**Document:** Officer Report
**Application:** 16/01229/B — Erection of replacement workshop and car display showroom.
**Decision:** Permitted
**Decision Date:** 2017-02-23
**Parish:** Patrick
**Document Type:** report / officer_report
**Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/22346-patrick-garage-showroom-mines-road-shop-replacement/documents/1022005

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# Officer Report

**Application No.:** 16/01229/B
**Applicant:** Messer's Victor Noel, Mark James, Peter Anthony Bettridge
**Proposal:** Erection of replacement workshop and car display showroom.
**Site Address:** Garage Showroom Mines Road Foxdale Isle of Man IM4 3EX Case Officer : Miss Lucy Kinrade
**Photo Taken:** 22.12.2016
**Site Visit:** 22.12.2016
**Expected Decision Level:** Planning Committee

## Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE SENIOR PLANNING OFFICER

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the existing corner site of Bettridge Motors, Foxdale. The site is located on the south side of Mines Road (A24) which runs through Foxdale and opposite Foxdale School. Bettridge Motors is an established car sale business on the Isle of Man and their site in Foxdale sits amongst an area made up of various other large industrial units including a carpet warehouse. This area of industrial units is closely surrounded by a number of residential properties which line both sides of the Mines Road. - 1.2 At present the site is made up of three parts. The northern part of the site, which is the largest, accommodates a large workshop which joins with the south-west boundary and a large open area designated for the display and sale of motor vehicles as approved under PA 08/01624/R. The existing workshop is approx. 13m x 22m and has a pitched roof with an overall ridge height of 10.5m. The workshop is split over two levels and utilised by the business as an area for the maintenance and servicing of vehicles and as an office for the processing of sales and the day-today running of the business. The workshop is stone built to first floor and clad in corrugated sheets to roof height. The roof is finished in corrugated sheets. The building is aged and of poor form. - 1.3 The southern part of the site can be accessed from within the site via an access ramp which is on the eastern side of the site. The southern part of the site sits behind the existing workshop is also currently used for the sale of motor vehicles, although this has no previous permission. This part of the site backs on to the access lane for the neighbouring warehouse of Magic Carpets and the tarmacked access which leads to the Metalec Ltd industrial unit approved under PA 88/01161/B. - 1.4 On the south side of this access road is an additional area of land which is currently rented by Bettridge Motors and used for the display and sale of vehicles although no permission for this use has previously been granted. This land is subject to a current planning application for the erection of 24 residential units under PA 15/00978/B. - 1.5 The existing site is currently accessed from both the northern and southern side, although there is no clear designated customer parking there are spaces at both ends which are located amongst the display vehicles, customers often park here whilst visiting the site.

1.6 The southern part of the site sits approximately 4m higher than the northern part of the Bettridge Site. There is an existing culvert which runs beneath both parts, under the main road and through the playground of Foxdale Primary School. During spells of severe bad weather the lower land surrounding the culvert has been known to flood.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Initially the application comprised drawing numbers 16.BM.2.10 Site and Location Plan, 16.BM.2.11 Elevations and Sections Proposed and 16.BM.2.12 Floor Plans Existing and Proposed. Two additional plans were requested for and submitted by the agent, drawing number 16.BM.2.13 showing the elevations of the existing workshop and 16.BM.2.14 detailing the land usage and the designated car parking for the site and workshop area. - 2.2 The current planning application proposes the demolition of the existing workshop and its replacement with a new larger workshop to include a car showroom for the internal display and sale of vehicles and office space for the running of the business and an area for the maintenance and servicing of vehicles. The sale and display of cars is to be on the northern part of the site only in accordance with PA 08/01624/R. - 2.3 The new two storey workshop is to be 25m x 18.6m and is to sit on the same site as the existing workshop although is be orientated as such that the longest sides are to face northwest towards Foxdale Primary School and southeast towards the rear access road. - 2.4 Due to previous flooding on the site the proposed building is to sit 1m above the existing ground level on engineered fill. - 2.5 At ground floor level will be the proposed indoor car sales and showroom area and the associated office space including ground floor toilets and a canteen storage area. The ground floor will be accessed through the north east facing entrance beneath the proposed canopy. - 2.6 At first floor level will be the proposed workshop area for the maintenance and servicing of vehicles and will also include a canteen, WC and storage area. The first floor will be accessed from the south elevation and from the south side of the site. - 2.7 The southern part of the site will also be used as a workshop parking area where vehicles waiting to be serviced in the first floor workshop can be parked and also for the parking of staff vehicles. No vehicles for sale will be parked or displayed within the southern part of the site. - 2.8 The proposed steel framed building will be clad in Kingspan (or similar) Micro-Rib steel cladding and finished in grey or silver the detailing of the building and the windows will be finished in dark blue. - 2.9 The front elevation comprises large display windows on the ground and first floor, those on ground floor are also utilised as access doors to allow the manoeuvring and parking of vehicles within the proposed showroom. - 2.10 The rear elevation comprised 5 large glazed doors which provide access in to the first floor workshop these are suitable for both small vehicles and large HGV's. - 2.11 The construction of the roof is as such that the pitch is hidden by a parapet, the overall height of the building is 10.35m. There are 10 roof lights included in the scheme and the south-east facing roof slope will also include 28 photovoltaic panels.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There have been a number of applications which have been considered on the site, the most relevant in this instance is PA 08/01624/R for the change of use of site for the sale and storage of vehicles which was approved in 2008.

