**Document:** DEC Officer Report **Application:** 20/00303/C — Change of use of ground floor laundrette to a beauty business (Class 1.1) **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2020-04-28 **Parish:** German **Document Type:** report / officer_report **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/12840-german-2-church-change-of-use/documents/994989 --- # DEC Officer Report **Application No.:** 20/00303/C **Applicant:** Miss Danielle Neill & Mr Michael Crosbie **Proposal:** Change of use of ground floor laundrette to a beauty business (Class 1.1) **Site Address:** 2 Church Street Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1HL Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett **Expected Decision Level:** Officer Delegation **Recommended Decision:** Permitted **Date of Recommendation:** 27.04.2020 _________________________________________________________________ ## 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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The development is considered to accord with the Peel Local Plan, Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and Environment Policy 35 and General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan 2016. Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the drawings and information received on 11th March, 2020. _______________________________________________________________ ## Interested Person Status Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE 1.1 The site is the curtilage of 2, Church Street which sits on the corner of Church Street and Christian Street. The property is commercial at the ground floor with a large shop window fronting Church Street continuing around the corner to Christian Street. A single door serves the property with stairs immediately alongside to the living accommodation on the above two floors. - 1.2 The premises were, until recently used as a launderette. Under the 2019 Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order such a use is sui generis and does not fall within a prescribed Use Class. As such, any change of use to another purpose requires planning approval. - 1.3 The rest of Church Street are residential properties other than the chip shop on the other side of the road. - 1.4 The property has "LAUNDERERS" in individual letters on the masonry between the ground and first floor windows on the Church Street elevation. THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the change of use of the premises to a "beauty shop". This would fall within Class 1.1 Shop which includes (e) hairdressing or the provision of beauty treatments under the 2019 Order. - 2.2 No changes are proposed to the building. - 2.3 Two members of staff will be on site at any one time and up to 10 customers per day, customers attending one at a time although as there are two treatment rooms, it is assumed that there will be two at any one time. PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site is within an area designated on the Peel Local Plan of 1989 as Mixed Use. The site is also within the town's Conservation Area. - 3.2 General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan sets out general standards of development and is considered appropriate where it requires that development preserves the character and appearance of the area, the living conditions of those in adjacent property, does not have any adverse impact on highway safety and supports the reduction in energy consumption. - 3.3 Environment Policy 35 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 both require development within a Conservation Area to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the area and to acknowledge the special nature of the Area in the determination of any planning applications. PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The property was extended to provide additional dry cleaning facilities under 84/00620/B, indicating how long the launderette has been in situ here. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services do not object (23.04.2020). ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The site lies within a mixed use area with residential, commercial, civic and tourist uses all nearby. The premises have been used for a significant time as commercial on the ground floor and residential above. 6.2 What is now proposed is a different type of commercial use, one that would sit within the Class 1.1 Shop Class and would be suited to a town centre location such as this. There will be differences in that customers would be calling at regular but separated intervals, would not be bringing or taking away large items such as the sheets, duvets, bags of washing etc that would - have been the case with the launderette business. The level of noise and emissions is also likely to be less as the same processes are not going to be carried out here. - 6.3 It is also more likely that people will be able and prepared to park further away and walk to the premises for the proposed use than they would in the case of the launderette. There are no parking spaces directly alongside the application site and where there is parking it is shared mainly between the dwellings on both sides of the road. The situation regarding parking and highway safety is therefore likely to be improved as a result of the proposed change of use. - 6.4 The use of historic fabric within a Conservation Area is important so that it does not fall into disrepair. In this case, whilst there is no evidence that the launderette use was redundant, there is no issue with the proposed use which will continue to provide a function for an old building in a well visited part of the town. - 6.5 No hours of operation are included in the application and it is not considered that given the use and the lack of control of the hours of operation of the former launderette which would have had a more significant impact on those in adjacent properties, that a condition controlling this is necessary. ## CONCLUSION 7.1 The application is considered to accord with GP2, EP35, Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and the Peel Local Plan and is supported. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons: - (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf); - (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material; - (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure; - (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; - (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; - (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and - (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material. 8.2 The decision maker must determine: - o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and - o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation. Decision Made : Permitted Date: 27.04.2020 Determining officer Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner 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 onlineservices/customers and archive records. --- *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/12840-german-2-church-change-of-use/documents/994989*