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                                      21/01005/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No. : 21/01005/B Applicant : Ardlui Limited Proposal : Demolition of 22 Parliament Street and 6 West Quay Site Address : 22 Parliament Street And 6 West Quay Ramsey IM8 1AP

Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 21.10.2022 __

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.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The application accords with General Policy 2 and Environment Policies 35 and 39 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and with the general principles of PPS 1/01.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 25th August 2021; o Drawing No. EX-02 o Drawing No. P-02 o Drawing No. P-03

This decision also relates to the additional information dated 5th May 22 and received on the 10th August 2022. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

It is recommended that the following organisation should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 4(2):

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Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society as they do not satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status. __

Officer’s Report

THE PLANNING APPLICATION IS BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE PRINCIPAL PLANNER OFFICER

THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of No.22 Parliament Street and No.6 West Quay which are properties which has retail to the ground floor level and residential above.

1.2 The property is a two storey flat roofed site to the Parliament Street elevation and a one storey flat roofed site to the West Quay elevation.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 This application proposes the full demolition of the properties.

PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 There are several applications on the site; PA04/01589/A - Approval in principle for the construction of first and second floors to create two residential apartments - Refused on review (22 Parliament Street only)

PA05/02052/B - Sub-division of existing single retail unit to provide two new units, one with access via West Quay, and installation of a replacement roof light - Permitted (22 Parliament Street only)

PA18/00284/B - Alterations and roof extension to provide one retail unit (Class 1), four offices (Class 4) and one residential apartment - Permitted (Auldyn House, 24 Parliament Street only)

PA20/00224/MCH - Minor changes application for PA 18/00284/B involving alteration to and creation of windows, shop front and stairwell - Permitted (Auldyn House, 24 Parliament Street only)

3.2 The following applications are in connection with this application and currently pending; PA22/00639/B - Erection of new four storey apartment building (class 3.4) with ground floor retail space (class 1.1)

PA21/00993/CON - Registered Building consent for demolition of building (retrospective), Auldyn House, 24 Parliament Street

PA21/01006/CON - Registered Building consent for demolition elements to PA 21/01005/B

PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use - Town Centre" on the Ramsey Local Plan 1998. The site is within the Ramsey Conservation Area and within a High Risk Flood Zone (Tidal) area.

4.2 Given the nature of the proposal and the property being situated within a Conservation Area, the relevant Strategic Policies are Strategic Policy 4 which seeks to protect or enhance Conservation Areas, Environment Policy 35 which seeks that the character and quality of the Conservation Area is protected against inappropriate development, Environment Policy 39 in connection with Paragraph 7.32.2 and Section 19 of the 1999 Town and Country Planning Act

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which seeks to retain buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area. 4.3 With regards to the Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man, the most relevant policy is CA/6.

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The following representations can be seen online in full;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the application and do not oppose. (09.08.22 & 14.09.21)

5.3 Ramsey Town Commissioners have considered the application and have no objections. (20.09.21)

5.4 The Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society have written in to object to the proposal for several reasons as outlined in their objection. (15.11.21)

ASSESSMENT 6.1 Whilst the property is not registered, the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 requires that demolitions in Conservations Areas have registered building consent to safeguard the character and appearance of the surrounding area. Therefore the key considerations in this case are whether the proposed works will adversely affect or change the character and nature of the building or the Conservation Area.

6.2 The property is situated within the main Ramsey Town Centre as such, it is within a very public vantage point with the properties within this part of the Ramsey Town Centre being a general mix of two storey flat roofed to three storey traditional properties.

6.3 There is general presumption within Environment Policy 39 that buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area should be retained. In the case of this property, the flat roofed aspects of the site do not add to the Conservation Area, whilst the removal of the property could also not enhance or preserve the Conservation Area as it could provide a gap within the main street.

6.4 Whilst this is the case, a structures report have been submitted, which states that the site as a whole is in a bad state of repair and has been for a while, and that significant intervention would be required to ensure its structural safety.

6.5 With this in mind, there has been no evidence provided of maintenance submitted within this application, with the information provided stating that there have been issues since October 2016, as such the property should not have got to the state it is currently in. Whilst this is the case due to the time period in which the property has started to degrade, with no maintenance, it can only be assumed that this will continue and the property will continue to provide a negative impact upon the Conservation Area.

6.5 As such ultimately on balance, considering there is an application in for a replacement four storey apartment building with ground floor retail space (PA22/00639/B) it is considered that the loss of the property would not have unacceptable impacts on the character and appearance of the Ramsey Conservation Area and their demolition may be regarded as an enhancement, in accordance with Environment Policies 35 and 39.

CONCLUSION 7.1 Overall it is deemed that the demolition works will have a minimal impact upon the general streetscene when viewed from a public vantage point and a minimal impact upon the Conservation Area, as such this Registered Building consent proposal accords with the Strategic Plan and Policy Statements as set out in 4.0 above, it is recommended for approval.

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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 confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted

Committee Meeting Date: 07.11.2022

Signed : V PORTER Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below

Customer note

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