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Application No.: 14/01227/B Applicant: Warehouse Fitness Limited Proposal: Conversion of ground floor into a children's nursery (retrospective) Site Address: Diamond House Demesne Road Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 3DS Case Officer : Miss Melissa McKnight Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation
1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is the curtilage of Diamond House, a two storey end unit sited on the south western side of Demesne Road at the junction with Westmoreland Road. - 1.2 The immediate surrounding area has a mix of uses including car sales and workshop units, offices, retail, education, health care and residential. The application site building is prominent within the street scene given its siting. The building has an appearance of an industrial unit. Within the application building are Warehouse Fitness and a newsagent.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The planning application seeks approval for the change of use of the vacant ground floor warehouse/workshop to a children's nursery which would be open from 08.00 to 18.00 Monday to Friday. It is also proposed to create a layby to provide a drop off zone. - 2.2 The nursery would be split into three areas:
2.3 Also provided are a welcome and coats area, WC area and store, kitchen/tea station and a staff/WC area. - 2.4 Overall the proposed childcare facility would accommodate a maximum of 32 children aged between 2 and 5 and there would be 5 members of staff when the nursery would be operating at full capacity. The facility would be open to the public as well as for use by gym members.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The application site has been the subject of six previous planning applications that are
considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application given the nature of development proposed, all of which were granted planning approval and have been listed below:
PA 13/00633/B: Conversion of vacant warehouse / workshop to provide gymnasium to ground floor and a childcare facility to first floor with associated parking provision. The external alterations approved under this scheme have been carried out.
PA 13/00017/C: Change of use of part of existing therapy room facilities to provide creche for use by members during their visit to the gym.
PA 12/01173/B: Enclosure of area under existing canopy to front of shop area to create a coffee lounge.
PA 12/00899/B: Alteration and conversion of redundant storage area to a gymnasium to be used in conjunction with existing health/beauty facility (Amendment to PA 11/01148/B).
PA 11/01148/B: Alteration and conversion of redundant storage area to a gymnasium to be used in conjunction with existing health/beauty facility.
PA 10/01307/B: Conversion of existing ground floor office and first floor store to a hairdresser's salon with treatment and therapy rooms.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is an area zoned as Predominantly Residential under the Douglas Local Plan Order 1998 Map No. 1 (Central Area). There are no policies within the local plan considered specifically material to the assessment of this planning application. - 4.2 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains three policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application.
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:
Community Policy 2 states: "New community facilities should be located to serve the local population and be accessible to non-car users, and should where possible re-use existing vacant or underused buildings."
Transport Policy 4 states: "The new and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicles and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the environmental objectives of this plan."
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection to the current planning application (11/11/2014). - 5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services do not oppose the current planning application (14/11/2014).
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The principle of a children's' nursery within the application building has previously been approved. Nonetheless, it is still necessary to acknowledge that the use of a premises as a childcare facility does not readily fit into any established use class in the Isle of Man Use Classes Order and variously throughout the Island nurseries have predominantly been accommodated largely in established residential areas or newly developed residential areas. There are a number of other nurseries accommodated outside residential areas, such as Parklands Day Nursery which is accommodated within Mooragh Park, Park House Nursery which is situated in the Isle of Man Business Park estate and Mooinjer Veggey nursery which is accommodated in the Old School House alongside Braddan Primary School. Each of these facilities varies greatly in terms of the amount of space available, parking facilities and access and it is accepted that many do not have ideal access points or dedicated parking provisions in place but can offer adequate parking within close proximity to the site. - 6.2 In assessing how the proposal may affect the surrounding area, consideration should be given to the amenity of existing buildings and the compatibility of the proposed use with existing uses within the area and those within the locality. - 6.3 The surrounding area has been identified as predominantly residential under the local Douglas Plan, nonetheless it has already been identified that there a number of mixed uses within the locality with the application building itself comprising a gym and retail unit. - 6.4 It is not considered that the use of part of the building as a childcare facility would undermine the amenity of other users of the locality. The principle of a nursery and crèche has already been approved within this site. The use as a childcare facility would be confined to the inside of the building and during daytime hours. As previous planning approvals have dictated, it is judged that the general use of part of the building would be acceptable for use as a childcare facility. - 6.5 The site is well placed to be accessed by foot, bus and there are a number of disc restricted parking areas within the vicinity of the application site. The site has nine existing parking spaces and would comprise a drop of zone that would accommodate four vehicles.
6.6 Under PA 13/00633/B it was identified through a parking survey and customer survey that the majority of people walked to the gym during peak hours with the majority of people driving to the gym and parking near during off peak times, 0900 - 1200 and 1400 - 1700hrs. - 6.7 It was also identified that between 0800 and 0845 hrs there were five spaces on Westmoreland Road and four spaces on Demesne Road. On average between 1730 and 1745hrs there were three spaces on Westmoreland Road and two spaces on Demesne Road. The application site is not on a major strategic route and there are additional disk zone parking areas within the locality and as such impact upon parking and highway safety in the area is deemed minimal. It is also important to acknowledge that Highway Services do not oppose the current planning application.
7.0 CONCLUSIONS - 7.1 The application would introduce a useful community facility into the area and make use of a current empty space in an established building.
8.0 RECOMMENDATION - 8.1 Overall, it is concluded that the planning application is in accordance with the provisions set out in General Policy 2, Community Policy 2 and Transport Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan and as such the planning application is recommended to be approved.
9.0 PARTY STATUS - 9.1 In line with Article 6(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013, the following Persons are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings relating to the application: the applicant or, if there is one, the applicant's agent; the owner and occupier of the land the subject of the application, Highway Services, and the Local Authority in whose district the land the subject of the application sits.
Recommendation
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation:
16.12.2014
Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal
C : Conditions for approval
Reason: In the interests of the amenity of the surrounding area along with highway safety and parking and to safeguard the welfare of children.
This approval relates to DWG No: PTA - 102 - 10 Rev: B date stamped as received on 27th October 2014 and DWG No: PTA - 102 - 02 Rev: A and PTA - 102 - 03 both date stamped as received on 17th November 2014.
I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to Director of Planning and Building Control /Head of Development Management/ Senior Planning Officer.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : ……18/12/14….. Determining officer (delete as appropriate) Signed :…………………………………….. Chris Balmer Senior Planning Officer Signed :………S Corlett…….. Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer Signed :…………………………………….. Michael Gallagher Director of Planning and Building Control Signed :…………………………………….. Jennifer Chance Head of Development Management
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