.

7.0 CONCLUSION 7.1 The proposal is considered acceptable in respect of General Policy 2, Business Policy 1, Transport Policy 7 and the principles of Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

7.2 Conditions in respect of Use Class 2.4 Storage and Distribution of the mezzanine use as well as requiring the 2 parking spaces being available before first use of the mezzanine is considered necessary in this case.

8.0 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 : 29.08.2024

Determining officer Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan

Acting 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.