Dept Decision and Report

The Town And Country Planning Act 1999

Date of Issue: 17th September 2013	Mr W Greenhow ACMA Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary’s Office Government Offices Bucks Road Douglas

Town And Country Planning Development

(Procedure Order) 2005

Secretary to the Planning Committee Planning Department Department Of Infrastructure Murray House Mount Havelock Douglas

In accordance with Article 10(2)(e) of the above Order, the person appointed by the Council of Ministers to consider this application has submitted his report. In further accordance with Article 10(3)(a) a copy of the appointed persons report is herewith enclosed.

On the 12th September 2013, and after consultation, the Council of Ministers accepted the recommendation contained within that report and the application was refused for the reasons specified below.

Applicant:	Department Of Infrastructure
Proposal:	Road refurbishment including road resurfacing, realignment and repaving of footpaths, creation of bus stop, creation of marked street parking, widening of Town Hall entrance and installation of street furniture, From The Junction With Mona Street To Approximately Half Way Between The Junction With Mona Street And Athol Place Derby Road Peel Isle Of Man

Reason(S) For Refusal:

1. The proposals as currently submitted take an insufficiently comprehensive and cohesive approach to the aims of public realm regeneration for this part of Peel, and consequently fail to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of General Policy 2, Environment Policy 35 and Environment Policy 22 of The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007.

.

Received

CSO Reference DF13/0005 Application No 13/00236/B Inspector's report

Application by Department of Infrastructure for: "Road refurbishment including road resurfacing, realignment and repaving of footpaths, creation of bus stop, creation of marked street parking, widening of entrance to town hall and installation of street furniture", Derby Road, Peel from the junction with Mona Street to approximately half between the junction with Mona Street and Athol Place.

Site visit 22 July 2013

Preamble

1. The application was referred to the Council of Ministers in accordance with Section 10(1) of The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005 because the applicant is the Department of Infrastructure.

1. Derby Road, part of the A20 route, carries one-way traffic, downhill broadly speaking from east to west. The length subject to this application is faced on its northerly side by Peel Town Hall and associated land, by a small part of a workshop building at the westerly end and by most of the flank wall and the rear garden of 10 Mona Street at the easterly end. On the southerly side are the Corrin Hall and land leading to Peel Cathedral.

1. As initially submitted, on 18th February 2013, the application description (heading this report) and drawings included works to the Town Hall entrance and its front, dwarf wall. There were two objections. Mr Neil Cushing, who lives elsewhere in Peel, challenged the application's validity, in brief alleging: failure to comply with requirements for demolition in a Conservation Area; failure to acknowledge ownership interests by the Town Commissioners; incorrectly claiming consent by the Commissioners with regard to that interest; an evidently incorrect date reference; a location plan not at the prescribed scale; an imprecise and inconsistent site boundary; and failure to identify other land owned by the applicant in the locality. Mr Cushing also advised that he had a number of issues over the adequacy of the design, which he intended to submit once a valid application was advertised. McGarrigle architects, agents for the applicant, resubmitted the application on 8th April with revised drawings intended to address the points. The drawings now omitted any works to the Town Hall property.

1. The other initial objection was by Mr Andrew Spencer who lives at 10 Mona Street. His objections, summarised below, are to the substance of the proposals. Following the revised drawings, the application was re-advertised including direct notification to Mr Cushing and Mr Spencer. Mr Spencer confirmed and elaborated his objections but there is nothing further on file from Mr Cushing.

1. The unchanged application form of 18 February resubmitted on 8 April retains several of the errors identified by Mr Cushing, but when read with McGarrigle's covering letter the scheme, as shown on the revised drawings, is perfectly clear, meet Mr Cushing's points regarding the initial drawings, and no one afforded access to this material could have been prejudiced. I proceed on this basis, having regard to the revisions including the withdrawal of works initially proposed affecting the Town Hall front boundary wall and land.

1. In more detail, this length of road has a bitumen surfaced carriageway bounded either side mainly by in-situ concrete kerbs and pavements (footways). Pavements extending from the western end have previously been refurbished with small block pavilours and there is some overlap there with the present site. The southerly side includes a projecting pavement nib holding a bus shelter serving an adjacent stand. It features a prominent notice instructing drivers to switch off engines when stopped. The Town Hall front wall, with coping stones at convenient sitting level, was being well used for this purpose at the time of my visit. The Corrin Hall/Cathedral frontage is an attractive Peel Sandstone wall topped by fine iron railings.

