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Application No.: 19/00260/C Applicant: Tutormann Proposal: Additional use of retail unit (Class 1) for after school tuition (Class 2) Site Address: 15 Malew Street Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1AB Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 15.04.2019 _________________________________________________________________
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 decision relates to the drawings received on 6th and 8th March, 2019. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons NONE _____________________________________________________________________________
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS THE PROPOSED USE COULD BE CONSTRUED AS CONTRARY TO THE AREA PLAN (MUP1)
1.1 The site is a ground floor unit in Malew Street near to its junction with Bank Street and part of The Courtyard development which extends across to Arbory Street. The unit has a recessed front door onto Malew Street and two areas of floorspace with a door separating each. The rear unit also has a pedestrian door running out into a hallway which accommodates a stairwell giving access to the upper floors. - 1.2 The building is an original property which has not been subject to the same elevational treatment as the rest of the scheme and is a four storey brick finished building with attractive contrasting coloured brick window surrounds. THE PROPOSAL
2.1 Proposed is the additional use of the retail unit as an after school academic tuition facility in addition to the existing use as a shop. The proposed used is described as an office which is assumed to be Class 2 which includes visits by members of the public. - 2.2 The applicant envisages that the business will involve around 1 students at any one time and explain that they already operate a similar business at the Village Walk in Onchan. They will have between 2 and 4 staff on the site at any one time and will operate between 1600hrs and 1900hrs Monday to Friday and 0900 - 1300hrs on Saturdays. In order to accommodate additional demand they may expand these hours to 1200 - 2100hrs Monday to Friday and 0900
3.1 The site lies within an area designated as Mixed Use on the Area Plan for the South (2013) and within the town's Conservation Area. This reflects the variety of uses in the town centre offices, shops, cafes, take aways, optician's dental surgeries, banks and hair dressers to name a few and its historic importance.
3.2 There are no physical changes to the building and as such the Strategic Plan policies relevant to this application are General Policy 2 insofar as this requires development in accordance with the land use designation to cause no adverse impact on local residents or on the character of the area and also, that the development preserves or enhances the character or appearance of the area (EP35 and PPS1/01). - 3.3 Within the APS, paragraphs 6.1.1-2, describe the majority of the retail provision in the South as being within Service Centres, including Castletown, where Section 6.6 of the APS encourages a sustainable mix of uses to achieve an attractive town centre which is viable and full of vitality. There is a presumption in favour of changes of use between the range of approved uses, with applications determined on merit and subject to the buildings being suitable for the new use. - 3.4. Mixed Use Proposal 1 (MUP1) states that, to maintain and enhance the vitality of designated Mixed Use areas, there is a presumption in favour of the retention of existing retail units on the ground floor, although each case will be determined upon its circumstances and merits.
4.1 The Courtyard has had numerous applications for redevelopment including changes of use of a number of the units to retail, office and tourist accommodation uses as well as the residential apartments within the scheme. More recent decisions to allow the change of use of
existing shops to residential/tourist accommodation (17/00330/B) demonstrate that the need to have a viable use for units within the Conservation Area can sometimes override land use designations particularly if the units in question have had no recent viable use. This will help with preserving the viability and vitality of the town centre in line with current policies and will help with the ongoing maintenance of the properties.
REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 There are no representations on file at the time of writing. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The continued use of existing town centre facilities is important in maintaining a vibrant town centre and making it an attractive place for people to want to visit. A wide range of facilities can help support this. Empty units seldom do. This particular unit has been used in the past as a shop but more recently has had uses including an art gallery.
6.2 Tuition is generally undertaken within schools or at private residential properties and in the case of the latter, this can cause issues within the neighbourhood if customers bring their children to the site by car and there is insufficient parking. In the case of this site there is ample car parking in the various public car parks within the town and also facilities where parents of children being taught can shop, have coffee or utilise the various services which are available. The site is also accessible by public transport. In all these respects the site is considered to be a good one. - 6.3 The applicant has indicated hours of operation. However, given the town centre location and the fact that the building currently has no restriction on its hours of operation, it is not considered necessary to restrict the hours of operation in this particular case. - 6.4 It is considered appropriate not to restrict the use of the site to tuition but to widen this to include any uses within Class 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order (Use Classes) 2012 as the impact of such uses would be essentially the same, possibly less than with the proposed tuition use.
7.1 The proposed use is considered an appropriate and welcome additional use for this property and 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:
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Decision Made : …Permitted……….... Committee Meeting Date:…29.04.2019
Signed :……S CORLETT……………………………….. Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
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