Planning Secretary Planning & Building Control Division Murray House Mount Havelock Douglas
Dear Sir/Madam,
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE) (No2) ORDER 2013
I refer to the abovementioned planning application.
In accordance with the Article 10(9) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, I herewith give notice of the decision as follows.
On 15th October 2015, the Council of Ministers considered the recommendations of the Planning Inspector and determined to approve the application subject to the two conditions specified below.
Conditions of approval
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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
Application
15/00275/B
Applicant
The Children’s Centre
Proposal
Partial conversion of Pavilion to provide a children’s nursery
Address
Laxey Glen Pavilion New Road Laxey Isle Of Man IM4 7BE
The maximum number of children attending the nursery at any one time shall be 24.
Reason: This is the number of children the application was assessed on. A higher number of children may result in highway and/or other impacts not considered at this stage and would need further consideration.
In accordance with Article 10(10)(c) of the Order, please be advised that the decision of the Council of Ministers is binding and final (subject to the possibility of judicial review by petition of doleance).
The Planning Inspector's report, upon which the decision was determined, may be viewed by visiting https://www.gov.im/planningapplication/services/planning/search.iom, Isle of Man Government's Online services, or by contacting the Cabinet Office for a paper copy (please telephone 685280).
Yours faithfully,
A Johnstone Planning Appeals Administrator On behalf of the Chief Secretary
Application By The Children'S Centre For Planning Approval For Partial Conversion Of Pavilion To Provide Children'S Nurseryat Laxey Glen Pavilion, New Road, Laxey, Isle Of Man
Case Reference: DF15/0020<br>Planning Application: 15/00275/B
Introduction
The application site includes land and buildings owned by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture ("DEFA"), and so the application has been referred to the Council of Ministers for determination under Article 10 of The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013. I have been appointed to consider the application and to make this report. I held an inquiry on 9 September 2015 following a site visit on 7 September. Appearances at the inquiry are listed at the end of this report. The report provides brief descriptions of the site and the proposal, summaries of the cases for the applicant, for DEFA and for the Highway Services Division of the Department of Infrastructure ("Dol"), and the gist of replies made to consultations undertaken. The report continues with my assessment, conclusions and recommendation.
The Site And Surroundings And The Proposed Development
The proposal relates to part of the Pavilion in Laxey Glen. The site has a one-way system of access/ egress. The access is via a road that curves up from the car park in front of the former Laxey Glen Hotel, while egress is to Stoney Road/Baldhoon Road. The red line site boundary incorporates the whole Pavilion, the circulation space in front of it, the car parking area to the east and the egress road to Stoney Road/Baldhoon Road. The proposal relates only to the north east wing of the building closest to the car park. The function room in the south western part of the building would be unaffected. The middle section of the building would be used as a café on the ground floor with an existing apartment above. The Department has indicated that no planning approval is required for those other uses.
It is proposed to convert part of the building to form a children's nursery. This would be open from 0800-1800 hours on Mondays to Fridays, except on Bank Holidays, and would have 24 places, with 6 for babies and 18 for children aged 2-4. There would be 7 staff.
Case For The Applicant
The main points are:
A high priority should be given to the determination of the application as time delays have already had an impact on the project's viability. The applicant is a charity and has invested a substantial sum to breathe life back into the Pavilion, after being asked by DEFA to help with regeneration of the site in 2014. The Laxey Pavilion Social Enterprise will bring the Glen to life and create a welcome location for children and families. The proposal will provide an adaptable facility, a flagship for future social enterprises and sustainability for The Children's Centre. It will also secure the future of an iconic Manx building. The proposal will complement a coffee shop and function room in the building, and those activities and the nursery will be interdependent. The proposed nursery is vital to the overall viability of the building and of the social enterprise, which has to be self-supporting.
A significant local demand exists for the nursery. There have been 11 applications and 20 expressions of interest. Two-thirds of the applications are from families in Laxey and the rest from neighbouring villages. The teaching of children would make use of the beautiful surroundings and the setting of the building in the Glen. In that way the nursery would be an ancillary use to the open space of the Glen.
