**Document:** Officer Planning Report
**Application:** 10/00194/B — Creation of a car parking area together with access roadway, footpaths and associated lighting
**Decision:** Permitted
**Decision Date:** 2010-04-30
**Parish:** Braddan
**Document Type:** report / officer_report
**Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/35856-braddan-the-nunnery/documents/1347558

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# Officer Planning Report

**Application No.:** ** 10/00194/B **
**Applicant:** ** Department Of Education **
**Proposal:** ** Creation of a car parking area together with access roadway, footpaths and associated lighting **
**Site Address:** ** The Nunnery Old Castletown Road Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 1QB --- ### Considerations **Case Officer:** Mrs Jade Craig **
**Photo Taken:** ** 16.04.2010 **
**Site Visit:** ** 16.04.2010 **
**Expected Decision Level:** ** Planning Committee --- ### Written Representations --- ### Consultations **Consultee:** Highways Division **Notes:** do not object as there will be no increase in traffic movement as a result. **Consultee:** Douglas Corporation **Notes:** **Consultee:** Manx National Heritage **Notes:** Comments received ---

### Officer's Report

This application is recommended for consideration by the Planning Committee rather than under delegated powers as the application is recommended for approval that is directly contrary to the provisions of the Development Plan.

#### The Site

The application site comprises an area within the curtilage of The Nunnery, Old Castletown Road in Douglas, which is currently the Business School and University Centre of the Isle of Man Government. The red line which defines the site includes the existing car park adjacent to the main building and extends from here to gardens north westwards, containing trees and grassed areas which were once the location of formal gardens associated with the present nineteenth century mansion house.

The actual Nunnery itself was established in the twelfth century and the buildings associated with this were believed to have been located eastwards of the existing mansion house on or near to the site of the present chapel. Following the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, a dwelling was built on or near to the site of the Nunnery and this property was condemned in 1823. In the same year,

20 April 2010

construction began on the earliest part of the present building and this was built on an elevated position in the grounds, away from the site of the former dwelling and Nunnery. The original 1823 dwelling was extended in two phases during the nineteenth century and remained in use as a dwelling until November 1999 when the Estate was given temporary permission for a 3 year change of use to an International Business School under PA 99/01066/C. Permanent Use of the Nunnery Estate as a Business School was subsequently granted in January 2004 under PA 03/01429/C which included a Master Plan of the site, indicating uses incidental to the Business School including the additional car parking now subject to this current application.

## The Proposal

This planning application seeks approval for an additional car park to serve the Business School and University Centre in order to alleviate the current parking situation within the site. The proposal also includes the creation of a new access road from the existing roadway to the proposed car park and will restore an existing footpath which will link the present car park to the proposed car park. The existing car park will be retained for disabled parking. The proposed access road, car park and the restored footpath will be lit by new outdoor lighting in the form of street lamps. The proposal also seeks approval for the removal of some trees on the site, both on the proposed access road and around the edges of the proposed car park.

### Planning Status

In terms of local plan policy, the application site is located within an area designated as "Private Woodland" under the Douglas South Local Plan 1999. Within areas zoned as "Private Woodland", all trees are deemed to be Registered and the protection of them and their setting is very important. The Nunnery Estate includes areas of archaeological interest and areas of nature conservation interest. Most of the buildings within the estate are of special architectural and historic interest, but they have yet to be Registered.

The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains policies which are considered material to the assessment of this current planning application;

General Policy 2 states;
"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:
- (a) is in accordance with the design brief in the Area Plan where there is such a brief;
- (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 water courses;
- (e) does not affect adversely public views of the sea;
- (f) incorporates where possible existing topography and landscape features, particularly trees and sod banks;
- (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;
- (j) can be provided with all necessary services;
- (k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan; (1) is not on contaminated land or subject to unreasonable risk of erosion or flooding;
- (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and
- (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

Environment Policy 3 states; "Development will not be permitted where it would result in the unacceptable loss of or damage to woodland areas, especially ancient, natural and semi-natural woodlands, which have public amenity or conservation value."

Environment Policy 40 states; "Development will not be permitted which would damage, disturb or detract from an important archaeological site or an Ancient Monument or the setting thereof."

Environment Policy 41 states; "The Department will require that archaeological evaluations be submitted prior to the determination of proposals affecting sites of known or potential archaeological significance. In cases where remains are affected but preservation in-situ is not merited, the Department will expect to secure excavations and/or recording in advance of construction work either by the imposition of suitable conditions attached to a planning permission or through a formal agreement entered into with the developer."

Community Policy 5 states; "Permission will generally be given for proposals to improve or extend existing schools and institutions of higher education and to build new schools, subject to their being sited and designed in accordance with the other policies of this plan, having particular regard to the potential for community use of the buildings and the associated Open Space."

