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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 21/01543/C Applicant : Mr Robert Marshall Proposal : Change of use from office to a residential dwelling Site Address : 35 Hope Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 1AR

Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 03.02.2022 __

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. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the documents, location plan and drawing no. 21/03134/01, 21/03134/02 date stamped as having been received on 10th December 2021. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE 1.1 The site is the curtilage of 35 Hope Street, a three-storey mid-terrace dwelling located on the southwest of Hope Street at its junction with Drinkwater Street.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL

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2.1 Proposed is the change of use from an office (use class 2.1) to a dwelling (use class 3.3).

3.0 Planning History 3.1 Conversion of dwelling to office accommodation was APPROVED under PA 00/01337/B.

4.0 Planning Policy Site Specific 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Mixed Use (St Georges) in the Area Plan for the East.

4.2 The written statement states that "Within the area, but outside of Athol Street, offices, financial and professional services, food and drink and some residential uses will also be acceptable. Uses which conflict with these will generally not be supported."

4.3 There are no planning constraints overlapping with this site.

Strategic Policy 4.4 In terms of strategic policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:

Principle of Developments 4.5 General Policy 1 states: "The determination of matters under Part 2 (Development Control) and Part 3 (Special Controls) of the 1999 Town and Country Planning Act shall have regard to the provisions of the Development Plan and all other material considerations."

4.6 Strategic Policy 1 states that development should make the best use of resources, including sites themselves as well as existing and planned infrastructures. This is seconded by Infrastructure Policy 1 by stressing that all development, unless of too small a scale, shall only take place in areas that will ultimately be connected to the IRIS systems.

4.7 Strategic Policy 2 and Spatial Policy 3 echoes each other, stating that new development should be located primarily within existing defined settlements or sustainable urban extensions.

4.8 General Policy 2, which provides an overall requirement for all development, 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; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

Environment 4.9 Strategic Policy 5 states: "New development, including individual buildings, should be designed so as to make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island." Then, Infrastructure Policy 5 particularly states

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that "Development proposals should incorporate methods for water conservation and management measures to conserve the Island's water resources."

Parking 4.10 Transport Policy 7 states: "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards."

4.12 Appendix 7.6 states that for typical residential development, there should be two spaces for dwellings with two or more bedrooms. For offices, there should one space for every 50 square meters of gross floor space.

Safety and Security 4.13 Community Policy 7, 10 and 11 state that the design of new development must, as far as is reasonable and practicable, pay due regards to existing best practise such as to prevent criminal and anti-social behaviour and outbreak and spread of fire. In addition, development should also provide proper access for fire-fighting vehicles and adequate supplies of water for fire-fighting purposes."

PPS and NPD 4.14 There is no relevant Planning Policy Statement or National Policy Directive that applies to this application.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Strategy and Guidance 5.1 There is no relevant strategy or guidance that directly applies to this application.

6.0 REPRESENTATION 6.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection to this application (07.01.2022).

6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (31.12.2021). The comment states that there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking.

7.0 ASSESSMENT Elements of Assessment 7.1 The key considerations in the determination of the application are the principle of development, its impact on the occupants' living amenities, on parking provision and on the amenities of the neighbours.

Principle of the Development 7.2 The proposed are two dwellings, which complies with the mixed use designation and Strategic Policy 2. Therefore, the location is principally acceptable.

Living Amenities 7.3 The living room is on the front elevation. The front elevation is facing the road, which is a typical outlook for town centre dwellings. Therefore, the outlooks of the flats are considered acceptable.

Parking Provision 7.4 The existing office requires two parking spaces and the proposed dwelling requires two parking spaces. Therefore, there is no change in the number of parking spaces required. There are two parking spaces in tandem at the rear of the site and Highway Services has no objection. Therefore, it is considered that the proposal has no additional impact on the parking provision of the area.

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Neighbouring Amenities 7.5 As residential use is considered the baseline for assessing neighbouring impacts, it is considered that there is no additional impact on neighbouring amenities compared to the existing office use.

8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval.

9.0 INTEREST PERSON STATUS

9.1 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 which 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.

9.2 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 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 : 07.02.2022

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

Customer note

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