3.2 Other applications which have been considered materially relevant in the assessment of the current application are:

- - PA 00/01478/A Approval in principle for erection of an industrial building at Bettacrete - Refused
- - PA 97/00462/B Extension to industrial unit - Approved
- - PA 94/01253/A Approval in principle for extension to existing building to form new industrial unit
- - Approved

3.3 PA 00/01478/A was refused by the Planning Committee on the grounds that it straddled the exiting culvert and would prevent any future maintenance and that the application did not include a suitable access which would secure the necessary access improvements required for highway safety.

4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES - 4.1 The application site is within an area zoned as "Light Industrial" identified on the Foxdale Local Plan 1999. General Policy 2 and Business Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are considered to be relevant in the assessment of the current application. - 4.2 General Policy 2:

"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;
- c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape;
- d) does not adversely affect the protected wildlife or locally important habitats on the site or adjacent land, including watercourses;

- g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;
- h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;
- i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; l) is not on contaminated land or subject to unreasonable risk of erosion or flooding; n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

4.3 Business Policy 5:

"On land zoned for industrial use, permission will be given only for industrial development or for storage and distribution; retailing will not be permitted except where either:

- a) The items to be sold could not reasonably be sold from a town centre location because of their size or nature; or
- b) The items to be sold are produced on the site and their sale could not reasonably be severed from the overall business; And in respect of (a) or (b), where it can be demonstrated that the sales would not detract from the vitality and viability of the appropriate town centre shopping area."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services asked for a deferral on 01/12/2016 but following the submission of additional plan 16.BM.2.14 date stamped 9/01/2017 Highways confirmed that "the proposal is to replace an existing building with no change to the parking or access arrangements."

5.2 Patrick Commissioners commented on the application on 17/11/2016 stating that they had no objection to the proposal but would like for the application to be conditioned for the time and spread of exterior lighting.

- 5.2.1 Following the submission of additional plans showing the existing building the Commissioners had no further comments 14/12/16.
- 5.2.2 On 31.01.17 following receipt of additional plans submitted by the agent the Commissioners requested a deferral for the application until after their next meeting on 13/02/17. Following a discussion with the Chairman of Patrick Commissioners over the telephone on 8/02/2017 it was confirmed that the Commissioners had no further comments or objections to the proposal.
- 5.3 Manx Utilities had concerns with regards to the site being redeveloped in connection to the condition of the culvert. MU had provided a schedule to the agent explaining the recommendations for improvements to the culvert, the agent confirmed that a number of the works were within land which was outside of the applicants' control, however the applicants "have every intention in carrying out the recommended improvements works" which are within the extents of their site. It must be noted that the culvert repair works within the site shown on the MU drawing Drainage 1012 do not require planning.
- 5.4 The Fisheries Development Manager from DEFA commented on the application indicating that the proposed development was within 9m of a watercourse and the mandatory form for 'Development Within 9 Metres of a Watercourse' must be completed and submitted 16/11/2016.
- 5.5 Following the submission of the form it was confirmed by DEFA Fisheries that they had no objection to the proposal provided that there was no disturbance to the watercourse. The applicant is also advised to contact DEFA when works are due to commence 24/11/2016.

