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23/01358/C Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 23/01358/C Applicant : K Henry Construction (IOM) Ltd Proposal : Change of use from light industrial to storage and distribution and parking of vehicle (retrospective) Site Address : Compound 41 Snugborough Trading Estate Union Mills Isle Of Man IM4 4LH
Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level :
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 06.02.2024 __
Conditions and Notes for Approval
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The site hereby approved may be used for storage and distribution. Approval does not extend to the use of the site for retail purposes or as a skip transfer station or for the storage or distribution of dangerous goods (as defined in the Road Traffic Act: Road Vehicles carrying Dangerous Goods (Maintenance and Use) Regulations 2000) or coal or items which could give rise to nuisance to adjacent land users by virtue of dust, noise or smell.
Reason: Although the specific details of this application have been found acceptable, any change to its operation will require fresh assessment.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. Overall the proposed use of the site as storage and distribution would not harm the use of the existing site nor the surrounding units, would not impact the highway network and would comply with the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and is recommended for approval.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 16th November 2023; o Location Plan o Site Plan - As Existing o Site Plan - As Proposed o Drawing of existing structure on site o Planning Statement o Photographs of the site.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
None __
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION SITE
1.1 The application site is Unit 41, Snugborough Trading Estate, Union Mills, which is situated to the end of the South East Snugborough Trading Estate cul-de-sac.
1.2 The site is largely an open compound with an open on one side structure which provides a store and office.
THE PROPOSAL
2.1 The current planning application seeks retrospective approval for the change of use from "light industrial" to Storage and Distribution, with the parking of a vehicle.
2.2 The following is from the planning statement provided by the applicants; "We are a Formwork and Concreting Company doing reinforced concrete works on the Island. We store various types of formwork equipment such as Peri and Doka panels and accessories, Propping Equipment, plywood and timber used for carrying out our works.
We use our lorry for delivering and collecting these materials to and from our works for use on various sites throughout the Island.
The lorry is kept in the compound overnight. The vehicle is not maintained on site it is maintained by Wades Truck Services, Balthane Industrial Estate, Ballasalla."
PLANNING HISTORY
3.1 The following is some of the applications on the site in question; PA88/00409/B - Layout of access road to compounds and sewers - Refused PA88/01299/B - Layout of roads and sewers - Permitted PA91/04074/B - Layout of roads, sewers and new units - Refused PA92/00591/B - Layout of roads and sewers, compound area - Approved at Appeal PA95/01756/B - Hard surfacing of existing site and erection of permanent office and under cover refuse area - Permitted PA02/00868/B - Extension to perimeter fencing to match existing - Permitted
PLANNING POLICY
4.1 The site lies within a site designated as "Industrial" on the Area Plan for the East, Map 8 - Union Mills/Strang. The site is not within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.
4.2 AREA PLAN FOR THE EAST
4.2.1 The following policies are applicable from the Area Plan for the East;
4.2.2 Employment Policy 7 - Proposals for the development/ redevelopment of existing Manufacturing Warehousing and Distribution and Office uses which are outside Existing Settlement Boundaries but shown as an Industrial purple colour-wash on the Proposals Map,
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will be assessed in line with Employment Proposal 1 where it can be demonstrated that the proposal would not result in an incursion into the countryside.
4.2.3 Employment Policy 1 - The development of existing industrial land, including the following sites, will be supported for the following uses only: manufacturing; warehousing and distribution; office accommodation (subject to compliance with Strategic Plan Business Policy 7); or retail outlets (subject to compliance with Strategic Plan Business Policy 5).
