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Application No.: 09/00229/C Applicant: Chartridge Ltd T/a Electrical Cash \& Carry Proposal: Change of use from storage / light industrial to storage and display for sale of electrical goods Site Address: Units 1, 2 \& 7 Middle River Industrial Estate Douglas Isle Of Man ### Considerations Case Officer : Mr Ian Brooks Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee ### Written Representations House Of Keys Legislative Buildings Isle Of Man IM1 3PW Supports the proposal ### Consultations Consultee : Highways Division Notes: Object Consultee : Douglas Corporation Notes: No objection.
SITE The application site comprises Units 1, 2 and 7, which are located within Middle River Industrial Estate. The site is within an area zoned for light industrial use within the Douglas Local Plan 1998.
This application seeks permission to change the use of a storage/light industrial unit to storage and display for sale of electrical goods.
Units 1 and 2 are used as follows: The ground floor is used as display and storage of graded electrical goods. The mezzanine is used for storage of goods.
Unit 7 is used as follows: The ground floor is used as a sales area/office and storage/display areas. The mezzanine floor level is used for storage with a workbench for the testing of televisions.
The types of products being sold from units are as follows: Televisions, Television stands, DVD Recorders, Fridge Freezers, Fridges, Gas/Electric Ovens, Printers, Washing Machines and tumble dryers, Electric Fires and Microwaves.
Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: General Policy 2, Business Policies 5 & 10.
Business Policy 5 states that "On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted except where either:
and, in respect of (a) or (b), where it can be demonstrated that the sales would not detract from the vitality and viability of the appropriate town centre shopping area."
Business Policy 10 states that "Retail development will be permitted only in established town and village centres, with the exceptions of neighbourhood shops in large residential areas and those instances identified in Business Policy 5."
The following previous applications are considered relevant in the consideration of this application:
The reason for refusal was "The continued use of an electrical goods outlet would be contrary to Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 in that the type of goods being sold from the site can be displayed and sold from a high street or town centre location and it has not been demonstrated that the proposal would not detract from the vitality and viability of Douglas Town Centre."
Condition 2 of the permission stated that "The proposed units may be used for warehousing or light industrial purposes only. Any proposal for any other commercial use should form the subject of a separate application; retail or office uses are not hereby approved, and are unlikely to receive approval."
REPRESENTATIONS
The Highways Division of the Department of Transport have objected to the application on the grounds that the Strategic plan requires 10 parking spaces for general industrial use, only 6 spaces are provided. The current use as storage only requires 5 spaces.
Douglas Corporation does not oppose the application.
Mr Malarkey MHK supports the application. Mr Malarkey has visited the site and believes the type of large appliances such as Range Cookers and American Style Fridge/Freezers that they sell on a cash and carry basis is fine for the area and believes that it would not be possible to sell them from a town centre shop.
ASSESSMENT
The key issue here is whether to allow retailing within an Industrial Estate. The main policies to consider are Business Policies 5 and 10 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007. Business Policy 10
1 May 2009
states that "Retail development will be permitted only in established town and village centres, with exceptions of neighbourhood shops in large residential areas and those instances in Business Policy 5."
The application site is not located within an established town or village centre and therefore the proposed use would be contrary to Business Policy 10 unless it meets one of the exceptions outlined in Business Policy 5 of the Strategic Plan. The policy states that "On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted except where either:
Paragraph (a) of the policy refers to essentially bulky goods. It should be noted that paragraph 9.2.6 of the Strategic Plan provides examples of the type of goods that cannot generally be sold from a high street or town centre location. These are motor vehicles, builders' materials, agricultural equipment and feed.
