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Application No.: 17/01152/D Applicant: Anglo International Properties Ltd Proposal: Erection of signage Site Address: Nunnery Mills Old Castletown Road Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 1QA Case Officer : Miss Lucy Kinrade Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.01.2018 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the following all date stamped and received 03/11/2017:
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons NONE _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE
1.1 The application site is the curtilage of Nunnery Mills, Old Castletown Road, Douglas. The site is occupied by a large Manx stone building which is approved as offices. The current occupants of the building are the head office for 'The Derwent Group' and 'The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation'. - 1.2 Access to the site is gained directly from the Old Castletown Road on the southern side where the site is bound from the highway by a large Manx Stone wall. - 1.3 The site is embraced within a rural woodland setting on the outskirts of the town centre of Douglas. To the north, the site joins with the River Glass beyond which is the car park of Tesco. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 This application seeks approval for the installation of a sign within the site which advertises the occupants of the property 'The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation' and 'The Derwent Group', also within the sign will be the building name 'Nunnery Mills'. The proposed sign is to be located east of the main access and sited behind the existing Manx stone boundary wall. - 2.2 The proposed aluminium panel sign is to be largely rectangular but with a small decorative arch at the top. The sign is to be predominantly 2.99m wide and 1.2m high and 1.5m high at the top of the arch. - 2.3 The sign is to be powder coated black with a decorative gold border. The proposed gold individual lettered text will cover four lines located centrally to the sign. Two gold decorative separators will be located between the key texts. - 2.4 The sign is will be supported by three 75mm posts and will be fixed 1.5m from ground level. The posts are proposed within the application form to be place in hand dug holes measuring no more than 300mm x 300mm. - 2.5 The proposal also includes the installation of 3 marine grade 10W LED floodlights positioned below the sign to provide illumination at dusk and night hours. The lights are proposed to be solar powered. PLANNING HISTORY
3.1 There have been a number of applications at the site, the most relevant in the case of this application is PA 11/01489/D for the erection of an advertisement board for the sale of the property (retrospective) which was granted full approval in 2011. The officer reported on the application indicating that if the application were to have been for a permanent sign that its insufficient and poor quality design in such a prominent location would bring about an unattractive feature to the area. For this reason the application was approved subject to a condition ensure its removal it is unlikely that it would find favour with the relevant policies as it is not an attractive feature, although subject to a condition which was relevant to the temporary nature of the sign and its removal thereafter. DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES
4.1 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 make it clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of amenity and public safety. In the case of amenity, such things as the general characteristics of the area need to be taken into account along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest and the public safety should consider the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome including the obscuration of any traffic sign or similar.
4.2 In the case of this application the application site is located within an area that is designated by the Douglas Local Plan as being Private Woodland which is a particular category of Open Space or Woodland that help to provide features and characteristics that tie with the rural setting. Given the land zoning and the nature of the current application it is relevant to consider the following policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 in the assessment of the application:
4.3 General Policy 6: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:
4.4 General Policy 7: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements on sites or buildings other than those to which they relate will not generally be permitted." - 4.5 Paragraph 6.6.3: "Within rural areas, advertisements can be disruptive features which affect adversely the appearance of the landscape and the countryside. Lighting can pollute the night sky, and may be contrary to nature conservation interests." - 4.6 General Policy 8: "Within rural areas the display of external advertisements will be permitted only where:
4.7 Environment Policy 22: "Development will not be permitted where it would unacceptably harm the environment and/or the amenity of nearby properties in terms of:
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services have indicated no highways interest in the application 15/11/2017.
5.2 Douglas Borough Council have no objections to the proposal 21/11/2017.
6.2 Previous application PA 11/01489/D for a large advertising sign was approved in the same location back in 2011, this application was considered acceptable but only for a temporary period due to the lack of quality, design and form of the for sale board, the application was granted approval subject to a condition for its removal.
6.3 The application now seeks to display a permanent sign that relates to the occupants and use of the building which is a greater quality in terms of its design and appearance. The sign is reasonably sized and located as to ensure no impacts on highway safety or traffic flows. The sign sits behind the existing wall and outside of visibility splays when exiting the site. The sign is to be erected on three posts that are placed into hand dug holes measuring no greater than 300mm x 300mm. This method of construction will help to limit and reduce impacts on potential tree roots and ensure the existing trees are suitable protected from harmful development. - 6.4 Three marine grade 10W LED floodlights are proposed to be installed at ground level (beneath the sign) to provide upward illumination at dusk and night-time hours. The lumen level from each light is 950lm. LED's provide an alternative to the use of incandescent bulbs; they generally provide an equal level of bright light but have a much lower energy use. - 6.5 The Strategic Plan indicates that illumination will only be permitted where it is essential and that this illumination should ideally be hooded or kept to a minimum as to avoid the escape of light, reduce impact on highway safety and to avoid pollution of the night sky. The number of upwards pointing floodlights proposed within such a confined area I likely to causes significant impact on the amenity and visual appearance of the area especially at dark hours and there is likely to be a level of overspill on to the site behind, this level of illumination may bring about a high level of glare in this area which could have a detrimental impact on highway safety. - 6.6 Following discussions with the agent for the application concerns were expressed regarding the number of lights and their location and alternative solutions were sought. Ideally external illumination for signs should be specific to the specific task and be installed as such that the light points down. This ensures that there is no light pollution from excessive light overspill. Given that the Isle of Man has been recognised as a 'Dark Skies' UNESCO site there is great importance of reducing and eliminating light pollution. - 6.7 The agent for the application indicated by phone on 10/01/2017 that the installation of the sign at this time was chief to the application and that they would be happy to omit the proposed illumination from the application. The omission of the lighting can be actioned by a suitably worded condition. It was indicated by the agent that they would seek to explore and discuss alternative lighting schemes with the Department to ensure limited impact on the site and surroundings.
7.1 The current application is considered acceptable subject to the addition of a condition omitting the installation of the proposed illumination. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:
I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date: 21.01.2018 Determining officer
Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer
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