**Document:** Supporting Information Statement **Application:** 20/01107/B — Alterations, erection of extension to rear and conversion of part of ground floor shop (1.1) to residential use (3.3), and roofing works to detached garage / workshop **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2020-12-17 **Parish:** German **Document Type:** report / planning_statement **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/13602-german-3-5-douglas-conversion-extension/documents/1367071 --- # Supporting Information Statement ## 2001107 CJ Design Limited 10 Ballaterson Road, Peel, Isle of Man IM5 1BJ Tel: 426277 Email: carljenk@manx.net ### Supporting Information Statement For Proposed Refurbishment And Extension At 3-5 Douglas Street, Peel. #### Existing Site The building is located on Douglas Street in the heart of Peel town centre and within Peel Conservation area. Douglas Street sits between the main shopping street of Michael Street and Market Place and comprises a number of retail units with residential accommodation above. The building comprises two former retail units fronting onto Douglas Street on the ground floor with off-street access to the first floor residential accommodation via an entrance corridor and stairwell. The first retail unit (number 3 Douglas Street) comprised a shop area at street level with a staff area behind and a further (raised) staff area with cold store and outside toilet facilities. The second retail unit comprised a shop area at street level with staff area behind—there were no toilet facilities that were aware of. Both retail units have been unoccupied for a couple of years after being occupied by local Peel Businesses. The residential accommodation located on the first floor comprised a one-bedroom unit with Lounge, Dining, Kitchen, and Bathroom (according to plans submitted in 2011) and is unknown when the residential accommodation fell empty. In addition to the main retail/residential building fronting onto Douglas Street, there is also an enclosed garden to the rear which can be accessed through the retail units. There is also a garage/workshop building to the rear which provides car parking space for two cars and also provides access to the enclosed garden. The garage/workshop building is accessed via Red Lane and the private carpark located behind Lower Douglas Street. The applicant purchased the building last year which was in need of full renovation works before the retail units or residential accommodation could be used. #### Planning History Following a search carried out on the Planning Department website it would appear the application site has been subject to a single planning application under the previous owners. This application is listed below: 11/01582/B - Refurbishment works and erection of extension to shops and conversion of existing loft to create an additional apartment - Permitted Although this application was approved, we believe no works were carried out on-site. ## Pre-Application Advice During the design process pre-application consultation have taken place with Miss Vanessa Porter, Planning Officer. These consultations have been in the form of email correspondence. The advice given in the pre-application consultations has been incorporated into the drawings and Supporting Information Statement that form the basis of this application. ### Client Statement My wife and I bought this property intending to make it our home. At the same time, we are keen to keep Peel town centre as alive as possible. Ideally, we would like as much of the street level frontage to be used for retail or second best, some kind of other commercial use. The problem that we have tried to solve is how achieve this while providing a workable residential space. Unfortunately, using the workshop/garage to the rear as our sole entrance to our home is not an option as we don't own the carpark to the rear. While we have legal access to the garage, there is a real possibility that using that access as our sole route into our home could be contested at some time in the future. We considered having two retail units but this would mean using the narrow corridor to the middle door onto the street for us to access our home, and at the same time providing two shops with decent modern facilities would be problematic. We did not want to alter the look of the front facade of the building and the electricity people at Manx Utilities told us that it is highly desirable for their meter reader and the fire brigade to have easy access to the electrical installation. For these reasons we worked out the best solution is to make the middle door into an electrical access point and use the door to no 5 (formerly Anabela's dress studio) as our street entrance. This allows us to provide a wheelchair accessible toilet for the shop at No 3 (formerly the City Butchers). This also allows us to provide the shop at No 3 with a tea making area. The previous tenants of the City Butchers had no toilet facility as the toilet roof had collapsed and the yard was flooded and filled with trash, so this will be a great improvement. We want the shop to be tenanted preferably by something more vital than yet another charity shop or estate agent so we will make it as attractive as possible price wise and looks wise to achieve this. ### Current Proposals This application seeks full planning approval for the renovation of the existing building, demolition of a former extension, construction of a new single storey extension, alteration to first floor roofs at the rear and re-roofing of the Garage / Workshop building. CJ Design Ltd was approached to investigate the possibility of renovating / extending the existing building to create a family home in the first instance with retail accommodation if possible. The applicant is keen to bring the building which is located in a prominent position within Peel Town centre back into residential/commercial use to ensure future longevity. As the building is located within Peel Conservation area and the frontage comprises of two retail units with a single door to the residential accommodation, it is intended to carry out minimum renovation works to the Douglas Street elevation. The applicant believes the existing timber windows can be refurbished at ground and first floor levels in accordance with current planning guidance. The first floor windows currently have leaded glazing which the applicant would like to replace with clear glass and secondary glazing would be installed internally to improve energy efficiency. The existing timber doors are not thought to be original and the applicant would like to replace with a six panel timber door design which is thought to be more in keeping with the original style. The external walls will receive a coat of masonry paint and the roof covering will be stripped off and re-roofed using reclaimed natural slate to match the original. There is a parapet wall to one side of the roof which is the source of internal damp issues so the applicant would like to reduce the height of this parapet and re-roof over to ensure a watertight protection to the existing walls. The rear of the building is not visible to members of the public and can only be seen by the residents of the adjoining properties (limited visibility due to the Garage / workshop building) and from the enclosed garden which forms part of the property. The applicant would like to demolish the former single storey lean-to extension and replace with a new flat roof extension on a similar footprint to create a new Kitchen / Dining space to the residential accommodation which opens out onto the enclosed garden. Due to the height of the surrounding buildings, this flat roof should only be visible from the roof tops of the neighbouring properties. At present there are two cat-slide roofs to either side of a gabled roof at the rear and these have an internal height in the region of 1.2. In order to make the floorspace more usable in these areas it is proposed to replace the cat-slide roofs with two flat roofs at a similar level to provide improved head height within the Lounge and Ensuite Bathroom. Again, as these flat roofs are located at the rear of the building, they will not generally be visible to members of the public. Whilst flat roofs aren't generally supported in a conservation area it is hoped due to the limited visibility of these roofs to neighbouring properties it will be acceptable in this instance. Whilst undertaking the renovation works of the main building, the applicant would like to take the opportunity to incorporate re-roofing of the Garage/workshop building. This building currently has a lean-to roof which is clad with profiled Asbestos containing material roofing sheet. It is proposed to replace this roofing sheet with new profiled metal sheeting (colour: dark grey) with polycarbonate rooflights to maximise the natural light within the garage/workshop. The existing parking provision will not be affected or reduced by these proposals. **Conclusion** We believe the renovation works to the existing building and the new extension complies with the recommendations of the current planning guidance as the proposals: - retain the appearance of the building as viewed from the public highway, - use materials which are sympathetic to the original building - respects the site and surrounding in terms of layout, scale and form - does not adversely affect the character of the surrounding townscape - does not adversely affect the amenity of the local residents or character of the locality - Any elements not in keeping with the conservation area are hidden from public view --- *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/13602-german-3-5-douglas-conversion-extension/documents/1367071*