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Oik yn Ard-Scrudeyr
Our Ref: DF12/0015 Planning Application Ref.No: 12/00831/B
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEVELOPMENT (PROCEDURE ORDER) 2005
| Applicant: | Tide & Time Commercial Limited | | --- | --- | | Proposal: | Erection of a development comprising new town centre library, offices, multi-storey car park and public toilets with associated external works, Site Bounded By Lord Street Fort Street, Cambrian Place And Muckles Gate Douglas Isle Of Man |
In accordance with paragraph 10 of the above Order, the person appointed by the Council of Ministers to consider this application has submitted his report. In accordance with paragraph 10.3(a) and (b), a copy of the appointed person's report is enclosed. On the 24th January 2013, and after consultation, the Council of Ministers accepted the recommendation contained within that report and the application was approved subject to the conditions specified below.
| Date of Issue: 1st February 2013 | | | --- | --- | | Chief Secretary's Office | | | Government Offices | Mr W Greenhow ACMA | | Bucks Road | Chief Secretary | | Douglas | |
P111, Transport Assessment part 1, Transport Assessment part 2, Design and Access Statement, Flood Risk Assessment and Technical Report, all received by the Planning Department between 6th and 15th June 2012 and by Technical Note 1, Technical Note 2, Drawings P102B, NW/TT/IOM.1/12, NW/TT/IOM/07, NW/TT/IOM.1/10, NW/TTIOM.1/06A, NW/TTIOM.1/08, NWTTIOM.1/09, NW/TT/IOM/1.11, NW/TT/IOM.1/12 and an untitled, unnumbered revised drawing showing the extent of public highway (attached to an email of 11th October 2012 from Damson Design Ltd to Mr Almond), all received by the Planning Department on or about 12 October 2012.
Informative:
The realignment of Fort Street will require the owner of the land coloured green on the untitled/unnumbered drawing to transfer ownership to the Department of Infrastructure or enter into an agreement subject to section 4 of the Highways Act (1986) for the Department of Infrastructure to adopt the highway once built. In addition the Department of Transport will require the applicant to enter into an agreement under section 109a of the Highways Act (1986) for all proposed works within the highway.
THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY
The Council of Ministers also noted the following suggested conditions advanced by the Inspector, for inclusion had Council been minded to give full approval.
For the avoidance of doubt, the recital of these suggested conditions does not amount to any prejudgment of any detailed (full) planning application which may be made in due course. The suggested conditions are included to assist all parties.
(i) Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority samples of the materials to be used in external finishing of the approved building. The exterior of the building must be finished using only the approved materials and retained as such thereafter.
(ii) Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority samples of the materials to be used in the hard landscaping. The hard landscaping must be finished using only the approved materials and retained as such thereafter.
(iii) Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority a detailed scheme of landscaping which provides information on the species, size, and planting method for the trees and shrubs shown on Drawing P102B. The approved scheme must be implemented in the first planting season following the completion of the development or the first use of the development, whichever is sooner. Should any trees die or be removed, they must be replaced within the next available planting season with a tree or shrub of the same species which is at least of Standard size as set out by BS 3936 - Part 1: Nursery stock specification for trees and shrubs.
(iv) Prior to the use of the library or offices, the refuse store shown on Drawing P102B must be constructed and available for use and must remain as a refuse store to serve the building.
MNKOI 0000811657
Crown Division Government Offices Douglas Isle of Man 17 January 2013
To the Council of Ministers Government Offices Douglas Isle of Man Chief Secretary's Ref DF12/0015
Planning Application to be determined under Section 10 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005.
Application No 12/00831/B by Time and Tide Commercial Ltd for: Erection of development comprising new town centre library, offices, multi-storey car park and public toilets with associated external works, Site bounded by Lord Street, Fort Street, Cambrian Place and Muckles Gate, Douglas.
I undertook an unaccompanied visit to the above site and its surroundings on 29 November 2012. While drafting my report I sought, and received, additional comments regarding the development's impact on servicing the Co-op Store in nearby Duke Street.
I submit herewith my report, which I hope will be helpful in your determination of the application.
Alan Langton
Independent Inspector
Site visit 29 November 2012
CSO Reference DF12/0015
Application No 12/00831/B
Inspector's report
retail building currently largely vacant. The greater part, however, like the application site, is given over to surface car parking, as is the Lord Street site on the southern side of that road. The Parade Street site, by the Sea Terminal, comprises car parking, lorry marshalling, the Steam Packet Company Office, the King Edward VIII Pier and the Red Pier.
