DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 22/00264/D Applicant: Santander Financial Services PLC T/a Santander International Proposal: Installation of illuminated signage and display of digital screen Site Address: 19 - 21 Prospect Hill Ioma House Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 1ET Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 15.08.2022

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. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2, General Policy 6, Environment Policy 35 and Environment Policy 37 of the Strategic Plan. Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the documents, planning statement, renderings, Location and site plan, Existing North East Elevation, Existing South East Elevation, Existing North West and South West elevations which having been received on 8th March 2022, and covering letter, Proposed North East elevation, Proposed South East Elevations, Proposed South West and North West Elevations which have been received on 14th July 2022.

______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the commercial curtilage of Ioma House, Prospect Hill, Douglas, a fourstorey building located on the west of Prospect Hill, close to its junction with Athol Street. - 1.2 There is two rectangle signage above the two front doors.

2.0 The PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed is the removal of the existing signage and installation of two illuminated signage, a projecting sign with an internally illuminated logo and a digital display. - 2.2 There will be two signage with the writing "Santander International" and a logo, one above a front entrance and one between the first and second floor of the front elevation. Both will be aluminium hallo illuminated and finished in Red. - 2.3 The projecting sign is a round square approx. 0.3m in width. It has a red base and a white Santander logo which will be illuminated. - 2.4 There will also be a 55-inch digital display on the south corner behind the fixed-panel window. - 2.5 There are other alterations to the external elevations and they are assessed under PA 22/00263/B.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Installation of illuminated signage was APPROVED under PA 17/00548/D.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific - 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Mixed Use (Strand Street) in the Area Plan for the East. - 4.2 The site is within the Athol Street/Victoria Street Conservation Area. Strategic Policy - 4.3 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: Principles of Developments - 4.4 Strategic Policy 4 states: "Proposals for development must: (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings, Conservation Areas, buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest." - 4.5 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; (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."

Visual Design

4.6 General Policy 6 states: "General Policy 6: 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."

4.7 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." - 4.8 Environment Policy 35 states: "Within Conservation Areas, the department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development." - 4.9 Environment Policy 37 states: "As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

• i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area;
• ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area;
• iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and
• iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals.

Environment

4.10 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 that "Development proposals should incorporate methods for water conservation and management measures to conserve the Island's water resources." Safety and Security - 4.11 Community Policy 7 states that the design of new development must, as far as is reasonable and practicable, pay due regard to existing best practices such as to prevent criminal and anti-social behaviour. PPS and NPD - 4.12 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man is the only adopted PPS at the moment. It provides supplementary policy on developments within any conservation area.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Legislation - 5.1 Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act". This sets out the approach to be taken in determining planning applications, which includes giving great weight to the asset's conservation when considering the impact of a proposed development on the asset.

Given that the site is within a Conservation Area, the above requirements apply and appropriate consideration will be given in section 7.

5.2 Regulation 5 of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisement) Regulations 2013 states that the control of advertisement is only in the interest of amenity and public safety, in particular general characteristics of the locality, the safety of any person who may use the highway and potential obscuration of any traffic sign or signals.

6.0 REPRESENTATION - 6.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection to this application (01.04.2022). - 6.2 DoI Highway Services states it does not oppose this application (20.07.2022). The comment states that there is "no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking". The applicant is also advised that the proposed digital screen should "meet public safety requirements, such as on brightness, moving images and fail-safe mechanisms."

7.0 ASSESSMENT Conservation Areas Statutory Test - 7.1 Before assessing elements of the proposal, as it is within a Conservation Area, a test should be applied to this proposal as mentioned in 5.1. This is whether the proposal would preserve or protect the character of the Conservation Area. - 7.2 The proposed signage and lighting would stand out from its elevations. However, given the building they are attached to is not historic, and the contemporary elements would have a better presentation compared to the existing one, the proposal is considered to have a neutral impact on the character of the Conservation Area and passes the test. Elements of Assessment - 7.3 The key considerations in the determination of the application are its impact on the property itself and on the character and appearance of the Area. Design of the Property Itself - 7.4 As mentioned in 7.2, it is considered that the proposal would maintain the appearance of the building. Character and Appearance - 7.5 As mentioned in 7.2, the signage has a neutral impact on the character and appearance of the area. Therefore, the design is considered acceptable. - 7.6 It is not considered necessary to attach a condition regarding the level of illumination of the signs as such conditions have not been attached to previously illuminated signage on this building nor any other signage erected on the Island and the illumination is not expected to result in excessive levels of lighting.

8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2, General Policy 6, Environment Policy 35 and Environment Policy 37 of the Strategic Plan. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval.

9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 9.1 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 which the subject of the application is situated.
• o the Highways, Ports and Railways divisions of the Department of Infrastructure.

9.2 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 a Principal Planner 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: 16.08.2022 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/ customers and archive records.