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Further to your letter dated 6th October this document contains the revised and updateded information regarding my change of use application for the warehouse unit on Falcon Cliff Terrace Lane. The letter expressed that the most expedient way to resolve the matter is to submit a revised planning application addressing the reasons originally recommended in the refusal. I therefore enclose both the questions raised and my answers to them.
I would like to add a small caveat to this application, While i understand the real and important role planning plays in restricting the negative impact homeowners and business' have on their enviroment, this change of use process has been very detrimental to my business, unsure as to whether or not i can stay at the facility i have so far spent the bare minimum on it and as such i have lost a lot of business, perhaps as much as $75 \%$ of my student base. With this in mind i have tried to give as much information as i possibly can, and in doing so may have strayed into unnecessary and extraneous detail. It is my hope that the reader understand that i have only done so in the hope of bringing this matter to a close with the greatest of alacrity for the sake of my business, and that they can look beyond such irrelevant detail without prejudice.
The door at the back of the facility, that opens up into the car park, and is marked on both the 1:50 scale drawing of the classroom and the 1:50 scale of the car park is a fire escape. it has a push bar on the inside, and has no handles on the outside. i do not allow students to use this door either as access to the building from the car park, nor as a short cut to the car park from the building. The front door, marked on the 1:50 scale drawing of the classroom is a door-indoor. it has been cut into the large sliding door and a porch has been build round it as i do not want people accessing the classroom by use of the sliding door, as that would make heating the classroom imposible.
Parking at the gym has not been an issue for us thus far, as parents drop their kids off at the end on the lane on their way to shoprite, having classes so close to shoprite makes it easier for the parents to get two things out of the way at once, others take the opportunity of
absent kids to do other things as such the last time even one parent stayed to watch a class was well over 6 months ago, when visiting grandparents wanted a photo of their grandchild training.
With the adults, my students from ramsey carpool, others cycle to class, so much so that i am thinking of installing a bike rack outside as i dont really want three or four bicycles inside, others park on the promenade, because our gym is ideally situated at the top of the road which used to be know as the "arches", it is a steep hill, and the adult students get together early before class and do hill sprints as part of their competition preparation. They used to park in the carpark at nobles and do a curcuit in there, but the hill is better suited for the explosive cardio required for our sport, and so the arches has become the popular one.
In order to increase the potential spaces i have for parking i discussed it with the landlord who agreed to allow my clientele the right to park in front of his garages as he does not need to access the garages during my hours of business, this increases the available spaces by 3 or 4 cars.
A plan of the proposed layout of the car park area has been included which hold 12 cars, added to the spaces in front of the garage doors which the landlord has allowed me to use, this brings the total spaces up to 15 . further information relevant to car parking is included at the end of this application.
In the last year the highest number of attendees to any one session was 8 . in the previous year the highest was 14 . These low numbers are not typical of a general martial arts schools numbers, but as we are competing at the highest level of our local UK circuit, the work rate and competative nature of the class makes our attendance more in line with that of a boxing club than that of say a karate or TaeKwonDo class. We also have a rule that we only take on people who intend to compete, because there are already plenty of excellent clubs who cater to the hobbyist, and so this rule also keep the numbers low. If as i hope the number do grow beyond 15-16 attendees per evening i would open up a beginners time slot on the monday/wednesday and siphon of some of the students into that. or If one of my fighters is sufficently ready to coach by himself i would also consider opening a satellite class in another town, most likely Ramsey.
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Since my earlier statement my situation has changed, and i am currently teaching alone. Ben Corkish who was preparing for a 2 year trip to Thailand to pursue his dream of becoming a Thai boxing champion was assisting in the striking portions of the class as part of his own preparation has since left for Thailand. Nairn Watt Who was assisting with classes due to his own Mixed martial arts experience in America has signed up to re-join the Army and is leaving iminently. There will be no staff for the foreseeable future as there is no money to pay them, Nairn and Ben were both volunteers, sharing their expertise as part of they own training and any future assistants will assist under the same agreement. Bernard DeBeer who formerly shared the facility with me left to open up his own classes elsewhere.