The application proposes a car park (447 spaces including 23 for mobility impaired users) mainly on seven levels but stepping down towards Fort Street, where it would be over a new Central Library (2,225 sq m) and offices (45 sq m¹) for the Douglas Development Partnership, with new public conveniences adjacent next to the Trade Union premises. The car park's vehicular access would be on Lord Street a little east of Muckes Gate, with pedestrian access on Lord Street, Fort Street and Muckles Gate. The library, offices and public convenience would each be off Fort Street. Cycle and motorcycle parking would be along Muckles Gate/Cambrian Place, which would also feature a small planted area, with further cycle spaces on Fort Street.
Fort Street would be realigned to join Lord Street square on, remaining one-way from Victoria Street with its mandatory left turn into Lord Street enforced by regulation and layout. The currently acutely joining length would be stopped up to general traffic and the locality laid out as pedestrian and shared space public realm, featuring stone benches, three semi-mature trees and incorporating a replacement taxi rank. The informal parking layby would be replaced by a more conventional loading bay alongside the carriageway and the car park entrance on the far side the road relocated pending redevelopment there.
Planning history involving the site in whole or part.
Gist of Representations
The Planning & Building Control Division statement sets out background facts, including the locality's planning history summarised above, relevant planning policies, proximity of conservation areas and suggested planning conditions were the application to be approved. It purposefully omits any assessment of the scheme's merits. The Highways Division initial statement, while similarly non committal, does also set out what are evidently seen as omissions in the application as well as critiques regarding vehicular traffic generation, highway capacity, safety and accessibility, servicing provision and scheme implementation.
Manx Electricity seeks normal requirements, while the Water and Sewerage Authority addresses flood risk requirements. Douglas Borough Council² supports the application, as does the Douglas Development Partnership.
Mr Chris Thomas, a Douglas Councillor, objects as an individual regarding wider social and economic impact. The Borough's relevant committee has not considered this application, which appears inadequately coordinated with neighbouring sites. The car park could become as out of place as the Police Station, built ten years ago as part of a redevelopment that failed to materialise. There is little evidence of "strong physical links between the various sites and adjacent areas" sought as a Key Objective by the Guidance; nothing very specific about how Time & Tide/Sefton
¹ Further office space is proposed on the first floor but evidently ancillary to the library and car park.
² The date on the Borough's initial submission (23 April 2012) must be an error but its support was clear and has been elaborated in a letter of 20 November 2012.
Group will develop the neighbouring Middlemarch site, nor regarding the Lord Street and Parade Street sites. In its submission on the Draft Guidance, the Chamber of Commerce (Retail Committee) urged that a master plan drawing and supporting strategic vision be prepared by engaging a leading firm in this field.
Other issues concern highway safety, insufficient attention to public/private vehicle circulation and interchange, and other permeability considerations in the Guidance. Assessed against the Guidance design section, it is questionable whether this is a "good sustainable" scheme: the car park is at least three storeys too high, dwarfing its neighbours; the relationship with the Lord Street site has not been clarified; there is little evidence of a strategy for increased activity in the area or connectivity with the other sites; the Trade Union building is not being relocated to enable the development to occupy the whole site; even with development on the far side of Fort Street, the site will face derelict land used for car parking. This could be addressed through compulsory purchase. The mass and bulk of the proposals should be assessed by comparison with what was approved by 05/02050/A. What about the horse chestnut?
There is no evidence of public consultation; the library appears to have been specified internally without other key stakeholders or strategic integration. There is no assessment of parking demand, but rather evident competition between the Government and Corporation sites. A cooperative approach is needed, including possible commuted payments as in the 2007 Strategic Plan and the Guidance. There is no evidence that public transport has been taken into account; the drawings illustrate bus stops on Lord Street, which are not expected to remain; there is no Green Travel Plan; no strategy to increase walking and cycling.
Baker Tilly Isle of Man object primarily to the scale. The firm is a long term tenant of neighbouring offices on Lord Street (not accurately depicted on the application south elevation drawing) where the proposal appears more than twice the height of their premises. This would cause harmful loss of natural light for themselves and others. The Strategic Plan (Business Policy 8) requires that "new office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings which is material since the proposals include office space. The scheme is not sympathetic to its surroundings, which would be dwarfed, harming the appearance and character of this key part of Douglas. It is an example of 'anywhere architecture' with little regard to local context.
The Strategic Plan (General Policy 2) refers to development which "respects the site and surroundings in terms of siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them" and "does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape and townscape". Although the Design and Access Statement quotes pertinent extracts, it fails to address resulting issues. Regeneration of Lower Douglas is an aim of the Plan, but this does not justify the wrong development, contrary to its other aims. The Police Station (the Statement appears to advocate its demolition) is a warning.