CSO Reference DF13/0005 Application No 13/00236/B Inspector's report

1. The proposals would realign and repave the pavements, create a carriageway narrowing at the eastern "entrance" with a traffic calming feature. Two bus bays would be marked out along the southerly side of the carriageway with a new, repositioned shelter. Dropped kerbs and tactile paving would be provided at pedestrian crossing points. The main materials specification comprises: carriageway surface with a buff grip finish and three rows of stone setts along each side; footway finishes in 75 mm thick random sized stone paving slabs and 100 mm granite setts; the traffic calming strip in 150 mm granite setts; kerbs in granite. Pairs of illuminated bollards would stand either side of the traffic calming strip with public artwork/entrance features subject to a future application. Associated traffic signs and markings have been indicated on a separate drawing (Ph1.DR.Peel) prepared by the Highway Authority.

Gist of the Representations

1. McGarrigle Architects in a Planning Statement with the application: this relates to Phase 1 (Derby Road Pilot) of the Peel Regeneration Project, with others to follow. The Project will include but not necessarily be limited to environmental highway improvements, drainage and services, street lighting, street furniture and signage. Phase 1 features 2 bus spaces on the approach to a relocated stop and new shelter; the intention is for one bus loading at a time with the second waiting until the first has left. Materials and colours for the works have been selected to define the carriageway, kerbing and footways, with samples of granite carefully sourced. A tarmac carriageway would remain but with a light, buff coloured antiskid finish. New lighting would pick out entrance features, themselves subject to a future application. New street furniture and signage would be installed.

1. No soft landscaping is proposed here, rather features to reduce vehicular domination and intrusion, redressing the character of the road towards pedestrians in a sensitive, visually acceptable manner, also having regard to requirements for safety, durability, accessibility and economy of replacement. Distinguishing between the running lane and bus standing area would help reduce the scale of the carriageway, while the use of natural stone materials, in simple non arbitrary patterns, for pedestrian areas would reinforce the intended change in the road's character. There is no historical evidence of sett paving or granite kerbs here, but they are referenced elsewhere in Peel and the same or at any rate similar source is intended. Dropped kerbs and dimpled, tactile paving would assist pedestrians including the less-abled to cross the road but without recourse to excessive signage and clutter.

1. The Regeneration Project is an opportunity to define a sense of character as there is currently little of historical interest to preserve. Cast iron covers and gulley inlets would be retained as traditional durable elements, or reintroduced where appropriate, but within pedestrian areas paving finishes would be inserted into recessed covers. The pilot project is intended to clean the Cathedral sandstone boundary wall. Street signage, bollards, street furniture and road markings would be kept simple and as unobtrusive as possible. A lighting study has identified desirable features. Flags and flagpoles add colour and movement but require maintenance and are best fitted into recesses or wall mounted to define spaces and pedestrian routes, and removed when not in use. Three elements of artwork have been identified to lift the streetscape and create points of interest and introduce artwork to an otherwise featureless street scene. Two are to be at the top of this site as "gateposts". Details remain to be agreed but robust items at least 2.4 m high with 600 mm by 600 mm bases are required.

1. There is planning approval for a new stepped entrance to the Cathedral aligned to its main doorway and an opportunity arises to incorporate this entrance into a lych-gate combined with a bus shelter, providing a significant focal point. Discussions continue and the outcome would require separate approval. Should

CSO Reference DF13/0005 Application No 13/00236/8 Inspector's report

there be delay, provision has been made for a contemporary replacement of the existing shelter, which could subsequently be relocated.

1. It is essential that proposals for the study area contain detailed, workable enhanced maintenance regimes including regular re-painting, litter collection, removal of fly-posters and graffiti, while the ever present problem of dog fouling needs prompt on-going attention. However, the greatest impacts will be through agreements that road and path surfaces are sympathetically repaired.

1. The Planning Officer, Miss Corlett, purposefully makes no representations on the merits of the scheme. The Peel Local Plan does not zone principal roads, so the site is designated simply as a road, while the land either side is designated for civic purposes and mixed uses, and the locality is a Conservation Area. Strategic Plan General Policy 2, regarding proposals according with their land use designation, and Environment Policy 35, regarding development in Conservation Areas, are each material. Some aspects of the proposals are not material planning considerations and would not require planning permission - road markings for example and the provision of a second bus stand and traffic signs are permitted development.