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 Within the application form the description of the proposed works is noted as "demolition of the existing workshop, construction of a new workshop and car display showroom". The application was advertised as "Erection of replacement workshop and car display showroom". The proposed use of the site was noted in the application forms as "commercial and retail" and the red line of the application drawings included both the northern and southern parts of the site. The initial drawings did not disclose any information regarding the various uses of the site, if an approval was minded at this stage the entire site would be granted planning for the commercial and retail use of the whole site. The description of the proposal in this instance would be incorrect. Given that the entire site is current used for the sale and display of vehicles (although not all parts having planning approval) it was suggested to the agent that the application be re-advertised to include the description of a change of use of the southern part of the site or it was suggested that the red line of the site plans be amended to remove the southern part of the site, thus also requiring re-advertising. - 6.2 To clarify the exact uses of the site additional plans were submitted. - 6.3 The northern part of the site already has approval for the sale and retail of vehicles, the current application retains the sale and display of vehicles here in accordance to PA 08/01624/R. The southern section of the site is to remain for the parking of staff vehicles and for the parking of vehicles which are visiting the workshop only. It was explained by the applicants that vehicles which are to be sold at Bettridges arrive at the site and head straight to the workshop for maintenance and servicing. From here the vehicles are then driven down the ramp and parked on the northern part for sale and display. - 6.4 The servicing and maintenance of vehicles relates to an industrial process which is designated for the southern part of the site, it is considered that the parking of servicing vehicles and staff vehicles is acceptable here. The access from the south east of the site on to the rear

- access road will be limited to vehicles visiting the workshop and staff vehicles. There are no expected impacts on highways in this instance above what is already in existence from the current use of the site.
- 6.5 The existing north-west access will be utilised by customers who can park within the 5 designated customer parking spaces. It is generally accepted that the selling of cars and vehicles is not a standard retail use and that the provision of 5 spaces here would be more than adequate. Should any such instance arise that more parking is required it is evident that there is sufficient space for the parking and manoeuvring of additional vehicles within the site.
- 6.6 From a visual outlook the vehicles which are currently parked within the northern part of the site are only partly visible due to the existing stone wall which runs along the northern boundary although it is clear to see that the site is used as a car sales area. Travelling from Foxdale to Douglas, views of the southern part of the site are limited due to the existing workshop and the existing trees along the northern boundary. There are no alterations proposed for the existing wall or to the trees, it is expected that there shall be no adverse impacts on visual amenity of the existing site above what is currently existent.
- 6.7 The notable change on the site will be the demolition of the existing workshop and its replacement with a new larger workshop which will include a new vehicle showroom. The existing workshop building is of poor form and not weather-tight. The demolition of this building is not considered to adversely impact the character of the area. Its replacement will be a modern rectangular steel framed two storey building which will be finished in silver or grey coloured cladding system and shall include large areas of glazing which will provide light into the ground floor showroom, customer areas and into the first floor workshop, some of the glazed elements are expected to be opening to allow access of vehicles into both the front showroom and rear workshop.
- 6.8 The erection of a modern and updated building is expected to improve the visual amenity of the site from the streetscene and to local residents. Although the building is larger in size and is raised 1m above the existing level of the land it is considered that the proposal respects the site and that it will present no impacts the amenities of the surrounding sites or residents.
- 6.9 The local Commissioners commented on the application stating that there should be a relevant condition attached relevant to the time and spread of exterior lighting. Details of lighting were requested from the agent for the purpose of the application, however it discuss that any proposals for exterior lighting shall be dealt with under a separate planning application.
- 6.10 There has recently been an application approved at Cooil Road, Douglas for the development of a multi franchise car dealership consisting of two showrooms, an after sales building and valeting building under PA 15/01186/B, it is expected that this development has and will encourage other car dealerships on the Island to upgrade and provide improved facilities for their customers and for the running of the business and has highlighted the need for existing operators to continue to invest in their premises.
- 6.11 During a telephone conversation on 08/02/2016 the applicant explained that the current internal environment of the existing workshop has deteriorated to an extent which no longer permits certain maintenance and industrial tasks to be completed within the existing workshop and has resulted in the business requiring the need for additional rented units in an adjacent industrial building for the carrying out of such maintenance tasks. He explained that the proposed new workshop building will allow for each of these tasks to be carried out and completed on the site without the need for additional rented units. Although there are no impacts on traffic within the industrial area generate by such use, it is considered that by retaining the complete running of the business within the extents of the application site will maintain safe highway use and a general tidy appearance of the industrial area.

