DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00521/D Applicant: Tesco Proposal: Installation of illuminated and non-illuminated signage (retrospective) Site Address: Supermarket 13 Michael Street Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1HB Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 30.07.2024

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. There shall be no internal or external illumination of the signage other than what has been hereby approved.

Reason: for the avoidance of doubt and in the interest of the amenity of the neighbours. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The installation of the non-illuminated and one illuminated signage on the site complies with The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 and is also in accordance with General Policy 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, dated received on 14th May 2024;

• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0800
• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0810
• o Drawing No. F3757 CX - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0811

This decision also relates to the following plans and drawings, dated received on 15th July 2024; Drawing No. F3757 PXP - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A - 0812 Drawing No. F3757 PXP - OW1 - XX - ZZ - DR - A – 0813 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of a supermarket situated to the North of Michael Street. The supermarket is large in size and has a parking area to the rear. - 1.2 During the officers site visit, as shown on the revised drawings received, sign 1 & Sign 2, Vinyl Sign and the Store Directory Sign were all in place. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the installation of the following signage;

• Sign 1 - signage which measures 2.4m by 0.5m with the raised wording Tesco express in two separate fonts measuring 2.126m by 0.284m and 0.184m in the colours red and blue. This sign is to be situated to the middle of the boarding between the ground floor and the balcony.

Vinyl Sign - Vinyl sign to be applied to the existing glazing to the front elevation and is to measure 0.8m by 0.8m, stating, "Serving Peel's customers, communities and planet a little better every day.

Store Directory Sign - dibond sign to be applied to the wall between the main entrance into the shore and the first curved window. The sign is to measure 0.8m by 1.6m and is to have a white part to the upper section with Hello in blue, the rest of the sign is blue with white writing which shows the times the store is open.

• Sign 2 - Aluminium projecting sign, powder coated white with blue to the sides, top and bottom measuring 0.65m by 0.8m with a width of 0.100m. Wording upon the sign is to state Tesco express The sign is to be externally lighted.

2.2 Two other diabond signs are shown on the drawings but are not shown on the elevation drawing. PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There are no previous applications which are relevant in the assessment of this application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Mixed Use" on Peel Local Plan 1989. The site is situated within a Conservation Area, but not a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 In the first instance due to the site being situated within a Conservation Area, Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) is the most relevant in the assessment of this application which is then followed by Environment Policy 35 which seeks that development must either preserve or enhance the Conservation Area, Environment Policy 37 which gives the general policy on signage within a Conservation Area, General Policy 2 which sets out general development standards, General Policy 6 which sets out what is expected of external advertisements and General Policy 7 which sets out that the display of adverts must be in relation to the site they are situated upon.

4.3 This is then followed by The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 which 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. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "No Highways Interest." (17.04.24) - 5.3 No comments have been received from Peel Town Commissioners at the time of writing this report. ASSESSMENT

6.1 When looking at applications such as the proposal here, the main issue to consider is whether the proposed works would preserve or enhance the overall Conservation Area as per Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999) and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

- 6.2 SECTION 18(4) - CHARACTER

• 6.2.1 When looking at the character of the area, it is noted that the site is within the Peel Town high-street, which means that signage is not an item which is out of place, as such, signage on such a shop would be expected. Overall the signage to this part of the property is modest and in keeping with the already existing signage for the previous supermarket. The signage is not impacting the character of the Conservation Area and as such deemed acceptable.

6.3 SECTION 18(4) - APPEARANCE

• 6.3.1 Turning towards the appearance of the proposal on the Conservation Area, as stated above there was already signage in place with the previous owners of the site, as such whilst the wording has changed and the vinyl to the windows at the front of the site have changed, the proposal is not altering how the appearance of the site is within the Conservation Area and as such deemed acceptable.

6.4 SIGNAGE

• 6.4.1 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.

• 6.4.2 Further to this paragraph 6.6.2 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 makes it clear that "within our towns and villages, well designed and sensitively sited advertisements can contribute positively to the character of a building or area, and can be of help to the general public. However, advertisements which are too bright, overlarge or poorly sited may endanger safety

• by distracting or confusing highway users and may, both individually and cumulatively, detract from amenity by being intrusive, by introducing clutter and visual confusion or by masking features of interest or attraction". Paragraph 6.6.3 furthers on this stating that "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".
• 6.4.3 With the above in mind and noting that The Department has a duty to determine whether such proposals would be in keeping with the surrounding streetscene, whilst noting the special character of the area. As stated above the site is situated within the main Castletown high-street, with both the front and rear signage being acceptable for the proposed areas.
• 6.4.4 When looking at Environment Policy 37, for part i), the signage would preserve the Conservation Area as stated above. The signage is of an appropriate style for the character of the area and is of traditional materials, as such the proposal would meet parts ii) & iii) and also iv) due to there being no illuminated box fascia's or projecting box signs.
• 6.4.5 The proposed signage is situated for where it is proposed, it's modest in size and height and is readable by a variety of users, which would be an interest within the locality rather than an intrusion to the enjoyment of the area and will have information situated within it which will be specific to the supermarket specifically.
• 6.4.6 There is only one sign which includes lighting, which is situated to the front elevation and is only lighted from the above and not internally. The lighting is facing the signage itself and as such it is deemed that there would be no highway visibility or safety issues from the proposed lighting, which means that the proposal meets the general standards set out in The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013. CONCLUSION

7.1 It is considered that the proposed signage would not impact the character nor appearance of the Conservation Area by reason of its size, scale, siting and design, as such the proposal would preserve the Conservation Area in accordance with Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) and Environment Policy 35 & 37 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

7.2 The proposed signage would not have any adverse visual or amenity harm to the public or public safety and is in connection with the site itself. As such the application would accord with The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013, as well as meeting with the principles of General Policies 6 and 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016. - 7.3 For the avoidance of doubt there shall be two conditions added, one to ensure no illumination apart from on the small illuminated sign and a second to require its removal in the event that it is no longer needed. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;

• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material. 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 above who should be given Interested Person Status

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 30.07.2024 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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