A strategy has been put forward to deal with issues raised by the Highway Services Division. With respect to the concerns about the shared nature of the pedestrian/vehicular access to the site, instructions would direct pedestrians to use the pedestrian-only access through the lower garden. This would be included in any nursery induction. A plan shows the creation of a new length of path to facilitate continuous passage to the Pavilion without having to use steps. There is ample space for parking. The available spaces include 25 in the upper car park, plus drop off points, and 15 in the lower car park. There are 50 spaces in total available in the Glen. To reduce current unauthorised use of the car parking by local businesses and residents, DEFA will reinstate parking restrictions on the Glen House and upper car parks. Leaflets will be delivered to surrounding businesses and residents to ensure that these restrictions are clear. There would be no conflicting demands on the parking provision from the uses in the Pavilion on Mondays-Wednesdays, as the café would be open during the week only on Thursdays and Fridays. On those days, users of the Glen would be redirected to the lower car park to ensure that only the users of the café and the nursery would park in the upper car park. That would alleviate any potential strain on available parking during peak lunch hour times on Thursdays and Fridays.
In response to the concerns about the impact of traffic on peak time flows on New Road, the number of vehicles leaving the Glen during peak hours would be reduced by the reinstatement of parking restrictions. It is also relevant that the parents who have applied for places all work in Douglas, and so they are already using the road through Laxey to travel to work. Non-peak hour delivery times would be implemented where possible. Traffic to and from the nursery would be staggered through the day and would not be concentrated at peak times. Some children would arrive on foot. Evidence in the form of tables showing the numbers/timings of children arriving at and departing from other nurseries run by The Children's Centre demonstrates that movements would be spread throughout the day.
Case For The Department Of Environment, Food And Agriculture
The main points are:
The site is designated as Open Space for Particular Purposes (Woodland) in the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan 2005, and is within the Laxey Conservation Area and an Area of Ecological Interest. There are relevant policies in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (listed in paras. 3.3-3.14 of the Planning Statement). Policy CA/2 - Special Planning Considerations - in Planning Policy Statement 1/01 "Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man" is also relevant.
There are 3 issues. The first concerns the principle of the development. The site is not allocated for this development, but it is not designated for any specific development and has previously been used for purposes associated with the Glen. This is an existing building and it is desirable to find a viable use for it. The proposal would help support the long term survival of an underused building. The proposed use would not conflict with the other uses in the Glen. There would be a loss to the community overall if the function room and café/restaurant were to be lost due to the continued under-use of the building.
The second issue concerns the character, appearance and ecology of the area. There would be little impact in those respects as the proposal is for change of use with internal alterations only. The refurbishment of the building in association with the proposal would be beneficial. The effect on the Laxey Conservation Area would if anything be a positive one.
The third issue concerns highway implications. The clearly substandard nature of Baldhoon Road would be of more concern if that were the only access to the site, but it is not. The building has an established use which could be operated in a much more intensive way than at present. The number of vehicle movements generated by a nursery of this size would be unlikely to be higher than if the
building were to be used to capacity for its established use. There is sufficient parking adjacent to the building to serve the proposed use. There would be more parking provision than at other existing nurseries. Access on foot along Baldhoon Road is not ideal as there are no footways, but pedestrian access through the Glen would be pleasant except in poor weather or in the winter when it is dark. Although the time of use is likely to coincide with times when the main road is at its busiest, the proposal would be unlikely to generate significantly levels of activity. It is relevant that the speed limit through Laxey is 20 mph . Although visibility to the left on exiting Baldhoon Road into New Road is hindered by an approved sign on the adjacent filling station, visibility to the right is sufficient to allow drivers to move slowly forward to gain views to the left.
Had the Planning Authority been in a position to take this application to the Planning Committee, the Planning Case Officer would have recommended that approval should be granted. Two conditions are suggested if the application is approved.
Case For The Department Of Infrastructure, Highway Services Division
(Inspector's Note: Highway Services Division did not provide a written statement. The following text conveys the main points made by Mr Almond in a verbal address.)
The Highways Case Officer detailed 9 areas of concern about the proposal in an email to the applicant on 10 April 2015. Further information had subsequently been received from the applicant. The first concern had related to a perceived lack of clarity as to how the parts of the building other than the nursery were to be used. Those uses had been clarified and no issue remained on this point. The second concern related to a perceived lack of adequate quantification of the traffic which the proposal would generate. A survey had since been carried out by the applicant. It was agreed that this survey provided a fair assessment of traffic levels on the existing roads.