Lord Street and its junction with Circular Road and Athol Street to the roundabouts leading to Loch Promenade are notoriously congested. Further offices, car parking and leisure facilities would increase traffic and worsen congestion particularly during peak hours, contrary to Strategic Plan requirements not to affect road safety and traffic flow unacceptably. The proposed highway measures appear wholly inadequate: parking spaces would increase from about 70 to 447, potentially increasing traffic by 640%, with other elements of the development causing further increases. There has been no consultation regarding interim parking during construction or following completion. It is also questionable whether the Flood Risk Assessment Report complies with Strategic Plan requirements.
Mr Richard Strivens objects with respect to office space. He owns 12-14 Ridgeway Street, where there are vacant offices with more in Ridgeway House and the former Morris Brokers premises. He owns 22-24 Victoria Street where 75% vacancy was imminent. There is over 250,000 sq ft of vacant office space around Douglas, with surplus supply across all size and quality ranges. Approval for 30,000 sq ft office development on Market Street has caused an exodus of his tenants opposite because of perceived disturbance. The application offers no real economic benefit other than temporary, unsustainable construction employment. There is no need to replace the existing library, which would presumably close. He lists upwards of 41,000 sq ft of vacant office space in the locality. On present trends, Douglas has a twenty year supply. As Spain demonstrates, building for its own sake does not benefit an economy.
Mr Geoffrey A Clark, a town planner, has no objection to the principle but serious doubts about details. He likes the way the tapering end of the site has been handled, but in other regards the building is far too high. Its Lord Street and Fort Street façades lack attraction or interest and might be thought intimidating or daunting. The Lord Street elevation is a particular concern, seen from the bus station or whatever replaces it. There is little ornamentation or recesses to alleviate this flat façade resembling an institution or high security fortress. Only the car park entrance provides a break; hardly a thing of beauty.
Traffic leaving or entering must cross the footway on what can be a busy road, causing hazard to pedestrians. Traffic queuing to enter or leave would create tail backs, worsened by crossover movements at the adjacent entrance and exit. Whatever its other faults, the Finch Road car park's separate entrance and exit function well, and on the whole the Shaw's Brow/Barrack Street multi-storey car park illustrates a non-intrusive design. This one is awful, apparently intended to cram in a list of activities rather than to fit the site comfortably.
Should this parking be provided? It would be likely allocated to corporate staff or contract letting, which could be provided elsewhere. There should be provision for cycle and motorcycles as well as buggies and prams. Then the site could be developed appropriately served by environmental travel modes.
Mr Keith Kerruish questions what changes have been made to the original application. The Guidance requires that "Proposals must include evidence that public transport matters have been taken into account." The Askett Hawk (Lord Street) site eliminated bus parking with no alternative yet provided. There is fierce opposition to stops in lower Victoria Street, inexplicably excluded from the Conservation Area. The bus station should be incorporated into this scheme or the Askett Hawk scheme, but that has already been put to bed.
The Applicants: Time and Tide Group Ltd
The Design and Access Statement confirms compliance with both the Lower Douglas Master Plan and the Strategic Aim of the Strategic Plan 2007 together with its relevant individual policies.
There were close consultations with the library service, Department of Infrastructure, Douglas Corporation and Douglas Development Partnership throughout. The library will be owned by the Corporation, a better long term prospect than its rented premises in Victoria Street. It is a major regeneration project, a community resource following CABE and RIBA³ joint guidance, incorporating cutting edge thinking for future library services including providing a safe haven for children in physical and electronic public domains.
This is the first stage of regeneration intended to boost the local economy and, hopefully, benefit a wider area. Coordination with the other key sites is assured as
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment & Royal Institute of British Architects
Page 4
CSO Reference DF12/0015
Application No 12/00831/B
Inspector's report
the agent, Damson Design, was involved in master-planning for all three and has incorporated that work into the current application. The other sites are still at concept stages, however coordination and linkage, including pedestrian linkage, from the Quayside to Victoria Street is demonstrated by the strategic vision of a submitted Master Plan<sup>4</sup>. This style of safe, pedestrian permeability between commercial buildings was successfully implemented at the Liverpool 1 development. The first stage of additional public realm would be initiated by the realignment of Fort Street.
Surrounding storey heights vary, up to six on principal thoroughfares such as Victoria Street. Issues of comparative scale and massing should also take account of concept sketches for eight storeys on the Lord Street site and perhaps more on the other side of Fort Street, where there is opportunity for a landmark building facing Lord Street. Douglas rises behind the site, masking the scale of development standing at the lower level. The horse chestnut would be lost but the new public realm would include semi-mature replacements together with another at Cambrian Place. It is accepted that the drawings do not include the shop and office windows on the Baker Tilley building but dimensional relationships are accurately shown.
