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                                      22/00407/B                                     Page  1  of  6

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. 22/00407/B Applicant : Conrod Limited Proposal Erection of a marquee over existing outside seating area Site Address Conrods Boathouse Cafe Mooragh Park Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 3AP

Case Officer :

Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level Planning Committee

Recommendation

Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation 28.06.2022

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.

C 2. The marquee must be installed according to the plans and supporting information and must be maintained as such thereafter.

Reason: To ensure the development is implemented according to the plan/details submitted, as the Department has assessed the impact of the proposal on the basis of the specific use and the documents submitted.

C 3. The marquee hereby approved shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition in the event that it is no longer used or required for a period exceeding 12 months.

Reason: The structures have been exceptionally approved solely to meet a specific need and its subsequent retention would result in an unwarranted intrusion within a site zoned as open space.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. While the installation of a marquee over part of the outdoor seating area could be considered contrary to the principles of the open space designation of the site, the proposal is expected to facilitate the recreational facilities and outdoor pursuits in the area and is considered to comply with Paragraph 10.3.5, Recreation Policy 2 and Community Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

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                                      22/00407/B                                     Page  2  of  6

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 30th March 2022; o Drawing No. 150 __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED A DEPARTURE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL

THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is situated within the existing overall café site situated to the Southern side of Mooragh Park Lake, Ramsey. The external seating area is situated to the nearest edge of the lake opposite the existing café building, which provides a mix of picnic type tables which are used by patrons of the café and the general public.

1.2 Between the café and the picnic seating is an access route which forms part of the path running around the entire lake and also wide enough for service vehicle access.

THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the erection of a 3m by 9m, with an overall height of 2.85m marquee which is to sit over part of the external seating area site.

2.2 The marquee is to have clear plastic panels to the North West elevation, North East elevation and South West elevation, with there being two clear panels and one solid zipped panel to the South East panel.

2.3 The proposal is to have the marquee up all year round.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There is one previous application which is relevant to the assessment of this application, PA20/00410/B which was for "Alterations, creation of external seating area, erection of ticket kiosk, and installation of flue (part retrospective)" and Permitted.

PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Public Open Space on the Ramsey Local Plan 1998. The property is not within a Conservation Area but is within a High Risk Tidal Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 LOCAL PLAN

4.2.1 Within the written statement which accompanies the Ramsey Local Plan 1998, Mooragh Park is stated as a major asset for outdoor pursuits and the importance of protecting such significant areas of existing open space for amenity purposes.

4.3 STRATEGIC PLAN

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                                      22/00407/B                                     Page  3  of  6

4.3.1 Given the nature of the residential property and the land designation paragraph 10.3.5 in connection with Recreation Policy 2 which seeks that development which would adversely affect, or result in the loss of Open Space or a recreation facility that is or has the potential to be, of recreational or amenity value to the community will not be permitted unless in certain circumstances, followed by Environment Policy 10 which seeks development within a Flood Risk Zone must have a Flood Risk Assessment.

4.3.2 Furthermore consideration should be given to Community Policies 7 and 11 in respect of reducing outbreak of fire and preventing criminal activity.

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state "- After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking. The Applicant is advised that highway licences may be necessary for the use of the highway during works." (14.04.22)

5.3 Ramsey Town Commissioners have considered the proposal and state they have no objection. (22.04.22)

5.4 DEFA Inland Fisheries have written in to state that care will need to be taken with regards to the reduction of possible harmful material such as concrete or washings entering the watercourse and they have no objection to the proposal. (06.05.22)

5.5 No representation has been received by DOI Flood Risk Management at the time of writing this report.

ASSESSMENT

6.1 With looking at the land zoning of the site, the quality of life on the Island and the quality of the wider environment is improved by having attractive open spaces and facilities available for recreation and other community purposes, these can be both formal and informal, including amenity space which can be privately or publically owned.

6.2 With this in mind, when looking at the proposed marquee and the enclosure of part of the seating area, this could be argued that it is making part of the open space not readily accessible to the general public and that the space is to be only used for patrons of the café.

6.3 Mooragh Park is a large site, which has several uses from the boating lake, directly adjacent to the proposed site, to further afield at the other end of the lake, a playground all of which are open space areas and other places which are not open space, such as Costa which is within the middle of the park and Parklands Day Nursery which is also situated within the middle of Mooragh Park. As such the surrounding area of the proposal is a mix of open spaces accessible all year around to the general public and spaces which are only used for the general public during opening hours.

6.4 The proposed marquee would support the existing use of the café. The continued use of the café will benefit the users of the Mooragh Park and the inclusion of outdoor covered seating will help to provide improved facilities for all year round dining or dining later in the evening which may help to encourage visitors to stay longer, providing a new attracting and offering an overall community gain for the area.

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                                      22/00407/B                                     Page  4  of  6

6.5 Physically the marquee is of a suitable quality, has a reasonable height and is generally designed to best suit the surrounding open space, whilst still leaving seating accessible outside of the marquee for the general public all year round. Its installation would not be out of keeping with the area and would not result in any visual or amenity harm to cause concern.

6.6 The marquee would not be the first of its kind within the park, with there being sheltered seating area, bandstand and cafes with covered areas on the adjacent site of the lake.

6.7 The proposed marquee is to be in place all year round during the opening and closing hours of Conrods, which due to the land zoning of open space, has the possibility to be against this land zoning, whilst this is the case the closing of the marquee would comply with Community Policies 7 and 11 by reducing any anti-social behaviour and also adding in the fact that the area is already frequented by police and there is CCTV in operation. The site is nearest the main road and far more readily accessible for emergency services and public view, it would also be in the business operators' best interest to ensure suitable surveillance is in place encase there is any anti-social behaviour to the marquee.

6.8 Turning towards Environment Policy 10 and the requirement for a Flood Risk Assessment, the overall Flood Risk Assessment of the proposal was done within the previous application PA20/00410/B and as such, as the proposed works is not a structure and is easily removed, a Flood Risk Assessment is not required in this instance.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposed marquee is considered acceptable and would not result in any visual or amenity harm to the area, and whilst the proposal could be considered contrary to the open space designation, its installation here is considered acceptable, to provide continued benefit to the users of the recreation facilities and general community gain. Physically the structure is judged to be in keeping with the surrounding area and would therefore not result in a harmful impact on the character or amenity of Mooragh Park subject to conditions regarding its maintenance and removal if no longer required.

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 __

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I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to the it 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:...04.07.2022

Signed :...L KINRADE... 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

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.

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                                      22/00407/B                                     Page  6  of  6

PLANNING COMMITTEE DECISION 04.07.2022

Application No 22/00407/B Applicant Conrod Limited Proposal Erection of a marquee over existing outside seating area Site Address Conrods Boathouse Cafe Mooragh Park Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 3AP

Planning Officer Mrs Vanessa Porter Presenting Officer L KINRADE Addendum to the Officer Report

The Members discussed the proposed amendment to the case officer's recommendation, and accepted the reporting officer's amended recommendation with regards to C3.

C 3. In the event that the marquee is no longer used or required for its approved use for a period exceeding 12 months, it shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition within 3 months following the 12 month period.

Reason: The structures have been exceptionally approved solely to meet a specific need and its subsequent retention would result in an unwarranted intrusion within a site zoned as open space.