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Planning statement on behalf of Department of Infrastructure Planning and Building Control in respect of a planning application for the: Extension of existing outside seating area 31 North Quay Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4LD Reference 14/00205/B Statement prepared on behalf of DOI Planning and Building Control by Mr Edmond Riley BA (Hons) MA MSc ## 1.0 The Application Site 1.1 The application site comprises the restaurant unit, whose address is at 31 North Quay, Douglas, as well as an area of public highway to its front elevation. The entirety of this public highway is within the ownership of the Department of Infrastructure. 1.2 Planning approval exists for an outdoor seating area is to the front of this unit and within the current application site. At the time of the officer site visit, the unit was vacant - albeit evidently undergoing extensive internal renovation - and there was, perhaps unsurprisingly, no seating to the front elevation. Since that time, the business has begun operating and is known as The Little Fish Café. 1.3 The site is fully within the Douglas (North Quay) Conservation Area.
2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the change of use of the highway adjacent to the frontage of 31 North Quay to an outdoor seating area; this would be an extension of the existing, approved outdoor seating area, and would provide for a further four covers across two tables. No other information has been provided.
2.2 The applicant was contacted with a view to providing some advice. This advice was fourfold, indicating that: (1) the application would be determined by the Council of Ministers; (2) that without elevations of the proposed barriers, any decision made would be with reference solely to the change of use of the land; (3) any signage proposed for display on those banners may need separate advertising consent, and (4) a further planning application would need to be submitted to vary a condition applied to a previous planning approval on this site that limited opening hours to the unit. No reply was received and this Report is being prepared on the basis that the development proposed is purely the change of use of the land.
3.1 The application site has been the subject of several planning applications, one of which is considered to be of material relevance to the determination of the current planning application:
3.2 Elsewhere on North Quay, a number of similar applications have been considered:
3.3 The plans and drawings submitted with the application comprise:
4.1 The site is within a wider area zoned for Town Centre uses on Map No. 1 (Central Area) of the Douglas Local Plan Order (1998); no Written Statement accompanies the Douglas Local Plan. As the site is also within the Douglas (North Quay) Conservation Area, there are two policies of specific relevance within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (2007): General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35.
4.2 General Policy 2 states: "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:
4.3 Environment Policy 35 states: "Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development".
5.1 The Manx Utilities Authority comment that they require 24 hours unrestricted access to the cables in the public highway and will not be liable for any loss of income caused to the applicant as a result of its statutory works.
5.2 Highway Services do not oppose the planning application, subject to the imposition of the following condition: "2 metre unobstructed footpath to remain available to the public".
5.3 Douglas Borough Council does not oppose the planning application.
5.1 The primary issues to take account of are the extent to which the proposal would (a) preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Conservation Area, and (b) impact on highway safety.
5.2 Although perhaps not envisaged when the Douglas (North Quay) Conservation Area was designated in 1990, this part of North Quay is characterised as offering a vibrant, almost cosmopolitan, feel by virtue of the strong night-time economy provided in the various uses in the area. A number of
restaurants and public houses are found here, and a number of these have outdoor seating areas. The re-laying of the highway (both pavement and road) along North Quay that was completed not quite ten years ago has resulted in a number of such areas being granted planning approval where these have been found to not have a negative impact on highway safety.
5.3 It is not considered that adding to an existing seating area would in itself have a negative impact on the Conservation Area; indeed, the proposal would allow the success of the area in this regard to continue and, as such, the proposal is considered to comply with Environment Policy 35. For similar reasons, the proposal is likely to comply with those elements of General Policy 2 that require attention be paid to the amenity of an area in term of use and its visual impacts.
5.4 The impact on highways safety is perhaps less easy to quantify, although the distance between the seating area and the highway would still allow pedestrians 2.2 m of width between the edge of the seating area and the highway. This is considered acceptable, and it is noted that the condition required by Highway Services would provide less tolerance than that sought by the applicant. The site's location near a road junction as well as the shared surfaces used here are such as to be likely to make vehicle speeds sufficiently low adjacent the application site to ensure a neutral impact on highway safety.
5.5 It is therefore considered that there are no fundamental objections to the proposal in respect of the relevant planning policies or Local Plan zoning. This view is taken having also had regard to the planning history.
6.1 If the Inspector is minded to recommend the application be approved, it is considered that a condition requiring the development be carried out within a four year period would be appropriate. The condition requested by Highway Services would also be appropriate, albeit that the submitted plans do show an unobstructed footpath of more than 2 metres in width.
6.2 It may also be worth making the applicant aware, by way of an informative, that any banners installed on the application site would need a separate planning approval, and also that any signage proposed for those banners would in turn require separate advertisement consent. Comments made by the Manx Utilities Authority, although non-material, are also perhaps worth adding as an informative.
6.3 Finally, and for purposes of clarity, the decision notice should make reference to the submitted plans to which the decision relates, as set out in paragraph 3.3 of this statement.
Photographs of the application site and elsewhere on North Quay
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