Officer Report

Application No.: 23/00063/B Applicant: Department Of Infrastructure - Highway Services Division Proposal: Variation of condition 2 of 14/00689/C - to allow sharps storage in 20 x 20ft storage containers and to include other projects such as highway, drainage and flood alleviation works. Variation of condition 3 - for sharps storage for a period of up to December 2026 and projects until end of January 2028. Site Address: Ballakinnish Nurseries Ballakinnish Douglas Isle Of Man IM4 1JJ Acting Head of Development Management: Abigail Morgan Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The use hereby approved shall enure for the benefit only of the Department of Infrastructure only. Reason: The development is granted only as an exception in the national interest.
• C 2. The land shall not be used other than for the following uses and for the time periods set out in Condition 3;

• o storage of construction materials in association with DoI projects consisting of the following; Douglas Promenade Works, including installation of coastal rock armour; Continuation of the Tram Track; Douglas Flood Alleviation works; and Road works projects in the east, central and southern parts of the Island.
• o storage of 20 storage containers for sharps only. Reason: The development granted as an exception to assist in the delivery of national projects.

• C 3. The use for the storage of construction materials in association with DoI projects, as set out in Condition 2 shall be for a limited period of 5 years from the date of this approval coming into effect and thereafter the use hereby permitted shall be discontinued. Reasons: In the interests of clarity.
• C 4. The use for the storage for sharps (as set out in Condition 2) shall cease on or before 1 January 2027. The 20 storage containers hereby approved shall be removed from the site within 3 months of the use ceasing. Reasons: In the interests of clarity.
• C 5. The proposed storage containers shall only be kept in the area hatched blue as shown on drawing I1/054 Rev A received 5 March 2025. Reasons: In the interests of visual amenity.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The proposed use is now part of land designated for development as industrial in the Area Plan for the East; it is not considered to conflict with this proposal or the application on adjacent land. There are no other identified issues that would affect the application being approved and as such is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 4 of the Strategic Plan and Employment Proposal 3 Sites BE002(b)g of Area Plan for East (2020).

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the amended planning statement and drawing I1/054 Rev A received 5 March 2025. _________________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status None _________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION IS BEFORE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE PROPOSED USE COULD BE CONSIDERED CONTRARY TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN ALLOCATION

1.0 SITE - 1.1 The site lies on the northern side of the A5 New Castletown Road, which is a main arterial route connecting the south of the island with Douglas. It is about 4 miles from central Douglas and 500m from the Spring Valley roundabout. The site is rectangular in shape and is about 12000sqm (about 1.2ha). - 1.2 The site is approximately 500m to the west of the Cooil Road roundabout, close to a number of dwellings. Ballakinnish is the closest, which is now empty and is shown as within land owned by the applicant. To the south west are two other dwellings, Croyton and Brookside and Ballakinnish House to the north east. Further along the road is the Rest Home of Old Horses and the Ballalough industrial area.

2.0 PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for the continued use of the site for the storage of construction materials originally approved in 2014 but with;

• Variation of condition 2 of 14/00689/C - to allow sharps storage in 20 x 20ft storage containers and to include other projects such as highway, drainage and flood alleviation works.
• Variation of condition 3 - for sharps storage for a period of up to December 2026 and projects until end of January 2028. After which the secondary waste incinerator should be repaired and then able to continue to dispose of these waste items.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The site used to be a market garden/nursery. There is little planning history of the site, save for applications for conservatories and LPG tanks in 1984, until 2014 when the DOI applied for" Change of use of site from a former market garden to use for the storage of construction materials (retrospective)", 14/00689/C (considered by CoMin), subject to the following conditions;

• C 1. The use hereby approved shall enure for the benefit only of the Department of Infrastructure only. Reason: The development is granted only as an exception in the national interest.
• C 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any order revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modification), the land shall not be used other than for the storage of construction materials in association with the Town Centre Regeneration projects and the Promenade Improvements and for no other purpose. Reason: The development is granted only as an exception in the national interest.
• C 3. The use hereby permitted shall be for a limited period of 8 years from the date of this approval and thereafter the use hereby permitted shall be discontinued and the land restored to its former condition. Reason: In the interests of visual amenity.
• C 4. There must be no discharge of surface or foul water to any ditch or watercourse. Reason: In the interests of the environment.

