DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 23/01158/B Applicant: Miss Sommai Nantakoon Proposal: Conversion of commercial warehouse to create two residential apartments Site Address: Canberra House 13 Princes Street Douglas IM1 1BB Planning Officer: Mr Toby Cowell Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.02.2024

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. The 2 no. integral garages hereby approved shall at all times be made available for the parking of private motor vehicles(s) and shall be retained available for such use. Reason: To provide adequate off-street parking.
• C 3. The approved doorway of the integral garage serving Apartment 2 as detailed on drwg. no. 04P Rev01 shall be installed as such that it will not swing out onto the adopted highway and thereafter be retained as such in perpetuity. Reason: In the interests of highway safety.

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

The development is considered acceptable in principle whilst providing additional residential accommodation in an appropriate location following the reuse of an underused commercial building. The proposals would pose no material impact upon the visual amenities of the locality whilst providing a good standard of living for future occupants. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 1, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan (2016).

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to drawings referenced;

• 01P - site location plan
• 02P - existing floorplans
• 03P - existing elevations Covering letter Received 07.10.23
• 04P Rev01 - proposed floorplans
• 05P Rev01 - proposed elevations Received 19.01.24 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that Interested Persons Status be granted to the following Government departments:

Manx Utilities Authority - drainage _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site represents the curtilage of 'Canberra House', 13 Princes Street, Douglas, which is an existing two storey end terraced property situated on the eastern side of Princes Street. The side and rear elevation of the property also sits on Princess Street Lane which links the property with the rear of the properties on Princes Street and Circular Road. - 1.2 The property has its external elevations finished in a blend of Manx stone and painted render, with Manx stone forming the dominant external finish of the property. The dominant window type on the property are single pane UPVC casement windows, although two double pane casement windows sit on the front elevation. Access into the building is via a pedestrian access door on the front elevation and a large roller shutter door on the side. The property sits within a wider urban housing area within Douglas. - 1.3 The property is located within close proximity to offices and other commercial services within Douglas town centre, while the immediate locality is characterised by a number of terraced houses. Chester Street Car Park and the Drumgold Street Car Park (at M&S) are within walking distance to this site. There are also a few bus stops that are within a 5-minute walking distance to the property.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Planning permission is sought for the conversion of the existing warehouse building into residential use, comprising 2 x 2-bed apartments laid across two floors. The proposals would involve various fenestration alterations to the property, including the repositioning of various windows on all elevations, increase in width of further windows and addition of a single door on the south-east elevation, together with the removal of 2 no. existing large roller shutter doors and replacement with small roller shutter doors to serve integral garaging for each unit.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Planning permission was recently refused (PA 23/00339/B) for the change of use of the premises to a mixed use comprising a place of worship and single 4-bed residential apartment. The application was refused on the basis of the following:

"The new residential accommodation which is proposed as part of the development would have an unacceptable standard of amenity by virtue of the fact that the proposal would result in a living accommodation with no pleasant or clear outlook for future occupants when using the primary rooms, and there would be a lack of an acceptable amenity provision within two of the bedrooms. Accordingly, the proposal would be contrary to General Policy 2 (h) which requires new development to provide satisfactory amenity standards in itself, and the Strategic Objectives of the Strategic Plan which promotes high standards of residential amenity in new developments."

- 4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The application site is within an area recognised as being within "predominately residential use" under the Area Plan for the East 2020 (Map 5 - Douglas Central). The site is not within a Conservation Area or area of flood risk. - 4.2 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered pertinent in the assessment of this application;

Strategic Policy 2 Priority for new development to identified towns and villages 3 To respect the character of our towns and villages 5 Design and visual impact

Spatial Policy 1 Development in Douglas General Policy 2b,c,g General Development Considerations Environment Policy 42 Designed to respect the character and identity of the locality Transport Policy 4 Highways safety 7 Parking

4.3 Residential Design Guide (2021) This document provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing property as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential properties and sustainable methods of construction.

