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25/90949/C
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 25/90949/C Applicant : Kirindolam 7 Limited Proposal : Additional use as tourist accommodation (Class 3.6) Site Address : Flat 6B Clinches Court Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4LH
Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Photo Taken : Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.01.2026 __
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. Overall, the proposal is unlikely to impact neighbouring amenity above and beyond what would currently be in place by dint of its location within the streetscene and as such it is deemed that the proposal complies with Section 15(1b) and 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) and Environment Policy 35, General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 8, Environment Policy 22, Business Policies 11 and 13 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, dated received 13th November 2025;
o Drawing No. 25-124-01 Rev A o Drawing No. 25-124-02 Rev A o Drawing No. 25-124-03 Rev A __
Right to Appeal
It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: DOI Highway Services - No objection
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25/90949/C
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Douglas City Council - No Objections DOI Flood Risk Management - No Objection __
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Flat 6B, Clinches Court, Douglas, which is a flat situated within the Tower part of the overall Clinches Court complex which includes flats, offices, shops and a restaurant. Clinches Court is situated to the Northern side of North Quay. 1.2 The Tower is four stories high, with a fifth storey located within the roof space. The Tower is built in random rubble stonework, with a gable onto the quayside and a dark grey slate pitched roof gable end onto the Quayside. This is the only remaining part of the former Clinch's Brewery complex and is a Registered Building (RB 78), added to the Protected Buildings Register on the 29th March 1985.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the additional use of the residential dwelling to provide tourist accommodation; the application does not propose any additional alterations or modifications to the property. 2.2 The properties internal configuration is a staircase to ground floor and first floor, open plan lounge and kitchen to second floor, two bedrooms with bathroom on third floor and a bedroom to the fourth floor.
PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 The following are applications upon the site which are relevant to the assessment of this application; PA14/00946/B - Conversion of existing office accommodation to an apartment - Permitted
PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The application site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use - proposal 7, The Quayside" on the Area Plan for the East, Map 5 - Douglas Central. The site is situated within the Douglas North Quay Conservation Area and a Registered Building (RB078) and situated within a Flood Risk - Tidal High Likelihood Area. 4.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT (1999) 4.1.1 The Town and Country Planning Act (1999) has one section which is relevant to the assessment of this application Section 18(4). Section 18(4) 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".
4.2 ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 4.2.1 Given that the property is a Registered Building, Policy RB/4 which seeks that a change of use of a registered building is compatible with the fabric, interior and setting of the building, of Planning Policy Statement 1/01 is the most relevant in the assessment of this application in connection with Environment Policy 33 which seeks the same as above. This is then followed by Environment Policy 35 which set out development in Conservation Areas will only be permitted where they preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area. 4.2.2 This is then followed by General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 8, Transport Policy 7, Environment Policy 22, Business Policies 11 and 13 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 which set out the general standards towards acceptable development including parking standards, the acceptability of tourist development provided it does not adversely affect the surrounding area and where neighbouring amenity is not compromised, are also relevant to the assessment of this application.
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4.3 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS 4.3.1 Policy on the Development of Non-serviced Accommodation (March 2019) - The document seeks to shape a future development strategy for the sector, help inform planning policy and to guide the Department as to what support mechanisms may be required to maximise the potential benefits of an expansion on non-service accommodation in the Island. 4.3.2 Isle of Man Visitor Economy Strategy 2022-2032 - The Strategy's headline targets are to grow the annual visitor numbers to 500,000 by 2032 and increase the annual economic contribution of the Island's Visitor Economy to £520m. This will mean attracting an additional 170,500 visitors per year compared to 2019. The aim is to triple the holiday and short break market as well as grow all of the other visitor markets. Combined with an expected increase in average spending per visitor, driven by strong growth in longer staying and higher spending leisure markets, these visitor numbers should result in a more than doubling of annual visitor spending on the Island to £310m, which will support an increase in Visitor Economy jobs to 5,000 and generate an annual Exchequer benefit of £49m. 4.3.3 Planning Policy Statements: 1/01 Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man - POLICY CA/2 SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS, is also relevant and states; "When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application. Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected."
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The following representations can be found online in full, below is a short summary; 5.2 DOI Highway Services have considered the application 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 as the proposed use would have a similar or less parking demand to the existing use. (19.11.25) 5.3 Douglas City Council have considered the proposal and state, "No Objections." (25.11.25) 5.4 DOI Flood Risk Management have considered the proposal and have no objections noting, "The property is in an area that is subject to flooding. The dwelling is above ground floor. FRM recommend that Flood Evacuation plan is posted in a prominent place for tourists using the apartment." (17.11.25) 5.5 The Registered Buildings Officer was consulted on the 14th November 2025 of which no consultation has been received at the time of writing this report.
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:
6.2 SECTION 15(1b) TEST 6.2.1 Due to the proposed works being a Registered Building it is necessary to test the application under Section 15(1b) of the Town and Country Act (1999), see section 4.2 of this report, on whether the proposed works would affect the buildings character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. 6.2.2 The Tower is situated within a Mixed Use area, with the proposed additional use as tourist not likely to impact the special architectural or historic interest as there are no physical works proposed within this application and the secondary use of the site as tourist is likely to
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mean the property would have more maintenance over time, which would keep the building structurally viable. 6.2.3 With the above in mind the proposed change of use would pass the Section 15(1b) test by not affecting the buildings character as a building of special architectural or historic interest.
