Planning Officer Report

Planning Officer Report And Recommendations {{table:25355}}

Officer's Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE DUE TO THE SCALE OF THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT.

The Application Site

1. The application site comprises a parcel of land (approx. 0.38ha) located at the junction of Albert Road and Queen's Pier Road in Ramsey. The site is the result of the recent demolition of the former Albert Road School and is currently used as a public car park. It is basically flat and bounded by an existing stone wall with railings.

The Proposal

1. The proposal comprises the erection of a multi-purpose building containing community centre, function rooms, cafe/restaurant and offices, together with associated car parking and vehicular access on the application site.

1. The proposed development is a three storey building that is externally finished in a mixture of render and timber cladding, together with double glazed powder coated windows and an aluminium standing seam roof.

1. The ground floor contains 3 function rooms (one of which is designed to also be used as an auditorium or church), an office, toilets and general maintenance rooms. The first floor contains an office, a café/restaurant with association balcony area and kitchen, toilets and general maintenance rooms. The second floor contains 5 offices, toilets and general maintenance rooms. It is understood that the proposed building is intended to provide a multi-purpose building providing a multi-purpose 300-400 seat auditorium, a number of small multi-purpose functions rooms, a café/restaurant and a number of modern office suites. It is intended to provide a community facility for Ramsey, the applicant is a church organisation.

1. There are three access points into the application site, with a new vehicular access proposed onto Albert Road. The provision of this new vehicular access results in a requirement to reposition an existing zebra crossing. The overall application site contains 91 car parking spaces and 24 motorbike spaces. The car parking spaces are split between community centre and the public car park within the overall application site. The proposed community centre has 32 on-site car parking, 10 of which are allocated within the public car park part of the application site. The remaining spaces within public car park would be available to anyone on a first come first served basis. The 24 motorbike spaces are entirely within the community centre part of the application site.

1. This current planning application is effectively an amendment of the development proposed by previous planning application 12/00994/B, with the application site increased in size to include the eastern end of the former Albert Road school site which provides additional car parking for the proposed development.

Planning History

1. The application site has been the subject of a number of previous planning applications, three of which were submitted and approved following the demolition of Albert Road School:

1. Planning application 11/00168/B sought planning approval for the formation and operation of a public car park following the demolition of school building. This previous planning application was approved on the 5th April 2011.

1. Planning application 11/01293/B sought planning approval for an extension to the existing temporary car park to create an additional 31 spaces. This previous planning application was approved on the 27th October 2011.

1. Planning application 12/00994/B sought planning approval for the erection of a multi-purpose building containing community centre, function rooms, cafe/restaurant and offices, together with associated car parking and vehicular access on a site approximately half the size of the application site for the current planning application. This previous planning application was subsequently deemed withdrawn.

Planning Policy

1. In terms of local plan policy, the application site is located within a wider area of land that is designated as mixed use (town centre) under the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Ramsey Local Plan) (No. 2) Order 1998.

1. In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains several policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application.

1. General Policy 2 states:

"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; (d) does not adversely affect the protected wildlife or locally important habitats on the site or adjacent land, including water courses; (e) does not affect adversely public views of the sea; (f) incorporates where possible existing topography and landscape features, particularly trees and sod banks; (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;

• (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; (j) can be provided with all necessary services; (k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan; (l) is not on contaminated land or subject to unreasonable risk of erosion or flooding; (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

1. Business Policy 1 states:

"The growth of employment opportunities throughout the Island will be encouraged provided that development proposals accord with the policies of this Plan."

1. Business Policy 7 states:

"New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan; exceptionally, permission may be given for new office space:

• (a) on approved Business Parks for Corporate Headquarters which do not involve day to day callers; or
• (b) in buildings of acknowledged architectural or historic interest for which office use represents the only or most appropriate practicable and economic way of securing future use, renovation and maintenance."

1. Business Policy 8 states:

"New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings and should accommodate parking space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 7 of the Plan."

1. Community Policy 2 states:

"New community facilities should be located to serve the local population and be accessible to non-car users, and should where possible re-use existing vacant or underused buildings."

