Dental Surgery Planning Statement
Section 16 Relevant information
Background
The applicants are in the process of purchasing the Dental Practice of Mr G Stobart currently situated at 56 Woodbourne Road, Douglas.
It was initially intended to utilise the current leasehold premises but these have since been found to be unsuitable and the purchasers are unwilling, at the present time, to agree to a lease with the Landlord.
Suitable alternative premises have been found at 84 Bucks Road and an offer to purchase the entire freehold accepted by the current owners.
The proposed premises on Bucks Road offer the following benefits to users:
- They are larger and therefore offer a more comfortable environment for all users.
- The entrance is at ground level with only a 1 inch step from the pavement thus providing easy disabled access (Woodbourne had 3 steps)
- There is on street parking outside including a designated disabled space. (Woodbourne had double yellow lines)
- There is space at the rear for staff parking (Woodbourne had none)
- They are only 400 Metres from the existing premises and although the road changes names are situated on the same thoroughfare.
- They have future potential for further expansion by extending to the first floor and/or rear (subject to planning permission)
The two apartments above the ground floor will not be affected by the changes. The tenancy agreements will be transferred to the new owners and the existing tenants will continued to be offered relatively low cost accommodation on their existing terms and conditions of use.
Issues
We are aware of Community Policy 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan and address the main issues as follows:
a) There is no over concentration of uses in the area, given the size of Douglas. It should be noted that an existing practice is being relocated from within the same area so there is no net increase/decrease to the density of practices in the area.
b) There will be no unacceptable effect on the area. Given the existing premises have been vacant for some time and a full refurbishment is to take place (including exterior decoration) and the nature of the service offered, it is hoped that the population will view the plans as an improvement to the local amenities.
c) The premises are easily accessible given that the entrance is at street level and there is adequate roadside parking outside including a dedicated disabled space.
d) Due to the relocation from the same vicinity there will be no net change in traffic volumes entering and leaving the Woodbourne/Bucks Road thoroughfare. It should also be noted that the previous retail use may well have generated more use of the highway network. A Dental Practice generally has pre-booked appointments thus creating a stable, controlled flow of traffic throughout the day
We are also aware of Community Policy 4 of the above plan and would suggest that as the premises have been vacant for over a year (since June 2006) and that the previous retail business (which sold outdoor clothing) closed down due to insufficient business, the commercial viability of a retail outlet in this area (which is not in the main retail area of Douglas) has to be questioned.
It is also suggested that the small area of floor space makes a retail operation untenable as the required volumes of ranges and stock cannot be displayed.
Whilst we accept that a retail site is being lost we would ask that the intended use as a Dental Practice is borne in mind. The successful relocation of an established local practice will ensure that existing levels of dental care are continued to be made available to the residents of the Island.