6.12 It is expected that the new workshop and show room will have greater energy efficiency above what is currently the case, and the inclusion of additional PV solar panels on the south facing roof slope will help towards reducing the demands on the local energy supply. From the information provided it is unknown whether there will be a rainwater collection system installed, such a system could be utilised for the washing of vehicles or washing the general building thus reducing the demands on the local water supply, although this element is not a material planning consideration for the current application. - 6.13 Overall the scheme provides an acceptable workshop and showroom which provide a suitable design which does not adversely impact the amenities of its neighbours and respects its surroundings. The scheme displays and clarifies the specific uses of each part of the overall site and the application is considered acceptable and meets the conditions as set out in General Policy 2 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016. Although most retail businesses are to remain within town centres it is generally considered acceptable for the sale of vehicles or other such large items which are not ideally located within town centres to be located in industrials areas or out of town centres. The location of the Bettridges site in this instance is considered acceptable in terms of Business Policy 5.

7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 This application proposes no changes to the area solely designated for the sale and display of vehicles in accordance to PA 08/01624/R. The general scheme presents a replacement workshop and car showroom for the servicing and maintenance of vehicles and for the internal sale and display of motor vehicles. The proposed new building is considered to be of high quality and to meet the conditions as set out in General Policy 2 and Business Policy 5. - 7.2 The application is therefore recommended for approval.

8.0 PARTY STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

- (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
- (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
- (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless otherwise directed by that Order.

Recommendation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.02.2017 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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
- C 2. The parking of vehicles for sale and display must be contained within the Car Sales Area as shown on drawing number 16.BM.2.14. No approval is hereby granted for the sale or display of vehicles from the Workshop Parking Area as defined on drawing 16.BM.2.14. Reason: In accordance with the approved use of the site.
- C 3. No approval is hereby granted for the installation or erection of exterior lighting within the extents of the application site. Reason: In the interests of amenity and highway safety.

- N 1. Prior to the commencing of the works the applicant is advised to communicate with Department of Environment Food & Agriculture Fisheries Directorate regarding the nearby watercourse.
- N 2. The applicant is advised to communicate with Manx Utilities regarding the repair works to the existing culvert.

This approval relates to drawing number 16.BM.2.10, 16.BM.2.11, 16.BM.2.12 date stamped and received 02/11/16, drawing number 16.BM.2.13 date stamped and received 28/11/2016, and drawing number 16.BM.2.14 date stamped and received 09/01/2017.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.

Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 20.02.2017 Signed : Lucy Kinrade Presenting Officer Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report was required ( 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.

### Planning Committee Decision 20.02.2017

Application No. : 16/01229/B Applicant : Messer's Victor Noel, Mark James, Peter Anthony Bettridge Proposal : Erection of replacement workshop and car display showroom. Site Address : Garage Showroom

Mines Road Foxdale

Isle of Man IM4 3EX Presenting Officer : Miss Lucy Kinrade Addendum to the Officer’s Report

During the Planning Committee meeting the Members expressed their support for the scheme, feeling it to be a great improvement and also a great investment in the future of the Island.

Following the final approval decision the Director of Planning and Building Control proposed that the wording of Condition 3 be amended in order to clarify the matter of external lighting whilst still retaining the spirit of the condition. It was discussed amongst the Members who agreed its proposed change.

### Conditions of Approval

- 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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

- C 2. The parking of vehicles for sale and display must be contained within the Car Sales Area as shown on drawing number 16.BM.2.14. No approval is hereby granted for the sale or display of vehicles from the Workshop Parking Area as defined on drawing 16.BM.2.14. Reason: In accordance with the approved use of the site.
- C 3. There shall be no external lighting of the development hereby approved unless a planning application is submitted for such. Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area.

- N 1. Prior to the commencing of the works the applicant is advised to communicate with Department of Environment Food & Agriculture Fisheries Directorate regarding the nearby watercourse.
- N 2. The applicant is advised to communicate with Manx Utilities regarding the repair works to the existing culvert.

This approval relates to drawing number 16.BM.2.10, 16.BM.2.11, 16.BM.2.12 date stamped and received 02/11/16, drawing number 16.BM.2.13 date stamped and received 28/11/2016, and drawing number 16.BM.2.14 date stamped and received 09/01/2017.

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*Data sourced from the Isle of Man public planning register under the [Isle of Man Open Government Licence](https://www.gov.im/about-this-site/open-government-licence/).*
*Canonical page: https://planningportal.im/a/22346-patrick-garage-showroom-mines-road-shop-replacement/documents/1022005*