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22/00880/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 22/00880/B Applicant : Scotland House Limited Proposal : Conversion of office building (class 2.1) to mixed use office and residential (class 3.3) involving alterations including removal of rear extension; new rear extension and fire escape stair; replacement windows, roof finish including solar slates and rainwater goods; new roof lights and entrance frontage Site Address : Scotland House North Quay Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4LE
Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 08.11.2022 __
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 replacement solar slate should be completed according drawing no. 12A which has been received on 22nd July 2022 and email correspondence received on 18th October 2022
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 35 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval relates to the documents, planning statement and drawing no. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 09, 10A, 11, 12A, 13A which have been received on 22th July 2022 and email correspondence received on 18th October 2022.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following Government Departments should be given Interested Person Status on the basis that they have made written submissions relating to planning considerations:
DoI Flood Risk Management Division
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 4(2):
IOM Victorian Society are not within 20m of the application site and the development is not automatically required to be the subject of an EIA by Appendix 5 of the Strategic Plan, in accordance with paragraph 2B of the Policy. __
Officer’s Report
1.0 THE SITE 1.1 The site is the curtilage of Scotland House, North Quay, Douglas, a three-storey mid- terrace property located on the north of North Quay, close to its junction with Bank Hill.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The proposed is the additional use of the existing office (class 2.1) as a flat (class 3.4). The proposal also includes alteration and extension to the property.
2.2 The proposal includes replacing existing windows and doors on the front and rear elevation, demolition of the existing dormer and the rear extension, erection of a single-storey flat-roof rear extension, installation of rooflight, reslate the roof with existing slates, replacing parts of the roof with solar slates and the installation of an external staircase on the rear elevation.
3.0 Planning History 3.1 Erection of an extension to rear yard was APPROVED under PA 11/00869/B.
4.0 Planning Policy Site Specific 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Mixed Use (The Quayside) in the Area Plan for the East.
4.2 The Written Statement states that "There will be a presumption in favour of food and drink and other leisure-type uses on North Quay."
4.3 The site is within the North Quay Conservation Area.
Strategic Policy 4.4 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: o Strategic Policy 3, 4 (a), 5 o Strategic Policy 10 (c) o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (g) (h) (i) (m) (n) o Environment Policy 35
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o Transport Policy 7 o Appendix 7.6 o Community Policy 7, 10 and 11 o Infrastructure Policy 5
PPS and NPD 4.5 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man
4.6 Planning Circular 1/98 - The Alteration and Replacement of Windows Set
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.
6.0 REPRESENTATION 6.1 Douglas Borough Council does not object to this application (11.08.2022).
6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (11.08.2022). The comment states that there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking.
6.3 DoI Flood Risk Management Division does not object to this application (07.09.2022). The comment states that flood-resilient doors and windows should be fitted and all services should be fitted with floor resilience in mind.
6.4 IOM Victorian Society wrote in objection to this application (11.08.2022). The comment thinks most of the proposed changes would enhance the character of the Conservation Area beside the ground floor alteration on the front elevation.
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 enhance the character of the Conservation Area.
7.2 The changes to the front elevations enhance the character of the Area and the changes to the rear elevation preserve the character of the area. Therefore, it is considered that the proposal passes the test.
Elements of Assessment 7.3 The key consideration in the determination of this application are the principle of development, its impact on the design of the building itself, on the character and appearance of the area and on parking provision.
Principle of the Development 7.4 The proposal is within a mixed use area which contains restaurants, hot food takeaway and pubs. While the Area Plan is in favour of food, drink and leisure use, the building is
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currently an office and the proposed use of office/apartment does not conflict with these preferred use. Therefore, it is considered that the proposed land use is principally acceptable.
Design of the Building Itself 7.5 As mentioned in 7.2, it is considered that there is no negative impact on the design of the building.
Character and Streetscene 7.6 As mentioned in 7.2, it is considered that there is no negative impact on the character and appearance of the area.
7.7 The sliding sash windows are considered to enhance the character of the area.
7.8 The alterations to the ground floor front elevation are considered to preserve the character of the area. Regardless of its historic appearance, compared to the enhancement to the character of the area by the proposal as a whole, these alterations to the front elevation would not have a negative impact on the character of the area.
7.9 Solar slates are an elegant solution that supports both historic and energy conservation. In the meantime, to ensure this new type of slate would not have a negative impact on the character of the area. The model will be conditioned.
Parking Provision 7.10 The site is within a town centre, close to existing bus routes and there is no change in the number of parking spaces required. Therefore, it is considered that the impact on parking provision is acceptable.
8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 35 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01. 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. __
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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: 16.11.2022
Determining officer
Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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