**Document:** Officer Report 09/00907/R
**Application:** 09/00907/R — Variation of condition 4 of PA 99/01898/C regarding opening hours
**Decision:** Refused
**Decision Date:** 2009-10-15
**Parish:** Braddan
**Document Type:** report / officer_report
**Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/63189-braddan-2-marina/documents/1378038

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# Officer Report 09/00907/R

**Application No.:** 09/00907/R
**Applicant:** Mr Omer Vahaplar
**Proposal:** Variation of condition 4 of PA 99/01898/C regarding opening hours
**Site Address:** 2 Marina Road Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 2HE Considerations Case Officer : Mr Ian Brooks
**Expected Decision Level:** Planning Committee Written Representations Your Ref: NK/KB/20409.001/S 4 Finch Road Douglas Isle Of Man Objects to the proposal Keighley House Apartments 59 Loch Promenade Douglas Objects to the proposal Isle Of Man Flat 2 59 Loch Promenade Douglas Objects to the proposal Objection has been withdrawn Flat 4 59 Loch Promenade Douglas Isle Of Man Objects to the proposal Sam Webbs Castle Street Douglas Isle Of Man Interest expressed Falcon Apartments 56 Loch Promenade Douglas Isle Of Man Grand Design Falcon Shop Arcade Marina Road Douglas Supports the proposal Faze 2 1-2 A Marina Road Douglas Isle Of Man Supports the proposal Consultations Consultee : Highways Division Notes : 25 August 2009 09/00907/R Page 1 of 7 Consultee : Douglas Corporation Notes: No objection. Consultee : Mr N Kaighen Notes: - supports view of Police AL Officer. would raise objections on the grounds that eh extend opening hours may lead to disturbance and anti social behaviour. Consultee : Police Architectural Liaison Officer Notes: comments received

## Officer's Report

### Site

The application site is a hot food takeaway located at No. 2 Marina Road, Douglas. The site is zoned as an area of predominantly shopping use in the Douglas Local Plan.

### Proposed Development

This application is seeking to vary condition 4 of 99/01898/C so as to extend the opening hours of the existing use to 1.30am Monday to Friday and 4am Saturday and Sunday.

### Planning Status And Relevant Policies

Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: General Policy 2, Community Policy 7

General Policy 2 states that "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."

Community Policy 7 states "The design of new development and the extension and refurbishment of existing buildings and development must, as far as is reasonably practical, pay due regard to existing best practice so as to help prevent criminal and anti-social behaviour.

## **PLANNING HISTORY**

The following previous applications are considered relevant in the consideration of this application:

- 99/01898/C - Change of use of retail unit to fast food take away - granted at appeal on 31st August 2000.

- Condition 4 states that "The hot food 'take-away' business may not operate between 0030 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0300 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays."

**REPRESENTATIONS**

Douglas Borough Council fully supports the views expressed by the Police Architectural Liaison Officer in his letter dated 23rd June 2009, and would raise objections on the grounds that the extended opening hours may lead to disturbance and anti-social behaviour.

- The occupiers of Grand Design, Falcon Shop Arcade, Marina Road and the occupiers of Faze 2, 1-2 A Marina Road have advised the Planning Authority that the takeaway staff do their best to keep the area clean and tidy. The extension of the opening house will not change the approach of the Istanbul team when it comes to litter and noise.

- The licensee of Sam Webbs Public House has never had any reason to complain about noise or rubbish.

- The occupier of Flat 2, 59 Loch Promenade has written in to object; however, has now withdrawn their comments and do not wish to comment on the application.

- The occupiers of the Falcon Apartments, 56 Loch Promenade have never had any issue regarding noise from the Istanbul. They have also commented that living in the main Douglas Street it is expected to hear occasional noise at the weekend.

- The occupiers of Flat 4 and 7 of 59 Loch Promenade have objected to the application on the grounds that it will lead to a considerable increase in noise during unsociable hours, and may compromise the safety of their building. They also recall on a number of occasions when the Istanbul take away exceeded their current permitting hours by a large margin. An extension of the hours would also exacerbate the existing litter problem generated by the Istanbul.

- The Manager of the Star Grill & Pizza Ltd have objected to the application on the grounds of noise and litter.

- The Architectural Liaison Officer of the Isle of Man Constabulary has serious concerns regarding this application in that late night takeaway premises are widely recognised as being 'honey pot' or potential 'crime generator' environments as they have a long history of acting as 'flash points' for violence and disorder within the Island context. Douglas is served by a number of licensed late-night entertainment establishments (on average licensed for over 200 patrons) which remain open until 3am and as alluded to by the applicant, the takeaways seek to cater to this very clientele. There are two late night takeaways located in Marina Road and both are popular and well attended during the early hours of the morning. Persons in varying states of intoxication therefore make their way to the Marina Road environment from Central/Queens Promenade and the Loch Promenade/ Peveril Square areas with the intention of attending the applicant premises. It can be hypothesised that large numbers of intoxicated persons can congregate within the Marina Road area thus significantly increasing the likelihood of disorder occurring.