4.3 STRATEGIC PLAN
4.3.1 The following Strategic Policies from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are relevant; Strategic Policy 1 - development should be located to make best use of previously developed land, redundant and underused buildings and utilising existing infrastructure; Strategic Policy 2 - focus new development in existing settlements unless complies with GP3; Strategic Policy 5 - development should be well designed; Strategic Policy 9 - All new retail development must be located within the town and village centres Strategic Policy 10 - development should promote integrated journeys, minimise car use and facilitate other modes of travel; Spatial Policy 1: Douglas will remain the main employment area; General Policy 2 - detailed 'development control' considerations; Business Policy 1 - encourages growth of opportunities; Business Policy 5 - land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted except under certain circumstances. Business Policy 7 - new office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on appropriate area plan; exceptionally, permission may be given for new office space, (a) on approved Business Parks for corporate headquarters which do not involve day to day callers.. Community Policy 7 - designed to prevent criminal and antisocial behaviour; Community Policies 10 and 11 - implement best practice so as to reduce outbreak and spread of fire; Transport Policy 1- best located close to existing transport links; Transport Policy 4 - safe and appropriate provision for journeys; Transport Policy 6 - needs of pedestrians; Transport Policy 7 - parking standards; Infrastructure Policy 5 - methods for water conservation;
4.4 DEFINITION OF LIGHT INDUSTRIAL General industrial is defined within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan as, "means an industrial building (not being a special industrial building) in which the processes carried on or the machinery installed are such as could be carried on or installed in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit, or undue generation of traffic or parking of vehicles; the use of light industrial buildings for research and development products or processes is permitted by the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005."
REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 The following representations can be seen online in full;
5.2 Highway Services have considered the application and state, "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking." (24.11.23)
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5.3 Braddan Commissioners have considered the application and have no objections. (30.11.23)
ASSESSMENT
6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of the planning application are;
6.2 PRINCIPLE
6.2.1 When looking at whether the principle of the change of use is acceptable it is necessary to note that the Employment Land Review makes it clear that there is a longer term shortfall in the amount of land for employment purposes (industrial, offices, storage and distribution) within the Island, with the Isle of Man Strategic Plan mirroring this in there being a presumption against certain uses within land zoned as industrial.
6.2.2 Around the Island industrial units have had changes of use approved, mostly sites situated within already existing industrial sites, with a wide range of different uses. It is important to note that whilst these change of uses have been approved, the predominant use and character of the industrial estate is still industrial.
6.2.3 The proposal within this application proposes the change of use to storage and distribution. The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 specifically states, "9.2.4 Sites identified as suitable for Industry will generally also be suitable for the storage and distribution of goods, although, depending upon location with respect to other uses, the Department may restrict the goods stored by attaching the following condition: "The building(s) hereby approved may be used for storage and distribution. Approval does not extend to the use of the site for retail purposes or as a skip transfer station or for the storage or distribution of dangerous goods (as defined in the Road Traffic Act: Road Vehicles carrying Dangerous Goods (Maintenance and Use) Regulations 2000) or coal or items which could give rise to nuisance to adjacent land users by virtue of dust, noise or smell".
6.2.5 With the above in mind, when looking at whether storage and distribution would be acceptable from the site, the crux of the policies is depending on the items which are stored and distributed from the site.
6.2.6 When looking at the items in which the applicant stores and distributes, it can be seen that the items are large and wouldn't be easily stored within sites which are not industrial in nature.
6.3 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE
6.3.1 When looking at the site itself within the context of the surrounding streetscene, the proposed use would appear industrial in appearance and would not have an impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding units.
6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY
6.4.1 Overall the proposal would have no adverse impact upon the amenities of the neighbouring units and as such complies with the principles of General Policy 2.
6.5 PARKING OF VEHICLE
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6.5.1 While the application description refers to the parking of a vehicle in planning terms, parking associated with the authorised use would not need to be controlled. However the information supplied as part of the application states that the site has a lorry which is used to transport their equipment to and from the site. Overall when looking at the site itself and the space available for parking any ancillary parking would be considered acceptable. Therefore this is not proposed to be controlled as part of the application and it is probably really not needed to be referred to in the description.
CONCLUSION
7.1 Overall the proposed use of the site as storage and distribution would not harm the use of the existing site or the surrounding units, would not impact the highway network and would comply with the aforementioned planning policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and is recommended for approval.
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 in this case Douglas Borough Council have not made material comments and should not be afforded Interest Person Status.
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 : 07.02.2024
Determining officer Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan
Acting Head of Development Management
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