The applicant's agent considers the proposal would not undermine the provisions of Business Policy 5 and they have set out their justification as follows: "First, it is important to appreciate that the business involves bulky durable goods, mainly large electrical appliances such as televisions, fridge/freezers, washing machines and cookers. These typically weigh 60 to 100 kg and because of their size weight or shape require vehicular transport close by for customers to take them away, as they could not be carried home on foot or taken on a bus." "Second, the goods are graded, that is damaged in a variety of ways so each item is different from the next. It follows that each good must be viewed and purchased individually, unlike High Street stores where display models of a product type can be viewed and an identical product then ordered, with home delivery made from a central warehouse. This is a unique aspect of the business which is not found in normal High Street shops so there is no conflict in terms of direct competition." "Third, the site has be serviced by bulk deliveries which are made twice a month by a 44 feet HGV trailer and the goods are unloaded by forklift truck. The operation usually takes about 4 hours and take place outside normal business hours to avoid disruption to customers parking and other businesses. No objection to the previous application for unit 7 was raised by the Highway Authorities. We note the previous objection by the Manx Electricity Authority on traffic grounds but the problems they refer to are caused by others and their depots is remote from our clients site." "Fourth, it should be noted that the proposal is a mixed use which is dominated by storage and display areas. The display areas enable the individual goods to be viewed, but the retail sale desks occupy only a small part of those areas. The overall floor area totals 531 sq m of which 186 sq m ( ) would be purely storage using the mezzanine floors. On the ground floors about 286 sq m ( ) would be used to display and store goods and the remaining 59 sq m ( ) used for ancillary offices, loading area etc. You should note that goods would also be stored in parts of the display areas as they would remain in boxes until there was customer interest so in effect the major part of the premises would be in storage use." "The staff all park away from the site. There are 6 allocated parking spaces for customers and sales figures show that on average 5 to 6 customers call at the site per day so parking is adequate. The company advertises locally and the vast majority of customers are island residents and trade persons such as hoteliers and property developers. The latter often make multiple item purchases."
"Fifth, it is appreciated the business involves a retail element but this is similar to other uses and we note that paragraph 9.2.6 of the Strategic Plan recognises that some applications for retail related uses on industrial estates have been successful, including those enterprises where the items being sold cannot generally be sold form a town centre location. In the Middle River Estate, a retail precedent has already been set by several companies close to our client's site. These include HSS Hire, City Electrical Factors, MFBP Building Supplies, West Coast Performance car garage, Autologic and CEF. These sell retail goods to the public and most of them have display and retail sales areas which are clearly advertised on the exterior of the premises. Indeed we understand that CEF have only very recently opened a lighting showroom at their premises. We conclude that our client's proposal is not dissimilar to others which have been approved in the area."
"Finally, our client has examined premises in Douglas Town Centre to see if there are suitable premises there but has found no sites which are suitable in size, floor area, or availability of adjacent on-street or on-site customer parking which is essential for the type of use proposed."
"In terms of vitality and viability of the town centre the unusual nature of the good sold mean that comparison shopping would not be affected and there is no significant pedestrian movement involved so vitality is not an issue. Also, there is a need for the type of goods sold as there are no similar uses in the town centre and the clientele are virtually all local."
"In conclusion, we believe that the location is the only one suitable to cater for the particular customer servicing and access requirements of the business. That requirement, together with the extent of floor area needed means a town centre location is not appropriate. The nature of the business which deals with a specific niche market for graded goods would not affect the viability of the town centre. We suggest that protection from change to other forms of retail use could be achieved by conditions. In the UK paragraph 3.31 of Planning Policy Statement 6 confirms that conditions can be used to control the retail element and safeguard the town centre, including those to deal with the scale and format of development, parking and access, sub-division, ancillary elements, amount of floor space and limits on the range and mix of goods sold. We therefore consider that it would be appropriate to restrict the goods sold from the premises to graded bulky goods only to safeguard any possible conflict with the interest of the town centre."
It should be noted the applicant's agent has clarified that his client has looked at the town centre but did not investigate any specific properties. This is because his client found the area as a whole to be unsuitable for his type of business and that the town centre is not appropriate due to the loading and unloading requirements for his client and customers.
While conducting a site visit, the applicant also indicated that 90% of the goods on display are graded; while, the remaining 10% are brand new goods.
There are a number of shops within Douglas that sell electrical/electronic equipment such as the Manx Electricity Authority showroom on Ridgeway Street and Colebourn on Victoria Street. These retail shops sell a number of the items that are being sold at the application site. This demonstrates that the existing retailers within Douglas can sell the range of goods that are on display at the application site within a high street or town centre location; however, the major difference between these shops and this proposal is that a very high percentage of goods are graded goods which are sold from the application site. Therefore, each product is individually unique due to their condition and customers would closely inspect the goods prior to purchase compared to a town centre retailer with a central warehouse selling brand new goods. It is considered that these items can not be reasonable be sold from a town centre location because of their size and nature. It is considered that paragraph (a) of Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan has been satisfied.
The next part of the assessment is whether the proposal would detract from the vitality and viability of Douglas Town Centre. The overall floor area totals 531 sq m of which 186 sq m (35%) would be purely storage using the mezzanine floors. On the ground floors about 286 sq m (54%) would be
1 May 2009
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