The ALO has provided the following crime and disorder figures relating to a two year period (June 2007 - June 2009):

A total of 82 report incidents occurred within the Marina Road environment between 2200hrs and 0500 hrs during the two year period

- 13 (16\%) occurred between 2200hrs and 0000hrs (Mon - Sun)
-  (61\%) occurred between 0000 and 0030 hrs (Mon - Sun)
- 19 (23\%) occurred between 0030 and 0500 hrs (Mon - Sun)- It should be further noted that 13 (16\%) incidents occurred during the requested extension period (1 hour after permitted trading hours)
- 25 (30\%) occurred between 0000 and 0500 on Saturday mornings
-  (45\%) occurred between 0000 and 0500 on Sunday mornings

67 incident were classed as disturbances - this includes all categories of assault and public order offences

- 43 (64\%) occurred between 0000 and 0300 (Mon to Sun)
- 16 (24\%) occurred between 0030 and 0500 (Mon to Sun)

The ALO has hypothesised that the vast majority of the said offenders will have approached the Marina Road environment on foot and will therefore have either had to pass Harris Promenade or through Castle Street. The ALO have carried out a similar evaluation of the crime report of the said area to enable a comparison of incident rates within the Marina Road environment.

A total of 17 report incidents occurred within the Castle Street between 2200hrs and 0500hrs during the same two year period

- 6 occurred between 2200hrs and 0000hrs (Mon - Sun)
- 7 occurred between 0000 and 0030 hrs (Mon - Sun)
- 1 occurred between 0030 and 0500 hrs (Mon - Sun)

12 incident were classed as disturbances - this includes all categories of assault and public order offences

- 5 occurred between 0000 and 0300 (Mon to Sun)
- 1 occurred between 0030 and 0500 (Mon to Sun)

A total of 17 report incidents occurred within the Harris Promenade environment during the same two year period

- 3 occurred between 2200hrs and 0000hrs (Mon - Sun)
- 8 occurred between 0000 and 0030 hrs (Mon - Sun)
- 6 occurred between 0030 and 0500 hrs (Mon - Sun)

14 incident were classed as disturbances - this includes all categories of assault and public order offences

- 7 occurred between 0000 and 0300 (Mon to Sun)
- 5 occurred between 0030 and 0500 (Mon to Sun)

The ALO has indicated there has been a significantly higher level of incidents occurring within Marina Road during the midnight to Sam period when compared to the routes giving immediate access to the said area (over eight times as many as within Castle Street and almost five time as many as on Harris Promenade). The only premises that are open during the relevant hours within Marina Road are the two takeaways. The ALO would posit that there is a cogent argument that in remaining open into the early hours of the morning the takeaways are both attracting patrons to the area, and causing them to remain, leading to a concomitant increase of violent disorder. The 'honey pot' effect of the takeaways will encourage persons who would normally take a different route home to enter and

remain (however briefly) within Marina Road. He is also not suggesting that all such persons will commit crime or anti-social behaviour. However, at the very least, an increase of hours as requested will increase the number of people passing through the area, increasing the disturbance, noise, and nuisance caused to nearby residents, impacting upon their quality of life.

The ALO also states that "There are a number of other late-night takeaways located within the Douglas area which have similar permitted hours to the applicant premises, i.e. they must close at 0030 hrs on weekdays and 0300hrs at weekends. I would opine that should the variation be granted it will have the effect of 'opening the floodgates' and will result in most if not all takeaway premises requesting similar variations. The Isle of Man Constabulary has a finite number of uniformed officers serving within Douglas during the relevant time period. The potential for incidents to occur within the vicinity of late-night takeaways (in this case Marina Road) can create unsustainable demands on local policing resources as it requires officers to monitor and remain within the area - to the detriment of the rest of the neighbourhood policing area."

The ALO also wishes to bring to the attention of the committee that it would appear that the applicant premises are continuing to trade outside of permitted hours. His colleagues have noted the premises were open and trading at

- 03:55hrs on Friday 5th June
- 04:00hrs Wednesday 10th June
- 04:10hrs on Thursday 11th June
- 03:00hrs on Friday 12th June
- 04:00 on Saturday 20th June and that two disturbance occurred in Marina Road between 02:00hrs and 03:00hrs.

## Assessment

The main issue in respect of this application is whether the proposed extension to the opening hours would result in harm to the surrounding environment. This application is a finely balanced case. The area is zoned as area of predominantly shopping use; however, there are residential apartments located directly opposite the application site. There must be a balance whether the proposed opening hours would impact on the residential environment of those apartments. Generally, occupiers of apartments within a town centre location would expect a lower standard of living due to the general activity of a town centre, particularly during the evenings. The existing planning conditions states that "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0030 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0300 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays". This proposal would mean that the condition would be revised to the following "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0130 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0400 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays." The difference of opening an extra hour would be very marginal in terms of whether the proposal would generate more noise than the current situation.

In respect of the ALO's concerns about crime and disorder, there are two schools of thought of dealing with crime and disorder, as part of the night time economy, which are 1) to disperse people from the locality as quickly as possible so as to reduce the chances of any crime and disorder, or 2) to concentrate people in one particular local so that the police can monitor the behaviour of people and react quickly to any situations before they escalate into major incident. The Isle of Man Constabulary in this instance prefers to disperse people from this particular location. The ALO has already identified that there is a high crime rate within Marina Road compared to other locations within Douglas; however, the question here is whether extending the opening hours by 1 hour would make any difference to the situation. The behaviour of people at night is unpredictable in that some people go to a take-away to get their food and then quickly disperse but there are others who hang around to eat food and chat with their friends before dispersing from an area. This proposal may also attract more people into Marina Road. It is difficult to assess whether this proposal will increase the recorded crime rate for the area. If people are already navigating through the area, it is considered this proposal will not make any difference to the recorded crime rate.

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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/63189-braddan-2-marina/documents/1378038*