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Replacement of Retail Units and Vacant Residential Properties with a New Office Building and Replacement Café, No.s 38 - 40b Finch Road and No.s 19 \&t 21 Well Road Hill, Douglas
Supporting information incorporating;
assessment/statement {{image:467429}}
The site covers an area of approximately 800 sq.m at the junction of Finch Road and Well Road Hill in Douglas town centre. It is currently occupied by four single-storey shop units and a pair of semi-detached former dwelling/commercial buildings of 3 and 4 storeys, along with their former gardens.
Planning approval has previously been sought to replace the buildings and former garden on part of the site (no. 38 & 40 Finch Road) with a new office/apartment building. Whilst the application was refused following an appeal¹ the principle of replacing the buildings was not given as a reason for refusal. This new application seeks approval to re-develop a larger and more comprehensive site for office use (with a replacement café) and benefits from the removal of two principal constraints; firstly, the shop units on Well Road Hill are now within the site and form part of the re-development scheme, and secondly it is proposed to provide all car parking off-site as opposed to within the scheme.
The site is located on the south eastern corner of the junction between Finch Road and Well Road Hill, and directly opposite the junction of Finch Road, Mount Havelock and Christian Road. Finch Road becomes one-way close to the southern site boundary, whilst Well Road Hill is a pedestrian-only footpath which leads eastwards down to Market Street.
The western part of the site is at present occupied by 6 buildings, the most substantial being the pair of semi-detached properties which front onto Finch Road at the south western site corner (no. 38 & 40). These buildings are of 3
¹ Decision notice and Inspector's report for PA 06/00014 is attached at Appendix 1
storeys to Finch Road (ground plus two) and 4 storeys to the rear, and are of Georgian form. They have formerly been used as both residential and commercial premises, although they are now vacant and unused. {{image:467432}}
Photograph 1 - view from Christian Road of no.s 38 \& 40 Finch Road (with no. 36 also visible)
Photograph 2 - buildings currently on the site, with Markwell House in the background
Immediately to the north are a pair of flat roofed, single storey semi-detached retail units, one being a vacant former hair salon and the other currently used as a newsagent (no.s 40a \& 40b). The final two buildings take the same general form as the other retail units and front onto the top part of Well Road Hill (no.s 19 \& 21), with one currently being used as a café and the other being unused. The remaining eastern part of the site has previously been used as a garden area in association with no.s 38 \& 40 Finch Road and contains a number of trees (5); it is set lower than the adjoining car park to the south and is enclosed by a high stone wall at the boundary with Well Road Hill.
Photograph 3 - view up Well Road Hill from side door of Markwell House 2.3 The buildings in the immediate vicinity of the site are a variety of heights; no.s 32 to 36 Finch Road are 3 storey ( 4 to the rear), whilst Markwell House (to the east) is 4 storeys adjacent to the site and 5 storeys on Market Street. Chester Street car park, which is directly across Well Road Hill from the site, ranges from 2 storey to 6 storey depending upon ground levels. A row of 2 storey retail units face onto Finch Road to the south west of the site, whilst planning approval has been granted to replace the buildings on the opposite side of Finch Road from the site with a 5 storey office building. These buildings
exhibit a wide variety of styles and appearances, including Georgian buildings facing onto Finch Road and brick faced structures overlooking Well Road Hill.
3.1 The site is within an area which is designated for Predominantly Office use by the Douglas Local Plan, and although it is outside the boundary it is close enough to feature in views into and out of the Windsor Road Conservation Area. Several properties on Finch Road are entered on the Protected Buildings Register but they are not adjacent to the site. A number of planning approvals have previously been granted in respect of the buildings within the site, including permission for a jewellery shop (no. 38), permission for a hot \& cold food takeaway (the existing café at no. 19), and approval in principle to add a second storey dental laboratory to no. 21 Well Road Hill. 3.2 Most recently planning approval has been sought under PA 06/00014 to replace no.s $38 \& 40$ Finch Road and the garden area behind with a combined office and apartment scheme, which included 3 levels of on-site car parking. The application was refused following an appeal due to the size and design of the proposed building and its garage section, the location of the site access and inadequacy of visibility at that point, and the prejudicial effect that the scheme would have upon re-development of the adjoining shop units. By now seeking to redevelop a site which also includes the shop units and by proposing to provide car parking off-site then the majority of these reasons for refusal are no longer relevant; building size, massing and design however continue to be important considerations.
