Officer Report

Application No.: 17/01221/B Applicant: Tours Isle Of Man Proposal: Erection of staff welfare facilities within existing building and resurfacing works to existing drive and hard standing Site Address: The Dome Balthane Industrial Estate Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 2AH Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Site Visit: 06.12.2017 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 27.12.2017 _________________________________________________________________

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 decision relates to drawings 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and 06 all received on 24.11.17. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons none _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The site is the curtilage of The Dome, an existing building situated in the heart of Balthane Industrial estate. The site backs onto a pair of properties, one of which is a residential dwelling (The Bungalow) with industrial buildings otherwise to the north west and south east of the site. To the north east is an open area which has permission for industrial development but which is currently the subject of an application for levelling, the construction of a retaining wall and the

• temporary use for ten years for the storage of builders' vehicles, equipment and materials (17/0378/B).
• 1.2 The building is a Nissen hut type structure - semi cylindrical with sheeted walls and sides. It is currently used for the storage and maintenance of coaches by a local coach operator.
• 1.3 The access into the site serves only the application building, not the land to the south east which is accessed from the JCK site to the south west. The land to the south east is operating

• as a building material recycling facility and is accessed from Balthane Road. The access lane and hardstanding in front of the building are loose gravel. The yard to the south west is hardsurfaced in tarmacadam. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the inclusion within the building of staff welfare facilities and externally to change the surface finish of the entrance drive and front hardstanding from gravel to concrete. The concreting will include all of the land from the site up to the estate road and incorporate manholes and drainage channels as required. - 2.2 The welfare facilities will involve internal work only with the existing pedestrian door being utilised and will cover an area of 7.7m by 2.7m (the overall floor area is 37m by 15m). The facilities will be panelled off from the rest of the internal space and will comprise a lobby, staff room and toilet and shower facilities including accessible features. - 2.3 The applicant owns another site - Ackerman Court, which sits close to the junction of the estate road with Balthane Road in a new industrial development. At present, the staff working

at The Dome use these facilities but it is proposed for them to have their own facilities within their place of work.

2.4 The resurfacing is proposed in order to reduce the amount of dust and damage to the vehicles and will include a dedicated wash down area with appropriate surface and foul water collection. PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site is designated on the Area Plan for the South as Industrial. What is proposed is consistent with that so the appropriate Strategic Plan policy is General Policy 2 as follows:

"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:

• (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;
• (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 and
• (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways."

PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 Planning approval has been sought and granted for a variety of works to the building and the adjacent structures none of which is particularly relevant to the consideration of the current application. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services make the following comments: "The application is for the erection of staff welfare facilities within the existing dome building and resurfacing works to the existing drive and hard standing area to change it from gravel to concrete to help protect the vehicles

using the facility from damage. There will be no change to the existing access and parking arrangements. Therefore, Highway Services does not oppose this application"(20.12.17).

5.2 Malew Parish Commissioners have no objection to the application (06.12.17). ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The proposed works within the building will not result in any change to the external appearance although as the main door is often open, the unit will be visible from the front of the building. This is a private view. It is not considered that the proposal will adversely affect the appearance or character of the building, nor how it operates. It is arguable that this requires planning approval as it does not affect the external appearance of the building and does not materially change its use.

6.2 The re-surfacing of the yard will not result in any adverse visual impact on the character of the building, site or area which is very much dominated by parked vehicles, hard surfacing and industrial style buildings. Provided that there is sufficient drainage built into the scheme, which is included in the application and will also be subject to control ny Manx Utilities under the Drainage Act, this should have no adverse impact either. CONCLUSION - 7.1 The proposal will result in improved facilities for those operating on the site and the scheme is supported. 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:

• * whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• * 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 : 05.01.2018 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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