6.3 SECTION 18(4) TEST 6.3.1 The property is situated within a Conservation Area, as such it is necessary to test the application under section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999), see section 4.2 of this report, on whether the works preserve or enhance the Conservation Area. 6.3.2 When looking at the appearance of the Conservation Area and whether the proposal would impact this, it is noted that the proposed additional change of use does not include any external alterations. With this in mind and noting that the additional use of tourist should not alter the Conservation Area as a whole, the proposal will pass this part of the Section 18(4) test by preserving the Conservation Area. 6.3.3 Turning towards the character of the Conservation Area and whether the works would impact this, tourist accommodation is used in almost the same manner as residential use, with the likelihood that there would not be a change on the overall character of the Quayside. As such the proposal would should not impact the character of the Conservation Area and the proposal will pass this part of the Section 18(4) test by preserving the Conservation Area.
6.3 PRINCIPLE 6.3.1 Due to the proposal being a Registered Building (RB078) it is necessary to make sure that the proposal will not be in conflict with this. Firstly there are proposed no alterations with this proposal, as such there is no impact on this matter. Turning towards the change of use itself and the impact in which this could have on the Registered Building. 6.3.2 Generally holiday accommodation is required to be of a suitable standard to be rented out, as such there is a likelihood that having an additional use to rent out the property to tourists will assist in the fabric of the property being maintained quicker than it would have been if the property were still a dwelling. 6.3.3 With the above in mind the proposed works will comply with Policy RB/4 and Environment Policy 33.
6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY 6.4.1 Business Policy 13 indicates that permission will generally be given for the use of private residential properties as tourist accommodation providing that it can be demonstrated that such use would not compromise the amenities of neighbouring residents. The property is currently being used as a residential property of which the additional use of this application will enable the owners to part-rent the property for tourist accommodation. The flat is situated within a Mixed Use area and as such there is a certain level of noise disturbance by dint of its location and the surrounding shops. 6.4.2 In the case of apartments like this, concern lies in the potential to cause disruptions to the immediate and adjoining neighbouring properties. In terms of differentiating a tourist and a permanent resident it is often difficult to define how each would behave. As a tourist, a person may be out a lot of the time, but may also have a greater number of late nights and be disruptive on return. On the other hand, permanent residents may be at home more, and could be more likely to invite friends or family over for dinner or parties that may be noisy. In general the majority of people tend to behave well and raise no concerns, although there will always be a percentage that may not behave. 6.4.3 It is considered the use of the existing residential dwelling as tourist accommodation would have a similar impact, whether it is used for tourist or permanent residential use and therefore would not have a significant impact upon the living conditions of the neighbouring properties. It should also be remembered that the use of the site for private rental accommodation would require no planning approval and could result in frequent and continual turnover of residents. 6.4.4 It is considered the use of the existing residential dwelling as tourist accommodation would have a similar impact, whether it is used for tourist or permanent residential use and
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therefore would not have a significant impact upon the residential amenities of the neighbouring properties.
6.5 HIGHWAY SERVICES 6.5.1 The property does not supply on-site parking and as such the parking provided for the property would be on-street parking, which would be used irrespectively if the property was used as a permanent residential accommodation or tourist purposes.
6.6 OTHER MATTERS 6.6.1 The additional use as tourist use would not result in any changes beyond current occupation in terms of an increase in water usage, criminal activity nor increase the likely hood of spread of fire beyond the existing arrangement, and so the proposal is considered acceptable in these respects.
CONCLUSION 7.1 For these reasons the proposal is considered to comply with The Town and Country Planning Act (1999) and the relevant polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, with there being no demonstrable harm arising from the application. The living conditions of the neighbouring properties are not to be made worse as a result of the proposal and there is to be no impact on the designated Conservation Area, As such the application is recommended for approval.
RIGHT TO APPEAL AND RIGHT TO GIVE EVIDENCE 8.1 The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 sets out the process for determining planning applications (including appeals). It sets out a Right to Appeal (i.e. to submit an appeal against a planning decision) and a Right to Give Evidence at Appeals (i.e. to participate in an appeal if one is submitted). 8.2 Article A10 sets out that the right to appeal is available to: o applicant (in all cases); o a Local Authority; Government Department; Manx Utilities; and Manx National Heritage that submit a relevant objection; and o any other person who has made an objection that meets specified criteria. 8.3 Article 8(2)(a) requires that in determining an application, the Department must decide who has a right to appeal, in accordance with the criteria set out in article A10. 8.4 The Order automatically affords the Right to Give Evidence to the following (no determination is required): o any appellant or potential appellant (which includes the applicant); o the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, the Department of Infrastructure and the local authority for the area; o any other person who has submitted written representations (this can include other Government Departments and Local Authorities); and o in the case of a petition, a single representative.
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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 and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Permitted
Date: 29.01.2026
Determining Officer Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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