4.1 The application seeks detailed planning approval for the replacement of no.s 38 to 40b Finch Road (and garden area) and no.s 19 \& 21 Well Road Hill with a new office building, which will also incorporate a café to replace that currently operating at 19 Well Road Hill. There is significant demand at present for office space within Douglas which has good sized floorplates and a nett floor area in excess of 2000 sq.m, and notably for sites in a town centre location which can provide full parking allocation either on-site or close by. This site is particularly well located in terms of pedestrian links to the town
centre, and its location close to proposed off-site parking provision offers a rare opportunity to set aside on-site parking and access constraints and the implications that they can have for building design and the efficient use of the site. 4.2 The office building will have a nett floor area of approximately 2150 sq.m, resulting in a need to provide 43 parking spaces; these spaces will be provided entirely off-site within a new car park to be developed on Market Street (as identified on the location plan). A separate car park application for the Market Street site will be submitted in conjunction with this application, and should both be approved then Dandara Commercial Ltd would be content for the office development to be linked by condition to the Market Street parking development. 4.3 As it fronts onto Finch Road the building has been designed so as to reflect the proportions and rhythm of adjacent properties in a contemporary manner. A proposal by others to redevelop no.s 32-36 Finch Road with a new office building is also the subject of a current planning application and the design of that scheme has also been taken into consideration, as can be seen by sketches included in the design concept booklet which accompanies this statement.
The comprehensive redevelopment of the Finch Road/Well Road Hill corner will bring public benefit (as identified by the previous inspector), and allows the new building to turn that corner and step down Well Road Hill in response to the existing gradient, thus providing a full and active frontage to an important town centre thoroughfare. It is this stepping arrangement, in conjunction with steps back from the footpath, which plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the building will not appear overly dominant to pedestrians. 4.4 The inspector for PA 06/00014 concluded that the factors which contributed most to the overbearing impact of the previous proposals were the height and mass of the outlet behind Finch Road, with the multi-level car park having a similar effect. The office building now proposed will have its visual mass broken significantly by the use of stepped sections which effectively screen the highest elements (when viewed from the east) and prevent them from being viewed as a single mass. Stepping sections back from Well Road Hill also serves to reduce the impact of the building upon users of the footpath. 4.5 The inspector noted that the well-used pedestrian route of Well Road Hill passes some "rather unprepossessing buildings at present", and he makes specific mention of Markwell House and Chester Street car park. This scene is improved none by the existing shop units, the rear elevations of the Finch
Road buildings and the substantial wall which encloses the former garden area.
Photograph 4 - view up Well Road Hill from Market Street
The creation of a well glazed and active frontage to the southern side of Well Road Hill, which includes a replacement café, will improve the environment immeasurably, both for pedestrians on Well Road Hill and when viewed from further afield (see image below and on front cover).
4.6 The inspector expressed the view that the greenery of the former garden brings some welcome relief from the poor quality streetscene, and that the proposed building failed to bring enough improvement to justify the loss of the vegetation. The Arboricultural Officer for DAFF has subsequently examined the trees on site and advised that overall they are of limited value, and that in his view the location is more suited to shrubbery type vegetation than trees. The new building as proposed will significantly enhance the streetscene, and will include controlled planting at a variety of levels to complement that which exists on the car park side of Well Road Hill. 4.7 Further information in respect of the design concept for the proposed development accompanies this statement (as a separate A3 document) and includes site appraisal diagrams and examples of detail/materials which have influenced the process. An energy impact assessment/statement as required by Energy Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan ${ }^{2}$ is appended to this statement.
[^0] [^0]: ${ }^{2}$ An energy impact assessment/statement is attached at Appendix 2
5.1 The site is within an area which is designated for Predominantly Office use by the Douglas Local Plan, and is not within a Conservation Area. A previous proposal for the replacement of no.s 38 \& 40 Finch Road with a new office and apartment building (PA 06/00014) saw no objection raised to the principle of redeveloping the site, but following an appeal the application was refused due to the massing, size and design of the proposed building, because of access inadequacies, and for restricting the comprehensive redevelopment of adjoining properties. 5.2 This new application seeks approval to redevelop a larger, more comprehensive site with a new office building and a replacement café, and will help to address a strong demand for commercial premises of this nature. Car parking is to be provided off-site, and as such the majority of the previous reasons for refusal are no longer relevant. The removal of these constraints allows a very different design approach to be taken, with the building stepping down and back from Well Road Hill at regular intervals in order to break the mass visually and avoid an overbearing impact upon pedestrians. The creation of a replacement café and substantial areas of glazing at street level will bring some much needed vitality to Well Road Hill, and the scheme will include several areas of controlled planting to complement that which exists on the other side of Well Road Hill. 5.3 As it faces Finch Road the proposed building is a contemporary response to the Georgian properties immediately to the south. The design of the building currently proposed by others for the adjoining site has also been taken into consideration. The building proposed for the application site will make a suitable statement on a prominent and important site, as well as significantly improving the local environment and views into and out of the nearby Conservation Area.
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