Rather than being 'anywhere architecture', the Colours of Mann project guided palettes chosen for cladding and rainscreens. A multi-storey car park is difficult to assimilate but its design picks up adjacent string courses, with horizontal banding and changes of material and scale between floors, while the colours acknowledge a Douglas context. The library allows transparency and very much fits with the overall Master Plan. The development steps up from Fort Street along Lord Street, with the library masking some of the car park height. The design is very much of its place and context, albeit a modern design in a regeneration brief.
Much of this stage is for car parking, beneficially concentrating provision in place of inefficiently laid out surface areas, releasing the other sites for development without compromising overall availability, which is why this scheme precedes the others. The designers, Hill Cannon, are world leaders and this form of car park has been well received at major UK centres. Road safety would be improved by realigning Fort Street, with pedestrians given greater priority. The Guidance considers options for relocating the Lord Street bus stops, but this application should be seen in the context of its contribution to regeneration.
The Water and Sewerage Authority's requirements and questions are fully addressed in the Flood Risk Assessment. In response to the Highway Authority's comments, full details of road markings, traffic orders and signals would be subject to further details in the event of planning approval for the scheme. Based on the TRICS<sup>5</sup> database of libraries in similarly sustainable locations, rather over three quarters of users would arrive on foot, by public transport or cycle. For the floor area proposed, some 143 two-way vehicular trips would be generated between 0700 and 1900, say 15 per hour. The existing library is nearby and may itself generate some vehicular traffic that would be reassigned rather than new.
Principal pedestrian desire lines and road crossings in the locality have been assessed in relation to the development, with connective routes to and from shops and other services (Drawing NW/TT/IOM.1/16). Dropped kerbs and formal crossings provide for less mobile pedestrians. The locality has no recent record of pedestrian or cyclist accidents. The proposed shared space, together with future developments, would facilitate links to and from the Ferry Terminal.
Pedestrian car park access, off Lord Street alongside the vehicular access, at 1.2 m width exceeds accessibility standards and is too short to require a passing bay for prams or wheelchairs to pass. The foyer off Muckles Gate is unavoidably restricted but compliant with standards. Internally, the car park has excellent pedestrian
<sup>4</sup> The applicant's Master Plan submitted in response to representation elaborates on that in the Design and Access Statement.
<sup>5</sup> Trip Rate Information Computer System
accessibility. Lighting on Muckles Gate and improved lighting on Fort Street would address concerns regarding personal security. Discussions are in hand with the Corporation, but as things stand the intention is for 318 contract spaces with the rest pay and display. This is in line with arrival and departure rates and durations used in the computer modelling. Subject to appropriate management, some bays may be reserved for library users.
Surveys showed little local congestion in the morning peak or throughout the day. In the evening peaks, queues occur on Bath Place and Lord Street approaches to the roundabout junction. Exit blocking occurs on Bath Place but only for a short period and only generating queues from Lord Street of about five vehicles. The car park would be likely to attract reassigned rather than wholly new trips. However, to ensure a robust assessment the computer modelling treats all the car park trips as new. Even on this basis, the proposals have been shown not to cause significant additional traffic delays while the entrance/exit has adequate capacity even allowing for barrier delays.
Visibility at the car park access, realigned Fort Street and eastwards from Muckles Gate across the front of the development are all agreed to comply with Island standards. The relocated Fort Street car park access would be better than existing and onto a length of low speed, raised shared space. Taxis would stand outside the visibility splay, compliant with standards, available to drivers leaving the car park behind the Police Station (Drawing NW/TTIOM.1/13).
The rank provides five spaces, and should be seen as part of wider regeneration to include additional ranks and other infrastructure. Any additional capacity needed now could be achieved by a feed-in rank located in front of the proposed loading bay. The Duke Street Co-op, if not serviced from the front, could be served using the loading bay proposed on Fort Street. Unavoidably this bay depth is below standard but sufficient for a large car to pass a standing refuse vehicle (Response Statement Fig 2), and if needs be detailed revisions could be considered. Servicing and delivery to the application development would be outside peak hours.
Assessment
I am conscious that this report is longer than those I normally submit on an application subject to consideration by means of written representations and a site visit, but this is a pivotal proposal on one of several key sites destined to shape the future of Lower Douglas. The full extent of the Highway Authority's submissions are reflected above more in the applicant's responses than my summary although I have had regard to all the points as made and address them below. I also have regard to the full extent of the application, including the Design and Access Statement, Transport Assessment, Flood Risk Assessment, Technical Report (historical, geological, mining & environmental) and the further drawings and traffic related technical reports added subsequently.