1. Transport Policy 7 states:

"The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards."

1. Car parking standards are set out at Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007. The type of development proposed by the planning application is not specifically covered within these standards. However, it does specify a car parking standard of 1 space for every 50 square metres of nett floor space for town centre offices and 1 space per 15 square metres gross floor space for assembly and leisure (includes cinemas, meeting halls, swimming baths, leisure centres, and the conference and leisure facilities of hotels). Appendix 7 also states that car parking standards may be relaxed where development:

• (a) would secure the re-use of a Registered Building or a building of architectural or historic interest; or
• (b) would result in the preservation of a sensitive streetscape; or
• (c) is otherwise of benefit to the character of a Conservation Area.
• (d) is within a reasonable distance of an existing or proposed bus route and it can be demonstrated a reduced level of parking will not result in unacceptable on street parking in the locality.

1. Appendix 1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 defines previously developed land as "that which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land and any associated fixed surface infrastructure."

The definition includes defence buildings, but excludes:

• Land that is or has been occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings.
• Land that has been developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill purposes where provision for restoration has been made through development control procedures.
• Land in built-up areas such as parks, recreation grounds and allotments, which, although it may feature paths, pavilions and other buildings, has not been previously developed.
• Land that was previously-developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape in the process of time (to the extent that it can reasonably be considered as part of the natural surroundings).

There is no presumption that land that is previously-developed is necessarily suitable for housing development nor that the whole of the curtilage should be developed."

REPRESENTATIONS

1. Ramsey Town Commissioners do not object to the planning application.

1. The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division do not oppose the planning application. Their assessment of the proposal has included significant discussion with the applicant to assess the likely traffic generation and car parking requirement for the proposed development, which resulted in the submission of additional information. Based on an assessment of this information the Highways Division has concluded that the existing and future traffic generation and the schedule of activities associated the community centre supports the use of a lower parking standard. As such, the 32 dedicated car parking spaces for the community centre are concluded to be sufficient for the current and future use of the proposed development. When single large events are held the existing town centre car park supply augmented by the new car park is expected to accommodate the traffic generated. On this basis the Highway's Division does not consider the application to have a negative impact on highway safety, congestion or accessibility.

1. The Manx Electricity Authority expresses an interest in the planning application. The subject of their comment relates to a non planning consideration.

1. The owners and/or occupants of Lower Glentramman Farm Cottage, which is located in Lezayre, express an interest in the planning application. Whilst stating that they have no views one way or the other on the proposal they do highlight a previous refusal (10+ years ago) of a café on the grounds that it would lead to an over intensification of food outlets in Ramsey.

Assessment

1. The first issue to consider as part of the assessment of the planning application is the basic principle of development, if the basic principle of development is concluded to be acceptable it is then necessary to assess the site specific impacts.

1. In terms of the basic principle of development the primary consideration is the acceptability of the proposal within the land use designation. As stated earlier in this report the application site is located within a wider area of land that is designated as mixed use (town centre) under the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Ramsey Local Plan) (No. 2) Order 1998. As the proposed use is a mixed use development that is comprised of uses that would be normally considered acceptable within a town centre location it is concluded that the basic principle is acceptable. Furthermore, it needs to be recognised that the proposal represents the re-development of previously development land, a principle should be generally encouraged and supported.

1. With the basic principle of development concluded to be acceptable it remains necessary to consider the site specific impacts of the proposed development. The three main considerations in this respect are the impact of the proposed development on i) public amenity; ii) private amenity; and iii) highway safety.

1. In respect of i) the impact on public amenity, the main consideration is the appearance of the proposal and its impact on the street scene. Although the proposed building is substantial in size it is not considered that such size is necessarily out of place in this location. It is pertinent to note that the height is similar height to the existing supermarket directly opposite the site and that the previous Albert Road School building was considerably larger than that now proposed. However, the key point to take account of in this respect is the fact that the site stands out as an individual site in its own right. The proposed building is considered to be satisfactorily positioned on the site and within the surrounding area. The chosen external finish is a mixture of render and timber cladding, which provides sufficient interest to the building and serves to break up the overall mass of the building to an extent that avoids the harmful impact a building of such size could potentially have. Overall, the appearance of the proposed development within the street scene is considered to be acceptable and it is concluded that the impact on public amenity is acceptable.