Next to /shared boundary: 22/00678/B Combined approval in principle and full approval for phased development of a Cannabis Cultivation Campus and Solar Energy Park, together with access, associated infrastructure and site engineering works. Full approval for the erection of units 1 and 2 with associated infrastructure. All other matters reserved - pending consideration - CoMin

4.0 PLANNING POLICIES - 4.1 APE BE002 (b) g/ BE006 g Map 4 Douglas Industrial - next door there is an area of registered trees

Employment Proposal 3 Sites BE002(b)g and BE006g, to the south of Cooil Road and north of New Castletown Road, are jointly designated for industrial and business park uses. This allows for their development for manufacturing (including light and general industry); research and development; storage and distribution; and offices (subject to compliance with Business Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan).

4.2 The Strategic Plan sets out the strategic and spatial aims of Government. The relevant policies are:

Strategic Policy

• 1 Efficient use of land and resources
• 2 Priority for new development to identified towns and villages
• 3 To respect the character of our towns and villages
• 4 Protection of built heritage and landscape conservation
• 5 Design and visual impact
• 6 Major employment-generating development should be located in existing centres
• 7 Undeveloped land which is zoned in Local or Area Plans for industrial, office, or retail purposes will be retained and protected for such uses 10 New development should be located and designed such as to promote a more integrated transport network Spatial Policy

• 1 The Douglas urban area will remain the main employment and services centre for the Island
• 2 Building in defined settlements or GP3

General Policy

• 2 General Development Considerations

Environment Policy 1 The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake

• 3 Protection of Woodland
• 4 Wildlife and Nature Conservation
• 5 Ecological Impacts 7 Protection of watercourses 10 Flood Risk Assessments 13 No unacceptable risk of Flooding 22 Protection of amenities/environment from pollution 25 Pollution-sensitive development 42 Respect the local character and identity Business Policy

• 1 The growth of employment opportunities
• 2 Land designated for industrial development should be appropriate to area, transport links, proximity of labour and availability of water, sewerage and other utilities 5 On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted (excluding bulky goods)

• 7 New office floor space should be located within town and village centres exceptionally, permission may be given for new office space (a) on approved Business Parks for Corporate Headquarters
• 8 New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings

Transport Policy

• 4 Highway Safety 7 Parking Provisions Energy Policy
• 5 Energy Efficiency

6.0 REPRESENTATIONS: Below is a summary of the representations received full copies are available online.

6.1 Braddan Commissioners, no objection 17.036.25. - 6.2 DOI Highway Services, do not oppose 06.03.25. - 6.3 DEFA Ecoystems, no objection 14.2.23.

- 7.0 ASSESSMENT

7.1 The key considerations in the determination of the application are: Principle of development Impact on residential amenity Traffic - 7.2 Principle of development

• 7.2.1 In 2014 the site was defined as market garden in the 1991 Braddan Local Plan and now under the Area Plan for the East is designated as industrial. Industrial uses can be wide ranging however they generally relate to processing items/making, it is acknowledged that use proposed under this application would not fall within the scope of industrial it would not be considered incompatible with such a use.
• 7.2.2 This application will involve the addition of approximately 20 containers for storage of sharps until the Energy from Waste plant Secondary Waste incinerator has been repaired. They are to be stored just inside the site to the left and will be screened by the existing trees. Again the proposed temporary use is not considered to be incompatible.
• 7.2.3 There is a need for these two storage uses to continue and be introduced and it is not considered that it would cause any unacceptable harm to the character and quality of this part of the countryside landscape.

7.3 Impact on residential amenity

• 7.3.1 In 2014 the Inspector did not envisage any harm to the amenities of the existing residents, but did note that the only possible issue could be noise and disturbance caused by the vehicle movements and the manoeuvring of machinery within the site but concluded it would not be significant. While the majority of the use is a continuation of the current there is the introduction of the containers and the storage of sharps for a temporary period of time, will see an increase in movements to and from the site of 1 -2 light goods vehicles on average per week which is not considered to be a small increase and is unlikely to creation any additional impacts.

7.4 Traffic

• 7.4.1 DoI Highways have commented that the site is acceptable in highway safety terms for the level of traffic outlined in the planning application.

- 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 The proposed use is now part of land designated for development as industrial in the Area Plan for the East it is not considered to conflict with this proposal or the application on adjacent land. There are no other identified issues that would affect the application being approved. - 9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;

• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

9.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status.

9.3 The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is responsible for the determination of planning applications. As a result, where officers within the Department make comments in a professional capacity they cannot be given Interested Person Status.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded interested person status and/or rights to appeal.

Decision Made: Permitted Date: 19.05.2025 Signed : Presenting Officer

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