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25/00766/D
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 25/00766/D Applicant : Tesco Proposal : Installation of illuminated and non-illuminated signage (retrospective) Site Address : 1A St Pauls Square Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1LE
Senior Planning Officer: Mrs Louise Phillips Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.10.2025 __
Conditions and Notes for Approval C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The advertisements hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.
Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents.
C 2. The illuminated sign hereby granted consent shall not be lit by an intermittent source.
Reason: In the interests of amenity.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposed signage causes no harm in respect of either visual or residential amenity, or public safety. It therefore complies with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 and with relevant Development Plan policy.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval relates to the following drawings:
o Site Location Plan - 0810 o Proposed Site Plan - 0811 o Proposed Sectional Elevation - 0813 o Signage Details - 0814 __ Interested Person Status
There are no parties which should be afforded Interested Party Status other than those set out in Regulation 11(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013.
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Officer’s Report
1.0 THE SITE
1.1 The site is the Tesco Express store on the south side of St. Pauls Square in Ramsey, previously "Shoprite". It occupies the ground floor of a three storey building. The rest of the ground floor is occupied by other, smaller commercial units. The first floor immediately above the store is in use as offices, as is part of the first floor on the east side of the Square closest to the store entrance. The rest of the first floor and the whole of the second floor is divided into residential studio apartments leased by Viking, which manages the building. There is a wide, flat canopy above the ground floor commercial units providing shelter for pedestrians.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL
2.1 The application seeks (retrospective) consent for multiple advertisements/signs as follows:
o A perspex "Tesco Express" sign on the wall adjacent to the entrance doors. This is externally illuminated by a trough light above it. o A stainless steel "Tesco Express" sign upon the canopy fascia. o 8x large vinyl signs applied to the inside of the glazed shopfront. o A small directory sign stating opening hours etc. applied to the inside of the glazed entrance doors.
3.0 LEGISLATION AND PLANNING POLICY
3.1 The site is within the town centre defined by Ramsey Local Plan 1998; and outside but adjacent to the Ramsey Conservation Area. No trees would be affected by the proposal. The site is at high risk of tidal flooding, but this is not relevant to the proposal at hand.
3.2 The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 (the Advert Regulations) 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, the general characteristics of the area should to be taken into account, along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest. Public safety considerations include the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome; and whether an advertisement is likely to obscure or hinder any traffic sign or similar.
3.3 Having regard to the designation of the site and to considerations of amenity and public safety, it is appropriate to consider the following polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
3.4 General Policy 2 includes the following general criteria for development management purposes. The development should:
(b) respect the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them; (c) not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (g) not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; and (i) not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways.
3.5 General Policy 6: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:
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(a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed; (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard".
3.6 General Policy 7: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted".
3.7 Environment Policy 38: "Advertisements close to Conservation Areas must respect and preserve the character and appearance of the area to ensure that views into and out of such areas are protected".
4.0 PLANNING HISTORY
4.1 The planning history for the Square as a whole includes illuminated signage permitted upon other units some time ago:
o 10/00645/D at Lloyds Pharmacy, Nos 5-6 St. Pauls Square. o 11/01339/D at HSBC Bank.
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 On 26 August, Ramsey Town Commissioners submitted objections stating that that no plans had been submitted and, therefore, they considered the proposal to conflict with General Policies 6 and 7 of the Strategic Plan. However, plans had been submitted and a technical error prevented online access to them. The parties originally consulted on the application were therefore consulted again on 15 September. Following this period of consultation, the Town Commissioners made no further comments.
5.2 Highways Services did not make comments in response to either period of consultation.
6.0 ASSESSMENT
6.1 Having regard to the Advert Regulations, the main issues are the effect of the proposed advertisements upon amenity and public safety.
Amenity 6.2 Starting with visual amenity, all of the signage proposed reflects the well-known "Tesco" brand. The stainless steel lettering upon the canopy matches the canopy signs belonging to other commercial units on the Square; and the directory sign is unobtrusive. The vinyls are quite large, but they are in keeping with the scale of the shopfront and do not look out of place. The externally illuminated sign is modest in size and is discreetly positioned on the wall beneath the canopy so that it does not dominate the appearance of the Tesco shopfront itself, or of the Square as a whole. The signs can be seen from the boundary of the Conservation Area at the back of St Paul's Church, but St Paul's Square has its own, separate character and appearance and, in this context, the proposed signs would cause no harm.
6.3 Turning to residential amenity, the only studio flats anywhere close to the illuminated sign are those on the east side of the Square nearest to the store and these are above the canopy. The canopy will greatly reduce any upward light spill from the sign to the extent that occupiers are very unlikely to be troubled by it. Indeed, there are other lights under the canopy which are illuminated throughout the hours of darkness for safety reasons. None of the other signage proposed would have an impact upon the living conditions of nearby occupiers.
6.4 Overall therefore, the proposed signage is not detrimental to either the visual or residential amenities of the area; and it preserves the character and appearance of the nearby
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Conservation Area. Consequently, it accords with the Advert Regulations and with General Policy 2 (b) (c) & (g); General Policy 6 (a) & (b); General Policy 7; and Environment Policy 38 of the Strategic Plan 2016.
Public Safety 6.6 None of the signage would appear to have any potential to impact upon public safety; and Highways Services has raised no concerns. Consequently it complies with the Advert Regulations and with General Policy 2 (i) and General Policy 6 (c) of the Strategic Plan 2016.
7.0 CONCLUSION
7.1. For the reasons given above, the proposed signage causes no harm in respect of either visual or residential amenity, or public safety. It therefore complies with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 and with relevant Development Plan policy.
INTERESTED PERSON STATUS
8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 (As Amended), the following persons are automatically interested persons: o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; o Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material; o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. o the Highways, Ports and Railways divisions of the Department of Infrastructure.
8.2 The decision maker must determine: o Whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than those explicitly listed above) 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 a Principal Planner 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 and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Permitted
Date: 14.10.2025
Determining Officer
Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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