## Planning History

The following previous planning applications are considered relevant in the assessment and determination of this application;

PA 99/01066/C Change of use to International Business School - Permitted 02/11/99 This approval was subject to condition 1 which stated that; "This use is for a period which expires 3 years from the date of this notice, after which period the permitted use must cease and the use of the site revert to residential use unless there is at that time either permission for continuation of the permitted use or for some other use."

PA 99/02266/D Erection of signage at gate entrances - Permitted 17/05/00 PA 03/01429/C Change of use of Nunnery Estate to permanent use as a Business School and uses incidental to, including additional car parking, teaching facilities and associated residential accommodation indicated within master plan - Permitted 14/01/04 The following conditions are relevant to this approval; Condition 1, "This approval relates to the use of the site (as defined on drawing number 324-03, date stamped 9th October 2003) for educational purposes in the form of an International Business School, in general terms in accordance with the submitted Master Plan; however, no approval is granted or implied to the individual building or engineering projects identified on that Plan; these projects are subject to the constraints identified in subsequent conditions of this notice; each project should form the subject of a separate planning application." Condition 2, "The Nunnery Estate as a whole has considerable value and interest as a complete ecological system; accordingly, prior to the submission of any detailed applications for building or engineering operations, there must be undertaken an assessment of the ecological value of the whole site; the brief therefor should be prepared in consultation with the Wildlife Office of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; particular regard should be had to the consequences of division and loss of particular habitats, since these can affect the continued ability of an area to provide a viable habitat for specific elements of wildlife; a copy of the assessment must accompany each detailed application."

Condition 6, "Areas 2.2 and 7: Prior to the design of any development of these areas, there must be investigation of both the archaeological and ecological interest of these areas, which were once part of the formal gardens associated with the present mansion house, and which also contribute to the ecological interest of the adjoining woodland areas."

Condition 7, "No trees may be felled as part of any proposed building or engineering operations; applications for such operations must include details of measures to protect trees during construction works; all service trenches must be shown on the submitted plans. Note: All trees are Registered."

Condition 9, "All applications for building or engineering operations must include details of how surface-water run-off from roofs and paved areas would be disposed of, and of how any foul sewage would be disposed of."

## PA 06/01693/B

Creation of a temporary car park and re-surfacing of east driveway and creation of contrasting coloured footway adjacent to existing driveway - Permitted 08/02/07 for a temporary period of 3 years

## PA 08/01037/B

Conversion of buildings to provide educational teaching, seminar and office space (Amended plans received) - Permitted 22/12/08

## PA 08/01667/B

Erection of a smoking shelter - Permitted 17/11/08

REPRESENTATIONS

Manx National Heritage commented that they were concerned with the proposed loss of trees in the estate but these concerns have been lessened by the consultations which have taken place between the applicant and the former Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (D.A.F.F.) in designing the position of the car park and access road in order to avoid felling good quality mature trees. Manx National Heritage would however recommend a condition should this application be approved, "which would formalise the adoption of the proposals to conserve, protect and augment by compensatory tree planting the woodland elements of the Nunnery grounds, allowing for selective felling of poorer quality trees under the supervision of D.A.F.F." With regard to the issue of the effect of proposed lighting on the local bat population, Manx National Heritage recognises that the applicant has been in discussion with the Manx Bat Group and simply states that they welcome this. A further condition which Manx National Heritage recommend should this application be approved is that they are currently working with the Centre for Manx Studies in order to develop "an archaeological watching brief" for the site and they recommend that an agreement to this brief should be conditioned.

The Highways Division of the Department of Transport (now the Department of Infrastructure) do not oppose this proposal as it will not result in an increase in traffic movement.

## ASSESSMENT

The current land zoning of the Nunnery is for Private Woodland, but the Estate has been established for permanent Educational Use under the Master Plan submitted with PA 03/01429/C. The principle of creating a car park on this particular site was approved as part of the Master Plan which was subject to certain conditions being met prior to the submission of detailed applications. The area illustrated as the proposed car park on the Master Plan was smaller than what is now proposed in this detailed application. The area now proposed extends further southwards to form a triangular shape.

As the previous use of the estate was residential, albeit for a large house, the availability of parking was a reflection of that use and the current educational use generates additional traffic which now results in the present car park becoming full and cars having to be parked on the access roads through the estate. The initial planning approval for the temporary change of use of the Estate to an International Business School indicated that there would be availability for 22 car parking spaces in the existing car park. A subsequent application 06/01693/B was approved for a temporary car park in order to overcome the under provision of parking at that time. The date of the approval notice

20 April 2010

was 8th February 2007, after which the application was approved for 3 years. Since the use of the temporary car park has expired, there has been no alternative arrangement for overflow parking.

