DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 21/00445/D Applicant: Port Erin Commissioners Proposal: Erection of non illuminated signage Site Address: Heritage Centre Bridson Street Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6AL Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 07.06.2021 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The signs are considered to comply with Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 and General Policies 6 and 7 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the Site and Location Plans, Elevations and Photos, and drawings reference number 02 and RG/RHT/07-03 all date stamped and received on 29th March 2021. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the following Government Departments should be given Interested Person Status on the basis that they have made written submissions relating to planning considerations:

Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Flood Risk Management Division _____________________________________________________________________________

- 1.0 THE SITE

Officer’s Report

1.1 The site is the curtilage of the Heritage Centre, Bridson Street Port Erin which is the former Bus Shelter And Toilets building situated on the eastern side of Bridson Street and adjacent the Cherry Orchard Apartments. The Commissioners' Officers and a church lie to the north along with residential properties and immediately to the north is a complex of shops, library and car park.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the installation of three non-illuminated signs on the building with one installed on the front elevation and the other two installed on either of the side elevations. These signs would also indicate that the building is a Tourist information centre. - 2.2 The first signage which would be installed on the front elevation, at a position slightly below the eaves and would measure 2.75m x 400mm. This signage would be from white plastic with Aluminium skin. The inscriptions would be made from black and red lettering, while the logos and border also having made of black and red colours. - 2.3 The signage on the side elevations would also be positioned slightly below the eaves would measure 2.2m x 1.1m. These signs would also have lettering and logo finished to match the signage on the front elevation. - 2.4 All the signs would be non-illuminated.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site is designated as Proposed Mixed Use on the Area Plan for the South adopted in

1. The site is not within the Conservation Area and is also not within a flood risk area as depicted on the Isle of Man Indicative Flood Risk Map.

3.2 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 make it clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of amenity and public safety. In the case of amenity, such things as the general characteristics of the area need to be taken into account along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest and the public safety should consider the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome including the obscuration of any traffic sign or similar. - 3.3 Due to the designation of the site and the nature of the application it is also appropriate to consider the following polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016: - 3.4 General Policy 2 states: "Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:

• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;

3.5 General Policy 6 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

• (a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed;
• (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and
• (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard'.

3.6 General Policy 7 states: 'Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted'. - 3.7 The following parts of the area plan are also considered relevant: "6.6.2 Development within an area of Mixed Use (as designated on the Proposals Map/Inset Maps) or those sites proposed for Mixed Use (identified on the Maps as 'Proposed Mixed Use') will comprise a mix of some or all of the following uses33: residential; shops; financial and professional services; food and drink; research and development, light industry; hotels and hostels; hospitals, nursing homes and residential institutions; community uses; leisure; tourism and open space. For applications relating to sites proposed for Mixed Use, the mix and types of uses on the site will be determined on their merits in accordance with the Proposals in the Area Plan and the Isle of Man Strategic Plan Policies. - 3.8 Section 6.28 recognises the importance of tourism to Port Erin.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 Planning approval was granted to enable the Conversion of building to create a heritage centre under PA 19/00613/B. This was approved in July 2019. Section 6.2 of the Officer report for this application considered that the "addition of this tourist/heritage facility will also enhance the range of tourism facilities in the village and will complement the existing attractions such as the railway station, the various shops and eating establishments, the harbour and the beach."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only. - 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division have not made any comments regarding the application although they were consulted on 24 April 2021. - 5.2 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Flood Risk Management Division confirms that that there is 'No Flood Risk Management interest' in the letter dated 6 May 2021. - 5.3 Port Erin Commissioners have indicated that they support the application in a letter dated 12 May 2021.

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The issue in this case is whether the signage would have any adverse impact on the character and appearance of the area and/or highway safety. - 6.2 The proposed signs would be unlit and not particularly prominent, although they would be visible to those who may be looking for it. Their sizes are also considered to be modest (when assessed within the context of the building to which they would be affixed), and will have no adverse impact on the character and appearance of what is a building with basic architecture, as they may even add interest to the elevations and draw attention to the building and its use. - 6.3 Similarly, the proposed signs are to do with the current use of the property and relatively minimalistic in their approach as such the impact on the overall streetscene would be minimal due to the signage not being considered to result in any new visual or amenity impacts beyond what would generally be expected within such an area.

6.3 With regard to impact on highway safety, it is not considered that there would be any detrimental impacts as the non-illuminated nature would ensure that they do not introduce any

• form of glare that would create safety concerns for road users. As well, their position which would be at least 2.5m from the edge of the highway at its closest point would ensure that any impacts on highway safety would be negligible.
• 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The signs are considered to have an acceptable impact on road safety and the character of the area, in compliance with General Policies 2, 6 and 7 and Environment Policy 38 as well as the Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 (As Amended), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• o Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material;
• o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.
• o the Highways, Ports and Railways divisions of the Department of Infrastructure. 8.2 The decision maker must determine:
• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than those explicitly listed above) 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 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 : 11.06.2021 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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