**Document:** Planning and Design Statement **Application:** 15/01073/B — Erection of extension to rear of existing shop to provide additional store and shop floor area and alterations to the existing building **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2015-12-01 **Parish:** Braddan **Document Type:** report / planning_statement **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/6567-braddan-milestone-petrol-station-extension-alteration/documents/1303390 --- # Planning and Design Statement Andrew Bentley RIBA Chartered Architect 8 Ravens Wharf South Quay Douglas Isle of Man IM1 5BT PLANNING & BUILDING CONTROL RECEIVED ON 23 SEP 2015 DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND AGRICULTURE Planning and Design Statement vi Project: Extension to The Milestone Petrol Station, Peel Road, Douglas Project no: 1317-MS Date: September 2015 RIBA membership number 10802696 ARB registration number 068092C Registered with the Isle of Man Register of Architects [Table omitted in markdown export] Extension to The Milestone Petrol Station Planning and Design Statement Contents 1.0 Site and Surroundings 2.0 Planning History and Policy 3.0 Drainage 4.0 Trees 5.0 Parking and Access 6.0 Retail Activity 7.0 The Proposal 1.0 Site and Surroundings 1.1 The proposed site is an area of flat land located to the rear of the existing shop at the Milestone Petrol Station. The present use for the site is bin storage as well as the plant room for the car wash. 1.2 To the north of the site is the McDonalds Restaurant which is separated from the site by a 1.9m high timber boundary fence and planting. The nearest point on the restaurant is 23.5m away from the boundary. To the west is the plant room for the existing car wash and beyond that is the line of the former Douglas to Peel railway line and the National Sports Centre. To the east is the main road from Douglas to Peel. To the south is the existing petrol station forecourt which will remain as existing and the other Milestone retail units. 1.3 During the construction of the project, the contractor has proposed to use part of the Gymnastics Club's car park as a compound for materials and welfare facilities. The contractor has approached the Gymnastics club for their permission. 2.0 Planning History and Policy 2.1 The original planning permission for the petrol station was granted in 1983 in planning 3 application 83/333. It is not believed that there was a building on the site prior to the petrol station. 2.2 The plant room for the car wash was a later addition. 2.3 According to the 1998 Douglas Local Plan the site, along with the neighbouring land along the western side of the Peel Road, is zoned for light industrial use. 2.4 As the site is zoned for light industry it will be subject to Business Policy 5. This policy states that retailing will not be permitted except where the items sold could not reasonably be sold from a town centre location. As the primary activity on the site will continue to be petrol retailing, and this is something that cannot be reasonably sold from a town centre location, the proposal will comply with this policy. 2.5 Business policy 9 will also apply to this project. The shop building will occupy a lower percentage of the site than either adjacent building. The neighbouring buildings are a McDonalds restaurant and an electrical retailer these businesses will not be affected by the development. The nearest comparable store is the EVF petrol station on Peel Road that serves traffic travelling in the opposite direction. 2.6 Business policy 10 is applicable and this policy forbids retail development outside established town and village centres, with the exception of neighbourhood shops. 2.7 The site is located within an area zoned for development and will therefore be subject to the provisions of general policy 2. 2.8 A proposal was submitted in April 2014 (PA 14/00561/B) for an extension to the rear of the existing shop. This proposal was approved but the client has considered the proposal too expensive to progress. This planning application is for a reduced version of the approved proposal. 3.0 Drainage 3.1 The site is located within a flood risk area. The Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority have been consulted and have no objections to the extension. 3.2 There is both surface water and foul water drainage located in Peel Road. The proposal is to extend the existing drainage system which connects to the mains sewer. 4.0 Trees 4.1 There are a number of mature trees along either side of the former railway line. The species present have been identified in the survey drawing and include Sycamore, Beech, Ash and Hawthorn. 4.2 The Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture's forestry division has been consulted about the possible removal of trees along the former railway line. The officer has advised that the trees to the west of the car wash plant room should remain, but that the Sycamores to the rear of the plant room can be removed as they are in poor condition. 4.3 There is an area with some mature planting between the proposed extension and the Peel Road to the east. This planting screens much of the proposed extension from the view of passing traffic. 5.0 Parking and Access 5.1 The present entrance to and exit from the site are via the Peel Road to the east of the site. The proposals will not change this arrangement. 