The location of the proposed car park is an elevated grassed area north westwards of the main building. This particular area is screened by many trees and has been chosen for the proposed car park in order to minimise the visual impact on the Estate.

The entrance to the proposed car park would be via a newly created access road leading from the existing roadway to the rear of the main building. It is proposed that there will also be some road kerb realignment to the existing access road, in order to make it wider at the junction with the new road. The proposed pedestrian route between the new car park and the main building will be via an existing footpath (to be resurfaced and edged) and a series of steps which already exist. This footpath will not be easily accessible for disabled users but the current car park adjacent to the main building would be retained for disabled parking. Drawing no. 2009-038 03 indicates that the proposed car park would contain 95 parking spaces, each measuring 5 by 2.5 metres and the roads and aisles between the parking bays would be 6 metres wide.

As part of the assessment of this application, it is important to check whether the relevant conditions attached to the previous approval (PA 03/01429/C) have been met;

Condition 1 asked for detailed applications to be submitted for the individual projects identified in the Master Plan and this condition is being met by the submission of this planning application for car parking.

Condition 2 stated that an assessment must be made of the ecological values of the whole site in consultation with the Wildlife Office of the D.A.F.F. An assessment of the site was subsequently carried out by the Manx Wildlife Trust in 2004. Dr. P. Tomlinson from the Wildlife and Conservation Division of D.A.F.F. was consulted by the applicant in 2009 and was satisfied that the current car parking proposal is in agreement with the 2004 assessment, with the exception of information being provided relating to the possible loss of bat feeding areas and issues with the proposed lighting. The Planning Statement declares that discussions have taken place with the Manx Bat Group and these will continue with regard to advice on habitat and lighting. Concerning the proposed street lights, these would be located along one side of the access road, around the edge of the car park, in the central parking areas and along one side of the footpath to the main building. The position of these street lights is shown on drawing no. ap(60)01 and the location of the proposed service trenches has been chosen in order to best avoid the tree root system of the adjacent trees. A letter from Dalrymple Associates to the planning office dated 14th April 2010 provides further information about the street lights and states that those along the proposed access road and car park will be 5 metres high and those along the footpath will be 4 metres high. The lights have been chosen following discussions with the Police Architectural Liaison Officer regarding the security and safety of users of the car park and their positioning has been set out in order to provide uniformity in the lighting of the area. The street lights will have low energy lamps with a power consumption of 70w per fitting, which will reduce light pollution and save energy. Their visual impact is expected to be reduced due to the dense mature trees which surround the site and also because it is intended to paint them grey. There are existing street lights along the access road of the Estate and these are of a more traditional style than what are now proposed in this application. Although a more traditional style would be preferred, it is by no means the main issue and as the proposed columns will be located away from the main building and other historic buildings around the chapel, it is thought that their more modern appearance would be acceptable here than on the existing access road. It has been pointed out already that the main concern with the proposed lighting is that the disruption to the habitat of the local bat population is kept to a minimum and continued discussions with the Manx Bat Group should ensure this is the case.

Condition 6 stated that there should be an investigation of the archaeological and ecological interest of area 2.2 on the Master Plan (area 2.2 is now subject to this application). According to the Planning Statement, Andrew Johnson from Manx National Heritage was initially consulted in respect

of archaeological issues and it was agreed that investigations would be carried out by the Centre of Manx Studies. These archaeological investigations are now complete and it is said that nothing of interest has been found. Manx National Heritage and the Department of Education have since agreed that during the proposed works, the Centre of Manx Studies will be commissioned to maintain a 'watching brief'. Historically, the area of the proposed car park was once laid out as the formal gardens of the current mansion house, which dates from the nineteenth century. It is proposed to demolish a shed and trough which are currently on the site and this is deemed to be acceptable. The Nunnery Estate has a history dating back to the twelfth century and there are other sites within the Estate of much greater archaeological significance.