I shall consider first the planning policy framework and principle of the proposed development before considering visual and aesthetic effects in relation to townscape and neighbours; transport and accessibility; flood risk; and finally economic issues.
Policy Framework and Principle of the Proposed Development
Its first stated key objective is "To set out clear interim planning policy guidance in advance of the Area Plan for the East to assist in bringing forward innovative and achievable proposals on 3 important opportunity sites ..." one of which, Middlemarch, encompasses the application site. Section 4 sets out a Vision for the Future of the locality generally and the ensuing Section 5 considers each of the key sites in turn starting with Middlemarch, outlining Development Opportunities and Development Issues/Constraints. It needs to be borne in mind that the Guidance here refers to the whole defined site, on both sides of Fort Street, including the Trade Union building, and that the current scheme is for only part of this wider location.
The applicant's response to submissions includes an (updated) sketch Master Plan for the whole Middlemarch, Lord Street and (much of) the Parade Street Site. So far as I can tell it has no formal status and nothing I write is intended to touch on its merits. That said, it is a helpful indication of how Time and Tide Group, and their agent Damson Design, foresee the current proposals in a wider context, and particularly how they address a number of criticisms raised regarding coordination, extent of public realm and degree of permeability and linkage between the Quayside and Victoria Street. It does, however, remain to be seen whether and to what extent these sketch proposals might be progressed to implementation. Approval of the current application, therefore, requires that it be acceptable on its own merits, while being compatible with potential complementary proposals, but the current proposals should not be expected to meet all the Guidance aims if these would fall more logically into subsequent schemes.
The Guidance's Vision for the Future recognises the need to be realistic about tough choices in tough economic times. Against this background it seeks to extend regeneration - evident in some other parts of Douglas - to the area centred on Lord Street which it suggests could be more vibrant and distinctive. It goes on to identify opportunities for a range of co-existing mixed uses, refers to the locality's great connections to the Port and other parts of Douglas, advises that the bus station and current road network need not be barriers to development, highlighting the importance of routes for pedestrians, cyclists and other road vehicles. Good sustainable design is emphasised combined with negotiation between the various agencies. The key sites and quaysides are identified as prime locations for further development, with no timeframe imposed.
Specific guidance for the Middlemarch Site suggests "... a range of uses including leisure, small scale retail, hotel, office and associated uses. It is known that there is a desire to include a multi-storey car park, library and offices on part of the site (known as Cambrian Place) to the south west of Fort Street. On the rest of the site a mix of leisure, small scale retail and hotel uses is envisaged to support opportunities associated with the high quality 'night time' economy. There is also the opportunity to relocate the Police Station .... There is an opportunity to realign the junction of Fort Street and Lord Street. This could improve traffic flows and allow a greater provision of public open space." The Guidance continues by noting the now lapsed approval for a hotel and casino in 2006 and again refers to this area's great links with other areas.
Development Issues and Constraints refer to the Police Station, car parking provision, creation of a Public Square, public realm and pedestrian linkages more generally, relationship with the Lord Street Site, and the road network and traffic flows on which potential developers are encouraged to hold discussions with Highways Division. This Section repeats the "... need for high quality design on this prominent gateway site" followed by a reference to the quality of any "development proposed for the present vacant site to the west of Walpole Avenue." Finally
archaeological investigation is identified but not so as to compromise the site coming forward for development. 43. The present application is not Predominantly Offices, as my description above illustrates the office space would be a minor component. However, this designation in the Local Plan was evidently set aside in the 2006 approval and has now effectively been overtaken by the recent Guidance. The Predominantly Offices designation has been in place since at least the beginning of 1999 with no sign of any such application coming forward. Mr Strivens suggests that there is an excess of supply over demand, though I make no formal finding on this point. 44. The formulation in the Guidance that "It is known that there is a desire to include a multi-storey car park, library and offices" on the Cambrian Place component of the Middlemarch Site is not a direct policy endorsement, but when read in context it seems to me that the document is favourable to the concept; this is implicit in the associated positive tone regarding opportunities for the overall site. Certainly the Guidance is favourable to the principle of mixed use development with nothing to indicate that this might not include a multi-storey car park. The realignment of Fort Street is directly supported. 45. That the scheme does not address the future of the Police Station is immaterial since that sits on the other side of Fort Street. Similarly, nor is the fact that this scheme's works on Fort Street would of themselves only in a small way improve permeability and pedestrian linkage to Victoria Street. The applicant's Master Plan illustrates how this could be achieved and there is nothing in the present proposals that would prejudice such further measures. The principle of the mix of uses proposed is I think firmly established by the Planning Guidance.