5.2 At present on site there are 8 pumps each of which provide one customer car parking space. The land to the rear of the shop is sometimes used for staff parking. There is sufficient space for a car to pull up outside the front of the shop without interfering with the traffic flow between the pumps and exit. 5.3 The area between the petrol pumps and the car wash is presently used for the display of up to five cars by a local car dealer. The proposal is to replace this with three parking spaces angled at 45 degrees to the car wash. 5.4 Appendix 7.6 of the Strategic Plan (Parking Standards) does not give a numerical value for parking provision for neighbourhood shops, but instead requires spaces for staff, customers and service vehicles. 5.5 The proposal shows that the 12 customer and 2 staff parking spaces can be accommodated on the site. 5.6 Parking matters were dealt with for the larger approved scheme in PA14/00561/B by Sanderson Associates traffic engineers. 6.0 Retail Activity 6.1 The Milestone petrol station is the busiest petrol station on the Isle of Man in terms of petrol sales. 6.2 The present shop only has room for one till to function effectively which causes queues and slows the turnover of customers. The client would like to increase the number of tills in service, but can't without further reducing the range of goods available. 6.3 The shop has a trading area of approximately 36sqm which restricts the range of goods it can offer to customers. At present the Milestone offers a smaller range of goods than other petrol stations with much smaller forecourts. 6.4 Petrol retailing throughout the United Kingdom has developed into convenience stores as the profitability of trading solely in petrol is limited. 6.5 Petrol stations make ideal local convenience stores for a car based society as they provide plenty of parking off the road close to the shop. 6.6 The present shop is far too small to offer the range of goods that customers expect from a convenience store. This makes the Milestone uncompetitive with other convenience stores and petrol stations offering a wider range of goods. The tenants wish to make the store competitive with its competition and fear that they will lose market share if they do not develop the convenience store part of the business. 6.7 Since Spar took over the shop at the Milestone they have been able to increase the range of goods available and increase their base sales, but are unable to develop this further due to the restriction of the present building. 6.8 This area of Douglas has lost two convenience stores in recent years. The Nook (now a sun bed shop), the newsagents on Groves Road (now Dominos Pizza). 6.09 The Milestone is one of only two shops located on the left hand side of the road for traffic leaving Douglas towards the west and south of the island. The other shop is the Brown Bobby petrol station which has a much smaller forecourt and shop which is smaller than the present shop at the Milestone. 6.10 Spar provide a typical range of goods for a convenience store and caters for top up shopping rather than for people doing their weekly shop. The range would consist of similar products to those available at Spar's shop at the airport garage in Ballasalla. 6.11 The Milestone is in a very accessible location for many of the residents of Douglas. The shop already has longer opening hours (presently 6am-midnight) than the other convenience shops in the area. 7.0 The Proposal 7.1 The proposed extension will increase the shop floor area to the 120 square metres, this is a reduction from the scheme approved in PA14/00561/B which would have a shop floor area of 163 square metres. The shop will also have space for three tills, more storage facilities, staff room, kitchen and office. The proposed extension will be to the rear of the existing shop. The extension will be no closer to the highway than the existing building. 7.2 The building's footprint will increase from 85sqm to 200sqm. The previously approved extension had a footprint of a 246 square metres as well as some accommodation at first floor level. 7.3 The single storey part of the extension will be rendered and painted white. The brickwork on the existing shop will also be rendered over and painted white. 7.4 The proposal will use the existing drainage infrastructure on the site. 7.5 The design will not require the removal of any trees. 7.6 Due to the extent of the extension to the shop building control will require level access to be included in the design. A ramp has been added to the forecourt elevation of the existing shop and the door relocated. 7.7 The proposal will see an expanded convenience store in an area of Douglas which has lost two convenience stores in recent years. 7.8 The proposal is in accordance with business policies 5, 9 and 10 as the shop is a local convenience store, it will not affect the neighbouring businesses and primarily sells petrol with cannot be sold from a town centre location. ## Drawing Issue Register Client: Mannin Retail Ltd Project: Extension to The Milestone, Douglas Project#: 1317-MS Work stage: Planning ### Andrew Bentley RIBA #### Chartered Architect 8 Ravens Wharf, Douglas, IM1 5BT Tel: 07624 482130 email: andrew@bentley.im Planning Approval Building Control Tender/Contract [Table omitted in markdown export] Distribution: e = electronic [Table omitted in markdown export] --- *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/6567-braddan-milestone-petrol-station-extension-alteration/documents/1303390*