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Douglas City Council - No objections. This development must not prohibit the refuse bins from being removed from the highway to be stored within the curtilage of the property between refuse collections. (20.10.23) - 5.2 Highway Services - Development would have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking due to the sustainable location of the proposals, parking restrictions on surrounding streets and the likely slow speed of vehicles around garage entrances. Conditions for garages to be used for vehicles and bin stores and be implemented before first occupation, and new garage door for apartment 2 on approved plans shall not swing onto the adopted highway, should all be conditioned on permission. (13.10.23) - 5.3 Manx Utilities Authority - Manx Utilities Authority has assessed the above planning application and would like to advise you that the Authority has no objection to the application subject to the following condition/s:-

There must be NO discharge of surface water (directly or indirectly) from this proposed development to any foul drainage system(s) so as to comply with the requirements of Manx Utilities and the Sewerage Act 1999.

The proposed dwelling must be connected to the public sewer(s) in a manner acceptable to Manx Utilities. All drainage works must conform to the requirements of "Manx Sewers for Adoption", any necessary CCTV surveys are to be carried out at the developer's expense.

In accordance with the Sewerage Act 1999, a communication fee will be payable to Manx Utilities Authority in respect each property being connected (directly or indirectly) to the public drainage system. (19.10.23)

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are as follows:

• - Principle of development (SP1)
• - Design and visual impact (STP5, GP2, EP42)
• - Residential amenity (GP2g,h)
• - Other matters (TP4,7)

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 The site falls within an area of Douglas zoned for 'predominantly residential' use whereby the principle of new residential related development, including changes of use, is acceptable, subject to consideration additional material planning matters; particularly those related to design and residential amenity.

6.3 DESIGN AND VISUAL IMPACT

• 6.3.1 The proposed alterations to the exterior of the property are largely minimal and limited to fenestration alterations. The general design and character of the existing property, which is not in itself unattractive, would remain largely intact, together with its visual interaction with the wider streetscene. In particularly, the removal and reduction in size of the existing roller shutter doors is generally welcome, with no concerns raised from a visual standpoint over the alterations to the existing fenestration. The proposals are therefore considered to be compliant with General Policy 2 (b) & (c).

6.4 RESIDENTIAL AMENITY

• 6.4.1 The previous application at the site was notably refused on the singular reason that the 4-bedroom apartment would have been afford poor levels of natural light and outlook, in large part due to the layout and limited elevated fenestration serving key habitable rooms. No concerns were raised over the quantum of internal accommodation provided, nor did the reason for refusal include the lack of external private amenity provision associated with the proposed apartment largely on the basis of the site's town centre location.

• 6.4.2 By contrast to the previous scheme, the place of worship has been removed from the proposals, with the development to now only include a residential use in the form of 2x2-bed apartments. The removal of the place of worship from the scheme, reorientation to layout and alterations to fenestration would ensure that each apartment would benefit from more appropriate levels of natural light, ventilation and outlook.
• 6.4.3 Specifically, fenestration on the northern-eastern elevation would be lowered and widened in parts, therefore improving the outlook and light levels with respect to the ground floor dining/kitchen area and first floor lounge and bedroom serving Apartment 1. Likewise, the enlarged kitchen/dining room/lounge serving the other apartment would be served by an existing large window which would also be lowered to improve outlook and natural light. An additional window is also proposed to serve bedroom 1 of Apartment 2, with bedroom 2 also

• served by an existing window. Nearly all rooms across both apartments would additionally be served by a series of rooflights.
• 6.4.4 On the basis of the changes to the scheme relative to the previous refusal, it is considered that the current proposals have sufficiently overcome concerns held by the previous case officer by way of providing 2 no. good quality apartments which would benefit from a satisfactory level of amenity in the form of natural light, ventilation, outlook and general layout. The development is therefore deemed further compliant with General Policy 2 and (h).
• 6.5 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.5.1 No concerns have been raised by Highway Services, subject to conditions attached to any forthcoming decision notice in relation to the use and layout of the garages for each apartment. The proposals would include dedicated space for the storage of bin storage to ensure that refuse and recycle bins would not be stored on the highway.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The development is considered acceptable in principle whilst providing additional residential accommodation in an appropriate location following the reuse of an underused commercial building. The proposals would pose no material impact upon the visual amenities of the locality whilst providing a good standard of living for future occupants. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 1, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan (2016). The application is therefore recommended for approval. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 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. 8.2 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

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Acting Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 19.02.2024 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development Management

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