As the applicant acknowledges, assimilating a multi-storey car park is no simple task, not least on seven storeys although floor to floor heights would be substantially less than those in a typical modern office development. Seven levels rather than storeys conveys a more appropriate impression.
Favouring this setting: Lord Street is a wide main thoroughfare, where substantial fronting development may be assimilated, and the applicant's Master Plan for the locality illustrates a retained 'spacious' townscape character. Also favourable is the fact that much of the enclosing development to the west, on Muckles Gate and Cambrian Place, and more generally to the north along Victoria Street comprises side or rear elevations which, on the whole, contribute little to the townscape. Buildings along Victoria Street, under pitched roofs, are effectively up to six storey, while the topography of Douglas continues to rise northwards. Viewed from the south, including from rising land on the far side of the Inner Harbour, the development would mainly be seen against a backdrop of the town rather than on the skyline.
The development, alongside Cambrian Place, would be just outside part of the extensive Athol Street/Victoria Street Conservation Area. However, it would have little impact, separated from the main area by the rears of Duke Street buildings backing onto Cambrian Place. Part of the essentially linear Douglas Promenades Conservation Area backs onto part of the remainder of the Middlemarch Site, on the other side of Fort Street and which I take to be the vacant land to the west of Walpole Avenue referred to in the Guidance. However, this current development would be somewhat removed and again have little impact. The appearance and character of each of the Conservation Areas would be preserved, and in this regard the aims of Strategic Plan Strategic Policy 4 and Environment Policy 36 would be met.
Less favourable, is the relationship with the building facing Lord Street on the other side of Muckles Gate. This incorporates a café but is mainly offices and occupied by Baker Tilley Isle of Man Ltd. It is three storey, white render, under a flat roof
Various approaches can be taken to the design of a multi-storey car park. Few would now I think advocate the 'brutalist' approach of the post war era, whereas the example on Barrack Street, on six levels, cited by Mr Clark is far from displeasing. I have no details but suspect that it provides fewer spaces for its floor area than the highly efficient 'Vertical Circulation Module' proposed in the application, in which parking decks are inclined from one level to the next.
This in turn points to the type of modernist approach proposed for the façades. These comprise a variety of well detailed stone cladding for the lift and stair wells and other areas not used for parking, its banding coordinated with modular coloured aluminum mesh panels for the parking decks. The library would be largely glazed, again coordinating with the stone banding, and transparent in character. All would be under neatly detailed overhanging flat roofs. The colour palette, in line with the Colours of Mann project, would be attractive in itself, and has been well employed to achieve legibility, combined with attractive external signage, so that entrances and exits and the location of the library would all be immediately apparent. Importantly also, the materials should weather well with minimum maintenance, something that can be a problem at multi-storey car parks, while the modular construction should shorten disruption and loss of parking during erection compared with more traditional construction methods.
Mr Clark commends the way in which the design addresses the tapering, eastern, end of the site and so do I: the reducing floor areas, stepping down in height and ending with a projecting curve fronting the library would be very pleasing. I disagree with his pejorative description of the Lord Street frontage as a whole. Within the modernist genre I describe above the elevation has in most regards been well thought out, modulating the materials to reflect the internal uses as well as the reducing heights approaching Fort Street.
My reservation concerns the juxtaposition of the western end of the development with the Baker Tilley building. The main area of the car park would be roughly twice as high, its closest element, containing the lift shaft, a little higher again. The two buildings' Lord Street elevations would be separated by just somewhere about 5 to 5.5 metres (the elevation drawing and survey plan vary a little when scaled). Whatever precise separation is intended, there would be a visually unsettling abrupt difference in scale as well as materials.
On the Fort Street elevation, the seemingly similar contrast in levels, in this case with the Trade Union building, would be substantially moderated in reality since much of the higher levels would be set back. There would also be a degree of modulation in the levels by the interposing public conveniences. The street frontage itself would be not unattractive, similar in genre to that on Lord Street, commencing and visually dominated by the library before stepping down via the offices, glazed stairwell, enclosed refuse storage area and then the conveniences.
The Muckles Gate/Cambrian Place elevation would again be the same genre but at the full height over the full length. Even well executed it would dominate this lane and few would I think describe the outcome as positively attractive. Countering this, it would be very much a rear elevation and, other than for people using the lane, it would have limited public impact.
