Officer Report

Application No.: 17/01195/B Applicant: Manx Solar Electrical Ltd Proposal: Installation of solar panels to North West elevation Site Address: Unit 2 Block B Eden Business Park Douglas Isle Of Man IM4 2AY Case Officer : Miss Lucy Kinrade Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 05.01.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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 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 drawing numbers 01 and 02, and associated JASolar Specification brochure all date stamped and received 17/11/2017. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons NONE _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The application relates to the curtilage of Unit 2, Block B of the Eden Park light industrial and research and development estate (PA 15/00198/B) located south of Cooil Road, Braddan.

• The roof of the unit is the subject of this application, onto which the applicant, Manx Solar Electrical Ltd who occupy part of the unit, propose to install 18 solar PV panels.
• 1.2 Manx Solar Electrical Ltd are a local business that design, install and maintain an array of renewable energy sources such as ground source heat pumps, solar panels and wind turbines. The business also undertakes a range of plumbing and electrical jobs.
• 1.3 The existing unit has a two storey glazed frontage facing south-east and at the rear a large rolling garage door and a single access door facing north-west. 1.4 Each of the units across block B has roof lights on either side of the roof slope. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The application seeks approval for the installation of 18 solar PV Panels on the northwestern side of the roof slope above Unit 2. Each panel is around 1.6m x 1m. Each of the panels is to lie on their longest edge and stacked three high. The area of panels stretching approx. 9.6m across the width of the roof slope and upward approx. 3m. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The original application for the development of the estate was approved in 2011 under PA 11/01232/B for the 'Erection of a light industrial development comprising 4 individual buildings providing 24 separate units with parking and landscaping'. Approval was given and confirmed on appeal, despite being contrary to policy, on the basis of the argument made by the applicants that there was a shortage of modern industrial premises of high quality and that this amounted to an overriding need. A case was made by a local agent that occupants for the units could be quickly found.

3.2 In 2015 a subsequent application was submitted PA 15/00198/B for a variation of condition 10 of the approved light industrial use to allow for research and development uses. - 3.3 Both the 2011 and 2015 applications were approved including the installation of 2 solar panels on the roof of each unit.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES

4.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Braddan District Local Plan as Open Space/Agricultural. The units have legitimacy through a planning approval, PA 11/01232/B and subsequent approval of PA 15/00198/B. Given the nature of the current application it is most relevant to consider the following policies of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 in the assessment of the application.

4.2 General Policy 2 states (in part): "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; g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;

• n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

4.3 Energy Policy 4: "Development involving alternative sources of energy supply, including wind, water and tide power, and the use of solar panels, will be judged against the environmental objectives and policies set out in this Plan. Installations involving wind, water and tide power will require the submission of an EIA".

4.4 In addition to the above policies we may also consider one of the Strategic Objectives of the Strategic Plan, which is "To support energy generation from renewable resources".

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 DOI Highway Services raised no highways interest in the application on 13/12/2017.

5.2 Braddan Parish Commissioners had no objection to the application 04/12/2017. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 P.V panels are often installed on an areas of redundant roof space and utilised to harness solar energy for the production of electricity. This electricity can then be used within the building and help towards improving the energy efficiency of the building and reduce the demands on main electricity.

6.2 In the case of this application 18 P.V panels are to be installed on the north-west facing roof slope of the unit. While this rooftop can be seen from within Eden Park and views of the PV panels are to be expected, view from most public vantage point are likely to be angles and not prominent. Likewise, this area is approved as an area for light industrial and research development, the fixing of PV panels here would perhaps not be so out of character to what you would expect to see in such an industrial and research area.

6.3 The specification brochure submitted with the application indicates that the panels are to be finished in a dark colour, although it is unknown as to what the glare properties of the panels will be. The total area covered by the panels is around 28sqm. If the site were to have been within a residential area it may have been reasonable to request what the reflective properties of the panels were, however given the industrial/research location of the site and the panels being located on the roof slope approx. 2 stories high it is not expected that any potential glare will impact the amenities or visual discomfort of the occupants of the neighbouring units. - 6.4 The installation of PV Panels here would adhere to the aims set out in EP4 and work towards the Islands Strategic Objectives in reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposed Solar PV Panels are considered to meet the tests of the relevant parts of GP 2 and EP4 and are recommended for approval. 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:

• (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
• (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
• (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
• (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

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 in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 16.01.2018 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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