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33 Hope Street is a former 4 storey terraced dwelling house which together with its neighbours, particularly Nos. 27-31 Hope Street, in 1994 was given permission to be converted into offices. Physically the conversion resulted in little change to the building, albeit an outer porch at the rear, which has since been removed. The conversion resulted in up to 5 parking spaces being provided in tandem formation at the rear, taking access from St. George’s Terrace.
Nos. 27-31 have remained as offices, as has No. 35; however No. 33 has been unoccupied as offices for about one year. The property has been actively marketed as offices by Chrystals for the owner but there has been no demand for them. This has been a general trend with reduction of interest for renting office accommodation in Douglas since 2008.
Opposite the rear of the buildings, Nos. 1-3 George’s Terrace remains as residential properties.
The proposal is therefore to convert the building back to residential use. Given its’ location, being without a garden and in a fairly central situation, surrounded by both office and residential use, it is proposed to become apartments rather than a single house.
The property is within walking distance of the majority of pubs, restaurants and general entertainment provided in Douglas Town centre, and within a short walk of Tesco supermarket.
The flats would all take access both from the front and the rear of the property. The property is two bays with the staircase running up the west side of the building; therefore no space is lost in providing access to all flats. The flats would be one-bedroom apartments with the top flat having two floors – top storey is largely in the roof space; It has been decided after consultation with Anthony Holmes that the ridge line can be raised no further than 450mm, so as not to disrupt the street scene excessively. Dormer windows have not been incorporated as there are no existing features along Hope Street and it had been decided that this feature would also disrupt the symmetry to an excessive extent. The ground and first floor flats would have its own combined kitchen / lounge area, shower / WC internally and bedroom at the rear, the top flat is provided with a separate lounge and kitchen, with the bedroom to the front of the property. All flats would be
provided with a washer dryer. The rear overlooks the car parking area and access. It is 24m from the rear of the dwelling at 4 St. George’s Terrace.
Street Scene:
Hope Street runs downhill from its junction with St. George’s Street. The eaves and ridge lines of the former dwellings from No. 25-37 inclusive follows this in pairs stepping down with the hill; No. 33 is paired with No. 35. After consultation with Anthony Holmes he had advised the roof could not be raised more than 450mm to ensure a minimum disruption to the existing street scene. There are no dormers, albeit roof lights have been inserted into No. 33. While none of the buildings are registered and the site is in an area designated for urban regeneration not conservation, it is considered beneficial to retain the rhythm of these Victorian terraces as much as possible.
The site is designated for Urban Regeneration in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. It is considered the proposal would comply with Strategic Plan Housing Policy 17 and General Policy 2.
Car Parking and Access:
The site takes vehicle access from St. George’s Street via St. George’s Terrace. It has 5 designated parking places at present. Three of these may be retained without impinging another property; two in tandem formation and one further space. A site meeting was held with DOT Network Planning and it had been agreed that a minimum of two spaces to the rear would be acceptable; but in reality; with cooperation between residents the two tandem spaces could be used; thus having three parking spaces. In addition to that, motorcycle parking would be feasible. On-street parking is also available on both sides of Hope Street and residential permits are available for parking which is otherwise in a 2 hour disc zone. The site is very close to both Athol Street and Circular Road along which regular bus services run direct to other parts of Douglas and Onchan, as well as to the west, south and north of the island.
The existing rear access has obviously been sufficient to cope with up to 5 vehicles on the site. The development would result in less overall car parking spaces, albeit one space may need to be on-street.
It is considered the parking and access arrangements would comply with Strategic Plan Transport Policy 6, 7 and 8.s
Refuse facilities:
There is facility to site for three number refuse wheelie bins to comply with Housing Policy 17.
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