As regards private interests, outlooks from the side and obliquely from the rear of the Baker Tilley premises would profoundly change, as would outlooks from the rears of Duke Street properties and the setting of the mini cab office. Natural light would be reduced and direct sunlight lost at least to the closer windows. However, the proposed and existing buildings would generally be further apart than on the Lord Street elevation, the closer existing windows evidently serve commercial properties and to the extent that some of the Duke Street upper floors might be residential, these are set back, above rear parking areas. Moreover, the existing open outlooks,
over a surface car park, are essentially fortuitous in this built up locality and can hardly be expected to endure or be safeguarded by the planning system. In all I do not consider that the impacts on private amenity are such as to give rise to a material objection. 57. Taking everything together, and subject to my reservation regarding the visual juxtaposition with the Baker Tilley premises, as a whole I consider that the scheme matches up aesthetically to the high quality of design sought by the Guidance and that it accords in these regards with the aims of Strategic Plan Strategic Policies 3, Strategic Policy 5, General Policy 2, Environment Policy 42 and insofar as relevant, Business Policy 8.
at the car park access and realigned Fort Street would meet those standards and the development would not encroach into the Muckles Gate easterly direction visibility splay, which would remain compliant with standards. (If tables outside the café encroach into the westerly splay, that is not relevant to this application). The realigned Fort Street junction would not only meet standards but be a considerable improvement on now, when emerging drivers are required to look over their shoulder as well as forward towards the roundabout. 64. Visibility from the relocated access to the main surface car park on the far side of Fort Street would be limited, but better than existing and onto a road where traffic speeds would be inherently low on a bend within the shared surface length. Subject to detailed layout, visibility from the car park behind the Police Station need not be blocked by a taxi on the new rank, and subject to that it would for practical purposes comply with standards. To the extent that there are some shortcomings to the access arrangements on the far side of Fort Street, these are not such as to amount to a determinative objection. They may also be short lived if further development proceeds there. In all the aims of Strategic Plan Transport Policy 4 would be met. 65. I have referred above to the wider extent of permeability for pedestrian movement, here I consider more direct issues regarding this development's accessibility. The library entrance would be obvious and legible approaching the building; its vicinity open and pleasing. As things stand it would not be well lit but the applicant confirms that new street lighting would be installed, and this is something that could be required in the context of a Highway Agreement. Subject to that there is no other issue regarding pedestrian access along Fort Street. 66. Pedestrian access to and from the car park lifts, off Lord Street alongside the vehicular access, is too short to warrant a passing place for, say, a buggy and wheelchair to pass. There would be clear inter-visibility over just a few metres so that there would be no more than a moment's delay and little inconvenience as one user deferred to the other. The access is perfectly adequate. The lobby at the foot of the stairs, off Muckles Gate, is just a little below standard for a fully motorised wheelchair, but since that lobby is mainly to the stairs, with a separate access nearby to the ground floor and the lifts, I do not see any practical issue. 67. Internally, the swept circle of a large car could overlap hatched areas outside the corners of bays laid out for disabled users. However, these areas would be level (not inclined), speed low, visibility good, and the incidence of such a vehicle movement coinciding with a disabled person on the outer hatched area likely to be infrequent. No more than occasional minor inconvenience should result and I do not see the issue as significant. 68. In all other regards, internal accessibility for both the car park and library would be excellent, and in most regards the proposals accord with the aims of Strategic Plan Transport Policies 1 & 6 and Community Policy 2. 69. I am less sanguine regarding Muckles Gate/Cambrian Place. This unlit lane is currently exposed along one side and there are additionally only limited reasons why members of the public need to use it, say, after dark. Following the development, it would not benefit much from natural surveillance, hemmed in between the flank of the multi-storey car park and rears of Duke Street properties, but it would provide a doorway access and motor cycle/cycle parking. I do not wish to exaggerate the issue, in my experience and to the best of my knowledge Douglas does not have a high crime rate. However, it is not difficult to imagine anti-social behaviour here or a vulnerable person at least feeling apprehensive while unlocking a bicycle in the later evening. There is some comfort from the library's intended closing time of 17.30 hrs and again the applicant undertakes to install street lighting. Whilst essential, this goes only part way to overcoming my concerns. This is a wholly new development
CSO Reference DF12/0015 Application No 12/00831/8 Inspector's report
and it would be unfortunate, to say the least, if it created a 'problem' location. This would conflict with the aims of Strategic Plan Community Policy 7.
The loading bay proposed on Fort Street to serve the development would be some 2.2 m deep, appreciably less than the normal standard of 2.7 m. Refuse and other lorries here are likely to be in the range of 2.3 m to 2.55 m wide, encroaching into the running lane, itself of no great width. The applicant has demonstrated that a large car could pass a parked refuse vehicle (Response to Statements Fig 2) but it is clear that some combinations of parked and passing vehicles could be problematic, particularly allowing for wing mirrors and perhaps less than perfectly positioned parking. I do not see this as a determinative objection but something warranting further detailed consideration.