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There is no interest or intention to run fight nights at the venue. Firstly it would be a huge step down to compete in such a venue for my fighters who have fought at the huge Seni show in London's O2 arena in front of thousands and even won titles at the famous York hall, Bethnal green where many now famous boxers started their careers, and secondly it is no way fit to hold such an event. Fight nights need to hold a large crowd and serve alcohol. If i do hold events (which i would like to do) it will have to be at a suitable venue such as the Villa Marina. The premises at falcon cliff terrace lane would be for teaching purposes, holding an event there has never been suggested. A venue such as Falcon Cliff would draw in no support from sponsorship and due to its inadequate ability to cater to a crowd, would undoubtably be business suicide. There will never be any fight nights held on the premises.
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i had a short term lease when i moved into the building which has about 2 months left. After that i intend to sign another two year lease. However as my landlord hopes to build flats/housing on the land, there is a clause that we have to move out early if the permission to build comes through. It is nearly impossible for me to judge how long i am going to be there, due to the fact that my Landlord has plans to build on the site, and that i am always on the lookout for a better suited facility. If i could build up the client base to move to somewhere warmer and more centrally located i would do so immediately. I could see it taking 2 or 3 years to build my client base back up to the point where i can move to somewhere else, but i there is a clause in my lease that if planning permission comes through then i have 3 months notice to leave.
to the best of my knowledge this matter has been dealt with. A gentleman visited and recorded the noises during a busy class, and was satisfied that it was well within acceptable parameters. This has been discussed during meetings i have had with the planning department, and your officers indicated that they were aware of this and were happy that it was no longer an issue.
When making a decision like this the impact of a business on its enviroment is a key factor in the process. It is with this in mind that i would like to discuss the nature of my business, and how the business model of my industry can shape the impact i and my students have on our neighbours.
Because my entire clientele are members or potential members in their 3 lesson trial period, i can have a much greater influence on their behaviour than a business that relies on passing trade. It is with this in mind that i have been handing out a code of conduct to students, which they have to sign. A copy of this has been included with this application. this code of conduct has a recent addition, which makes the student aware of the need to respect our neighbours.
Also as i have alluded to already in this aplication, i encourage my members to park in nearby carparks and do fitness runs before their class starts. this is a practice that we got into while our classes were at the Ellan Vannin Gymnastic Centre. Due to our close proximity to the NSC track, many of my members started coming early to run before training, also adding the steep public footpath opposite Mcdonalds to do hill sprints. This extra training was very useful to me as a coach, as it meant i could spend more time teaching technique, because i did not have to spend as much time on fitness. it is only natural therefore that i would want to continue this pattern of behaviour at our new venue at Falcon Cliff Terrace Lane.
With that in mind I posted routes on our walls and encouraged students to try them out. i have included copies of these also.
Finally, at BlackdogMMA we have a carpooling system which is actively encouraged. this system was introduced not to reduce our impact, but as part of the 'buddy' system, people can often feel demotivated about training, especially at certain times of the year or when they have had a hard days work, and even though they know they will enjoy themselves once they turn up, it can be very hard to drag yourself out of the house once you are settled. By introducing the carpooling system, people are more likely to turn up because they know that someone is relying on them for a lift, or because they are going to be picking them up at the corner in a few minutes. It is a great
motivational tool, and helps keep the class numbers up during the winter months. An added bonus of this from a planning view point is the reduced impact on the carparking in our area.
Here is a list of our current students that carpool grouped together by each group that pools together;
Vladimir Dvorak Alex Callister Niall Jones
Oscar Brown Andrew Lawrence Mike Carr
Dan Fielden Dean Teare
Tim Rowe Jon Garry Steve Garry
Liam Quinn (both dropped off and picked up by Liam's father) Kieran Coyle Some students walk, and some cycle. a few drive and use the carpark others are dropped off by parents and picked up when class finishes.
The unique nature of my business model means that i am able to reduce our impact on our neighbours as necessary. I would be more than happy to meet with them and work to allay any of their concerns. Discipline is a key component of Martial arts training, and i am quite confident that my students would work hard not to tread on the toes of our neighbours.
I have tried to answer as best i can all the original concerns for this change of use application in the hope that we can bring it to a speedy conclusion, however should anything be missing or need clarification dont hesitate to contact me via the following:
Phone: 07624244335 Email: [email protected] postal address: 30 York Road, Douglas
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