Condition 7 stated that "No trees may be felled as part of any proposed building or engineering operations; applications for such operations must include details of measures to protect trees during construction works; all service trenches must be shown on the submitted plans. Note: All trees are Registered." It is proposed that trees will be felled as part of these works and studying drawing no. ap(90)04 it appears that a total of 20 trees will be removed. It is not stated what particular species these trees are, but apparently none of the mature trees will be affected. The trees which are proposed to be removed are located where the proposed access road will be and around the edges of the proposed car park, but the majority are located where the proposed access road will widen to become the new car park. From studying a survey of the site (drawing no. D242-LS-01), it is difficult to see how a car park on this site can be accessed without the removal of some trees. The Planning Statement submitted with this application states that "Implementation of the approved master plan is not feasible without the removal of existing trees." (section 3.2.1, February 2010). Meetings have been held on site with Mr D. Chalk of the Forestry Division of D.A.F.F. with regard to the proposed loss of trees. As a result of this, the proposed parking area and access road are located in order to avoid the need to remove good quality mature trees. In addition to this, an area to the north of the new car park will be preserved and enhanced by additional tree planting in order to replace the trees which will be felled and the species and exact location of these will be determined through discussions with D.A.F.F. There have been root protection discussions with D.A.F.F. due to concerns about the proposed works close to and above tree roots and it has been stated that the works underneath the tree canopy will only remove the top vegetative layer of the ground prior to the new road surfacing being put in place, in order to protect the root systems and ensure that water can still reach below the surface. In order to minimise disruption to the tree roots, different types of hard standing have been proposed for different parts of the application site. The access road is proposed to be created through an area of trees. The road would be constructed from a permeable tarmac, there would be kerb edging and excavation would be no deeper than 50 mm . The car park itself is proposed to be created in a grassed area surrounded by trees. The aisles and roads within the car park would be constructed with a permeable block paving, there would be gravel parking and excavation would be no deeper than 50 mm to the bays at trees. The edging to the gravel would be in timber. During the construction period a secure post and wire fence will be erected around the site perimeter in order to protect the adjacent trees.

Condition 9, "All applications for building or engineering operations must include details of how surface-water run-off from roofs and paved areas would be disposed of, and of how any foul sewage would be disposed of." Drawing no. 03 shows that all of the proposed road surfaces will be permeable and that the surface water will be directed into swales (these are engineered landscape features appearing as shallow linear channels), from where it will flow downwards using pipework where necessary to soakaways.

## Recommendation

It is accepted that the current car parking provision at the International Business School is inadequate and that a further parking area is needed. The proposed area is considered to be the best location in the Estate for an extra car park because it is near to the main building, largely hidden from view by dense trees and contains little of archaeological significance. The main concerns relating to the development are the loss of trees and the possible effects of the proposed outdoor lighting on the local bat population, however it is accepted that these issues will be addressed through discussions and advice between the applicant/developer and the relevant groups. For these

reasons the proposal is considered to be acceptable and it is recommended that the planning application be permitted subject to conditions.

## Party Status

It is considered that the following parties, who submitted comments, accord with the requirements of Planning Circular 1/06 and are therefore, afforded Interested Party Status;

Manx National Heritage has commented on planning matters and has sufficient interest in the historic environment and therefore should be afforded party status in this instance.

The Department of Transport Highways Division is now part of the Department of Infrastructure of which the planning authority is part. As such, the Highways and Traffic Division cannot be afforded party status in this instance.

### Recommendation

Recommended Decision: Permitted

Date of Recommendation: 20.04.2010

### Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal

### C : Conditions for approval <br> N : Notes attached to conditions <br> R : Reasons for refusal <br> 0 : Notes attached to refusals

C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

C 2. This permission relates to the creation of a car parking area together with access roadway, footpaths and associated lighting, as shown in drawing numbers ap(90)03, ap(90)04, ap(20)01, 2009-038 03, D242-LS-01 rev A, ap(60)01 and Planning Statement PS01, all date stamped 15th February 2010.

C 3. The street lamps shall be 5 metres tall on the proposed access road and car park and 4 metres tall on the footpath.

C 4. The developer/applicant shall afford access at all reasonable times to any archaeologist nominated by the planning authority, and shall allow him to observe the excavations and record items of interest and finds.

C 5. The new access road, footpath and car parking shall not be constructed until adequate steps, which shall have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority, have been taken to safeguard against damage or injury during construction works all trees on the site, or those root structure may extend within the site. In particular no excavations, site works, trenches or channels shall be cut or pipes or service laid or any other works carried out in such a way as to cause damage

or injury to the trees by interference with their root structure and no soil or waste shall be deposited on the land in such a position as to be likely to cause damage or injury to the trees.

C 6.

The existing trees indicated on the approved plans to be retained shall not be cut down, grubbed out, topped, lopped or uprooted without the written consent of the Planning Authority. Any trees removed without such consent, die, dying, or being become seriously damaged or diseased within five years from the completion of the development shall be replaced, as soon as practicable with trees of such size and species details.

C 7.

Prior to the commencement of works, a tree planting scheme shall have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority. All planting comprised in the approved details of the scheme must be carried out in the first planting seasons following the completion of the development, whichever is the sooner. Any trees or plants which within a period of five years from the completion of the development die, are removed, or must be replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Authority in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the Town and Country (Development Procedure) 2005

Further to the decision of the Authority an additional report/condition reason is required.

Signing Officer to delete as appropriate:

YES/NO

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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/35856-braddan-the-nunnery/documents/1347558*