1. As for ii) the impact on private amenity, the main consideration is the effect of the proposal on the reasonable residential enjoyment of surrounding residential property. Issues to consider in this regard include potential for overshadowing, overlooking, overbearing and general disturbance. The nearest residential properties are located adjacent to the application site within Close Woirrey. The application site is also relatively close to existing residential properties located within Albert Road, Queen's Pier Road, Westbourne Road and Albert Terrace. Having visited the site and after examining the submitted drawings it is considered

that the position and general arrangement of the proposed development is such that the private amenity of surrounding properties would not be unduly affected by the proposal. In support of this conclusion it is noted that no objections have been received from local residents.

1. In terms of iii) the impact on highway safety, the main considerations are the acceptability of proposed car parking provision and vehicular access arrangements. In the first regard, the key difference between this current planning application and previous planning application 12/00994/B is the increased size of the application site to include the eastern end of the former Albert Road site. This part of the application site is proposed to be developed as a public car park. The applicant has entered into discussions the owners of this part of the application site and an agreement to allow parking within this to be used by the users of the community centre when necessary has been reached. The car parking provision for the proposed community centre has been the subject of significant discussion with the applicant and the Highways Division. Following on from clarification of current and future expected levels of use the Highways Division have concluded that the existing and future traffic generation and the schedule of activities associated the community centre supports the use of a lower parking standard. The 32 dedicated car parking spaces for the community centre are concluded to be sufficient for the current and future use of the aforementioned centre. When single large events are held the existing town centre car park supply augmented by the new car park is likely to accommodate the traffic generated. Accordingly the Highway's Division does not consider the application to have a negative impact on highway safety, congestion or accessibility. As it is based on detailed assessment of the specific proposal the conclusion of the Highways Division is accepted and the car parking provision for the proposed development is concluded to be acceptable. As for the second regard, the vehicular access arrangements meet the relevant standards for access and visibility. As such, the impact on highways safety is concluded to be acceptable.

Recommendation

1. It is recommended that the planning application be approved.

Party Status

1. It is considered that the following parties that made representations to the planning application should be afforded interested party status:

Ramsey Town Commissioners.

1. It is considered that the following parties that made representations to the planning application should not be afforded interested party status:

The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division; The Manx Electricity Authority; and The owners and/or occupants of Lower Glentramman Farm Cottage.

Recommendation
Recommended Decision:	Permitted
Date of Recommendation:	18.02.2013
Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal
C : Conditions for approval
N : Notes attached to conditions
R : Reasons for refusal
O : Notes attached to refusals
C 1.

The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

C 2. This approval relates to drawing no.s 11084/16, 11/0845/17, 11/0845/18, 110845/19, 110845/20, 110845/21 rev. A and 110845/23 date stamped the 22nd November 2012 and drawing no.s C/A/101 rev. A, 110845/15 rev. C and Ap(ar)(20)02c date stamped the 13th February 2013.

C 3. Prior to the first use of the building the car parking shown within drawing no.s 110845/15 rev. C and ap(ar)(20)02c date stamped the 13th February 2013 must be set out and capable of use.

C 4. Prior to the first use of the multi-purpose building the vehicular access from the application site onto Albert Road must be set out in accordance with drawing no. 110845/15 rev. C date stamped the 13th February 2013.

N 1. The applicant is advised that the re-positioning of the zebra crossing, associated works and the creation of the new access will require the applicant to enter an agreement with the Department of Infrastructure under section 109a of the Highways Act (1986) for all proposed works within the highway.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the Town and Country (Development Procedure) 2005

Decision Made : APPROVED Committee Meeting Date : 25/2/13

Signed : O. H. H. Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason is required. Signing Officer to delete as appropriate YES/NO