1. A key consideration is whether the scheme preserves or enhances the Conservation Area, particularly having regard to the bus shelter and highway materials. Consideration should be given to adjacent residential amenity and also to highway safety although the applicant is the body responsible for this. The Conservation Officer has advised regarding proposals for a new lych-gate to serve the Cathedral. He also advises that lighting here should be coordinated in style with that in preparation for Michael Street. Bollard details are required and it may be useful also to reserve further approval of precise details of surface finishes to ensure suitability for the area. Since the second bus stand is an aspect not subject to planning control, its impacts are outside the scope of Strategic Plan Environment Policy 22. Conditions are suggested in the event of approval being granted.

1. The Highway Authority Network Planning Manager, Mr Sewell: by omitting works to the Town Hall frontage the revised drawings resolved Mr Cushing's first 4 objections. Also both the initial and revised drawings were approved by the Peel Town Commissioners' delegate on the Regeneration Committee prior to submission and the application is supported by the Commissioners as local authority. The revised location plan, to the prescribed scale, clearly defines the site area and addresses Mr Cushing's next 3 points, while the response to his final point is that the Highway Authority is responsible for maintaining highway rights over all highways maintainable at public expense.

1. In response to Mr Spencer's points, this length of Derby Road is currently the primary bus stop in Peel, convenient to the centre and for buses to and through this main town. Currently there is a concrete build out, concrete footways, tarmac carriageway, marked bus bay and a shelter. The timetable leads to two buses standing on interconnecting services. Transport integration is a key aim of the 2007 Strategic Plan, recognised by Strategic Policy 10 and supported by Transport Policies 1, 2 and 4. Planning approval is not required to amend the bus stands, the application is for environmental improvements at this public transport hub. An extension of the existing bus bay is preferred to two lay-bys, to reduce entry and exit splays, the overall impact and to retain some car parking which is at a premium to serve the locality's terraced housing. A bus depot building was located in Athol Street but the operator advises that this is no longer required. The traffic calming proposed, between projecting nibs, would be granite setts essentially flush with the carriageway, which would not generate noise or vibration as can occur with raised traffic calming cushions or platforms.

1. The scheme would enhance the Conservation Area and visual amenity in front of the Cathedral by improved streetscape, reduced car parking and provision for future public art. It would facilitate safer pedestrian accessibility and bus manoeuvring by extending the stop, displacing car parking, restraining traffic speed and providing for disabled pedestrians to cross the road. It would not preclude future measures envisaged by the Church for a new, covered entrance leading directly to the Cathedral doorway.

1. The Peel Town Commissioners in a letter dated 18th April recommended approval. This followed the revised submissions but referred to the application in the terms as initially submitted, that is to say including widening the town hall entrance.

1. Mr Spencer of 10 Mona Street: his home is adjacent and separated from the Derby Road carriageway only by the pavement width of about 4 ft (1.3 m). The proposals extend the bus stands. He has for some years pursued complaints to Bus Vannin, his previous and current MHK, and met the Minister, David Cretney MHK, with Bus Vannin's representative. The location is treated as a bus station, not a stop, with many vehicles sitting for extended periods with engines running, causing excessive noise, fumes and disruption for his young family. There are about 100 a day, from 6.45 am through to 11.45 pm or 12.45 am at weekends. Most arrive and depart with fewer than 5 passengers, if any; fewer buses rather than a larger stop would be an alternative solution. Peel has sold its bus station and the present situation has come about only since he bought his home. The proposals would move the buses even closer.

1. He can never have windows open even in summer, his children are frequently woken and, working shifts, he suffers the same problem. The World Health Organisation highlights particular risks to children and shift workers from broken sleep. Despite double glazing and thick walls the noise is readily heard and can vibrate windows. The privacy of his garden and house are invaded from the upper decks of buses, exacerbated by their use of CCTV. Years of failure to resolve the problems illustrates that they will not cease with the introduction of a second bay. Despite signs and all drivers spoken to regularly, engines continue to sit running at all hours. The proximity of bus traffic is almost certainly damaging his property structurally and in value.

1. If, against his wishes, there is to be an extended stop, consideration should be given to moving it further down the road so that the rear engines are further from his home. In effect, place the second bay where the existing one is now so that neither bus would be any closer, and when only one is parked it would be further away. A suggested layout plan is submitted, described previously by the Interim Head of Operations, Public Transport Division as an excellent compromise.