Duke Street is a pedestrian zone where motor vehicles are prohibited except for loading Monday - Saturday 5 pm - 10 am or on Sundays. The Co-op is currently served by an articulated lorry that stops on Lord Street, with goods wheeled in cages, some 0.75 square by 2.0 m high, along Muckles Gate to the back of the store. This would no longer be possible as the vehicle would block the car park access, and highway restrictions along Duke Street appear to rule out any practical relocation on this road. The applicant's response to my note was to repeat their previous suggestion that the store be serviced in the early morning from Duke Street or at other times from the loading bay proposed on Fort Street, adding that other stores manage deliveries before 9.00 am and that the Co-op had not responded when the application was advertised.
Given the direct, potentially significant impact on the store's operations I consider that rather more was called for, and I am grateful to Mr Almond (Highways Division) for his note (11 January) after speaking to the Co-op's Operations Manager. His note underscores why the existing arrangement could not be repositioned on Lord Street and why servicing from Duke Street is not a simple alternative: delivery times are dependent on ferry arrivals, the store is laid out for deliveries from the rear and Duke Street is in any event not conducive to manoeuvring an articulated lorry. From the proposed loading bay, the wheeling distance to the back of the store would increase from about 25 m to about 92 m, with delivery times increasing from about 45 - 60 minutes to perhaps upwards of 90 minutes. The route, shared by pedestrians and vehicles includes bends and corners, although it should be noted that the Peel Co-op has a wheeling distance of some 88 m.
The Cooperative Store's preferred arrangements at Duke Street are sequentially: a loading bay on Muckles Gate; existing location on Lord Street; proposed Fort Street loading bay provided that the surface of Cambrian Place/Muckles Gate is improved. For the present, I am led to the conclusion that the applicant has not offered a firm workable solution.
Flood Risk
Economic Impacts
quality development in the search for economic growth, quite the reverse, but the Guidance suggestion that this locality could be more vibrant and distinctive is to my mind an understatement. Its bus terminus, poorly laid out car parks and main roads serve somewhere to pass through rather than to seek out. The library facilities proposed appear exemplary; even in the narrowest sense, these would be an investment in future knowledge based economic activity, not least by today's children. In a broader sense they would be culturally enriching. And in every sense the library could serve to kick start a change in perceptions of this lower part of town. 76. The multi-storey car park would, even on its own, provide an economic asset for retailers and other businesses in the wider area. More pertinently for local regeneration, it could release the remainder of the Middlemarch site and the Lord Street site for more worthwhile and attractive uses than surface car parking. Economic considerations offer support to the application and, subject to my detailed reservations, the proposals would meet the aim of Strategic Plan Strategic Policy 1 to make best use of resources and Environment Policy 43 regarding regeneration.
all received by the Planning Department between 6^{\text {th }} and 15^{\text {th }} June 2012 and by Technical Note 1, Technical Note 2, Drawings P102B, NW/TT/IOM.1/12, NW/TT/IOM/07, NW/TT/IOM.1/10, NW/TTIOM.1/06A, NW/TTIOM.1/08, NWTTIOM.1/09, NW/TT/IOM/1.11, NW/TT/IOM.1/12 and an untitled, unnumbered revised drawing showing the extent of public highway (attached to an email of 11^{\text {th }} October 2012 from Damson Design Ltd to Mr Almond), all received by the Planning Department on or about 12 October 2012. 4. Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority samples of the materials to be used in external finishing of the approved building. The exterior of the building must be finished using only the approved materials and retained as such thereafter. 5. Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority samples of the materials to be used in the hard landscaping. The hard landscaping must be finished using only the approved materials and retained as such thereafter. 6. Prior to the commencement of works, there must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority a detailed scheme of landscaping which provides information on the species, size, and planting method for the trees and shrubs shown on Drawing P102B. The approved scheme must be implemented in the first planting season following the completion of the development or the first use of the development, whichever is sooner. Should any trees die or be removed, they must be replaced within the next available planting season with a tree or shrub of the same species which is at least of Standard size as set out by BS 3936 - Part 1: Nursery stock specification for trees and shrubs. 7. Prior to the use of the library or offices, the refuse store shown on Drawing P102B must be constructed and available for use and must remain as a refuse store to serve the building.
Informative: The realignment of Fort Street will require the owner of the land coloured green on the untitled/unnumbered drawing to transfer ownership to the Department of Infrastructure or enter into an agreement subject to section 4 of the Highways Act (1986) for the Department of Infrastructure to adopt the highway once built. In addition the Department of Transport will require the applicant to enter into an agreement under section 109a of the Highways Act (1986) for all proposed works within the highway.
Alan Langton Inspector
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