The third concern was that insufficient information had been provided regarding visibility, particularly at the Baldhoon Road/New Road junction. Highway Services Division had reflected further on this matter and had undertaken additional risk assessment, taking into account that this is an existing junction not a proposed one. Further analysis of the accident records had taken place. Based only on the total number of 7 accidents that had occurred in a 5 year period the junction had been placed in the medium risk category. Based on the further analysis this was actually a low risk location. Relevant factors were that only 1 of the accidents had occurred at the junction, and that was a single vehicle accident involving driver error. The other 6 accidents had taken place along the frontage to the north, with 1 slight-injury accident and 5 damage-only accidents. None of those accidents were associated with turning movements at the junction. In these circumstances, refusal of the application on the basis of traffic generation through this road junction could not be justified. Having regard to the likely traffic generation from the proposed use, the risk category of the junction would not be increased significantly.
The fourth concern had involved the potential for delays and queues to occur on the main road as a result of right turning vehicles waiting for gaps in the on-coming traffic, and also the consequent potential for collisions due to inadequate forward visibility for approaching drivers of the vehicles waiting to turn. Further consideration of the likely usage of the Pavilion and of the traffic flow data had resolved this concern. The anticipated traffic flows would not be sufficient to cause any delays on the side road, and delays on the main road would occur only intermittently. The consequent effects would be no different than the usual stop-start pattern that occurs on this main road. There would be a minimal effect on travel times along the main road.
The fifth and sixth concerns related to pedestrian safety and accessibility within the site. The applicant had provided further information detailing proposed changes to the footpaths within the Glen. Bearing
in mind that the pedestrian routes in the Glen are not within the control of the applicant, the view now taken was that the access for pedestrians would be reasonable, although it could be better. In particular most of the paths within the Glen are gravel surfaced, and so do not provide full accessibility for all potential users, with particular reference to disabled persons including wheelchair users. As the applicant would not be able to comply with a requirement to improve the pedestrian links, this was not a topic that could be addressed by planning condition. It was a matter on which there could be dialogue with DEFA to seek improvements, including better lighting of the pedestrian routes. It was not now considered that this matter was so detrimental to the proposal as to justify refusal of the application.
The seventh and eighth concerns related to whether there would be sufficient car parking spaces to serve all the uses on the site. Based on additional information provided, and taking into account the different times of day at which the various uses would place their peak demands on parking provision, Highway Services now considered that the number of spaces would be adequate to serve the proposed use and the existing uses. With respect to the ninth and final concern, which related to the question of whether servicing of the site could be carried out without interfering with car parking and pedestrian movements, this matter had now been addressed by information about the proposed management of the site. It was now accepted that servicing was not fully within the applicant's control, but it was also accepted that no additional risk would be created and that the existing risk was a manageable risk.
Taking all these matters into account, Highway Services Division now supported the application.
Other Representations
Laxey Village Commissioners recommends approval of the application.
The Director for Forestry, Amenity and Lands, on behalf of DEFA as owner of the Pavilion, supports the application. The proposal would represent an early stage of the "Forest School" which has been successful elsewhere. It would be a first for the Isle of Man in encouraging outdoor play and exercise for young children. The health and economic benefits of increased use and understanding of the countryside and outdoor activities are important factors. The proposal would bring back into use a facility which has seen businesses fail where they have adhered strictly to the historical use of the site.
Highway Services Division initially objected to the proposal on the basis of concerns about parking and visibility, and sought a parking survey and details of visibility from the existing access. (Inspector's Note: These objections have been overtaken by events and the Division's latest views are as summarised in the case for the Division detailed above.)
Inspector'S Assessment And Conclusions
There are 3 main issues: (i) the acceptability of the proposal in principle; (ii) the effects on the character and appearance of the area; and, (iii) the impact on traffic and pedestrian safety.
The proposal does not strictly accord with the designation of the site as Open Space for Particular Purposes (Woodland) in the relevant Area Plan. However, as the Planning Authority has pointed out the site is not designated for any specific development, and it is in my view necessary to take into account that the application involves the proposed reuse of part of an existing building rather than the erection of a new one. There is nothing in the evidence to suggest that if this proposal is refused there would be a likelihood of an alternative viable use being found for this part of the building. Bearing in mind also that this building is a long established feature within the Glen which it is desirable should be retained, considerable weight should be given to the role that this proposal would play in finding an overall viable mix of uses for what is at present an under-used facility.
It is also relevant that the intention is that the education of children attending the nursery would include use of the environment of the Glen as a teaching resource, and in that sense the proposed use can be regarded as having a key relationship to the surrounding woodland and to the designation of the site as Open Space. I have also taken into account that the proposal would accord with some of the elements of the Strategic Plan which have been cited by the Planning Authority. These include:
the Strategic Aim, which seeks amongst other matters to plan for the efficient and effective provision of services and infrastructure and to direct and control development and the use of land to meet the community's needs;
Strategic Policy 1, which seeks amongst other matters to promote best use of resources by optimising the use of previously developed land, unused and under-used land and buildings.
The proposal does not accord with the provisions of General Policies 2 and 3 of the Strategic Plan. Those policies respectively provide that development in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan will normally be permitted, and that development will not be permitted outside of areas which are zoned for development, other than for certain listed exceptions. This proposal does not fall within those exceptions. Nevertheless, in the circumstances that the proposal is for reuse of an existing building, and that it is difficult to foresee any other potential re-use which could fully accord with the Open Space designation, I do not consider any conflicts with those policies should be regarded as determinative of the acceptability of the proposal. In overview, and weighing all the relevant circumstances, the proposal should be regarded as being acceptable in principle in planning terms.
The proposal would have only very limited effects on the character and appearance of the area. The drawings show only internal alterations to the building. There is no evidence to suggest that comings and goings associated with the nursery would have an intensity that would materially affect the character of the area, particularly with the context that the floor-space involved has previously been used as a restaurant. The use of the Glen as an educational resource, with children undertaking outdoor activities, would not be out of keeping with the long-standing use of the Glen as an area for recreation. I have borne in mind that the site is within the Laxey Conservation Area but, in the absence of external alterations from the scheme, or of any marked increase in the intensity of use of the site, the proposal would serve to at least preserve the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. The proposal would comply in that respect with the intentions of Strategic Policy 4 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan, which seek to protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Conservation Areas and to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of those Areas. The proposal would also comply with Environment Policy 39, which provides a presumption in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. The Laxey Glen Pavilion is such a building. I have concluded on the second issue that the proposal would be acceptable in terms of its effects on the character and appearance of the area. It would accord with the part of the Strategic Aim of the Strategic Plan which seeks to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment, having particular regard to the uniquely Manx natural, wildlife, cultural and built heritage.
On the third issue, the Highway Services Division now supports the application. There is no alternative detailed or technical evidence to contradict that Division's views which indicate that sufficient parking spaces would be available, and that the local road network would be able to cope with the traffic generated by the nursery without any undue increase in risk to highway safety or material harm to the convenience of road users. Although there are some residual concerns about the accessibility of the site by pedestrians, these are mainly limited to the surfacing and lighting of paths. The evidence indicates that potential exists for discussion of those matters with the owning Department, DEFA, outside of the
planning process. Taking into account also that it is intended to reroute part of the footpath access so as to achieve a route which would not involve the use of any steps, and also that there is existing lighting in the upper car park and of the immediate surroundings of the building, I have not found the deficiencies with respect to pedestrian access to be so significant as to justify refusal of the application. This matter does not alter my overall conclusion on this issue, that on balance the proposal would be acceptable in terms of its impact on traffic and pedestrian safety. With respect to parking provision and the capability of the highways to serve the development safely and appropriately, the proposal would comply with the intentions of Transport Policies 4 and 7 of the Strategic Plan. By providing a nursery facility local to Laxey, the proposal would serve the aims of Strategic Policy 10 of the Strategic Plan, which amongst other matters seeks to direct new development so as to minimise car journeys, to avoid adverse effects on highway safety and to encourage pedestrian movement.
I have taken account of all other matters raised in the cases presented, but I have found nothing of overriding significance. I have reached the overall conclusion that planning approval should be granted. I incorporate in my recommendation the 2 conditions suggested by the Planning Authority, which are necessary and reasonable requirements.
Recommendation
I recommend that planning approval be granted for partial conversion of pavilion to provide children's nursery at Laxey Glen Pavilion, New Road, Laxey, Isle of Man, subject to the following conditions:
The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of 4 years from the date of this decision notice. (Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.)
The maximum number of children attending the nursery at any one time shall be 24. (Reason: This is the number of children the application was assessed on. A higher number of children may result in highway and/or other impacts not considered at this stage and would need further consideration.)
Stephen Amos MA (Cantab) MCD MRTPI Independent Inspector
Appearances At The Inquiry
For the Applicant: Mrs D Michelson (Chief Financial Officer)
Mrs A Guest (Head of Service, Early Years) Mr C Martin (Facilities Manager) Mr J Smith (JS Associates Ltd)
For the Planning Authority: Miss J Chance (Head of Development Management)
For Highway Services Division: Mr K Almond (Network Planning Manager)
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