1. The traffic calming strip, right outside his young sons' bedroom window, would cause noise, vibrations and increased fumes, particularly from vehicles with trailers and commercial vehicles including buses. This would further impact on his property structurally and as a place to live. The regeneration of Peel is long overdue but account should be taken of the effects on his home and family. Despite attending several viewings of the various regeneration schemes, he never saw details for Derby Road and the lack of consultation is disappointing, an opinion expressed by the Commissioners' Chairman who also agreed that the bus stop appears too close.

1. The question arises whether creating a second bus stop outside his home, and a raised traffic calming feature, breaches Strategic Plan Environment Policy 22(iii). A raised traffic calming feature was recently removed from Oak Road, Peel, as an owner perceived increased vibrations, yet the Derby Road proposal is far closer to his own home.

Inspector's Assessment

1. This stretch of highway comprises unattractive, utilitarian, time worn materials that do little for this part of Peel, which is within the Conservation Area and, sensitively, faced by the Town Hall and the Cathedral grounds. The case for regeneration is clear cut. I am conscious too that the proposals have been prepared by an architectural practice of repute and supported by the Town Commissioners and Highway Authority Network Planning Manager. However, my role is to provide a separate, independent assessment and I have significant reservations about the scheme as it stands.

1. At the outset, I do not accept submissions to the effect that measures such as relocating the bus stands, because they could be implemented by the Highway Authority under its powers, should thereby be treated as not material to this planning application. The traffic measures flow directly from the scheme and should be assessed accordingly. Indeed part of my concern is an apparent fragmented rather than holistic approach.

1. Mr Cushing's exposure of procedural shortcomings with regard to works on the Town Hall property frontage were not, as might have been expected, remedied by serving notice on the Commissioners and providing details regarding the length of wall to be demolished. Works to the wall, to create public seating with low level lighting, had featured strongly in the initial application and supporting documents but were abruptly and somewhat enigmatically omitted. That in itself does not amount to a reason to refuse approval, and I shall avoid commenting on the merits of what no longer features in the application, but it does illustrate my concern regarding the lack of a comprehensive and cohesive approach.

1. Moreover, no consequential changes were proposed, the scheme remained identical in all other regards. One must assume that there was a reason initially behind widening the Town Hall entrance and it is reasonable to suppose that this related to the slightly deeper and considerably longer projecting area of pavement opposite holding the new bus shelter. The outcome must at least call into question whether drivers, particularly of larger vehicles, may experience increased difficulty turning in and out of the Town Hall car park. People sitting in the shelter, perhaps with young children, would directly face emerging vehicles before these turn without much clearance and they could experience some feeling of vulnerability.

1. Next there is the less than clear relationship between the shelter and future works envisaged by the Church authorities. The agent's Planning Statement implies that the shelter now proposed, of a modern acrylic design, might be replaced by a combined bus and lych-gate shelter. Mr Sewell implies retention of the shelter along with the new Cathedral access. My own view is that even if the Cathedral proposals are to come later, there should at this stage be a firm concept of the final outcome at what will be a key location in Peel and its Conservation Area. As things stand, it is far from self evident that the shelter might not inhibit an overall outcome that preserves, or better enhances, the appearance or character of this location.

1. This stretch of Derby Road is an important interconnecting location between different bus routes, which will unavoidably mean vehicles sometimes standing waiting for the connecting service and two together while passengers alight from one and board the other. This is somewhat different from descriptions of sequential passenger activity one bus at a time, but be that as it may, the needs of bus travellers might simply outweigh Mr Spencer's concerns, subject only to bus operational management to mitigate the impacts. However, might is an important word in the previous sentence. Mr Spencer has constructively submitted an alternative layout - still providing for two bus stands together but further removed from his home where there would instead be kerbside car parking. I make no comment about the merits of his suggestion, but in the context of a Phase 1 Pilot Project aimed at improving the Peel public realm he deserves a reasoned response.

cso Reference DF13/0005 Application No 13/00236/B Inspector's report

rather than reliance on the fact the bus stands near his home could be laid out under highways powers. In the particular circumstance of these public works, where public consultation and input is a desirable aspect, the lack of a reasoned response means that it has not been demonstrated that an optimum scheme is being promoted weighing residential amenity along with transport and townscape aims.

1. I have concerns too regarding the choice of granite setts as an extensive surface finish around the bus shelter. Setts can provide a durable, traditional and attractive "floorscape" but they are also liable to be slippery when wet and can at any time be tricky to walk on by people with ambulant disabilities or simply in high heels. Their use at a locality of concentrated pedestrian activity must be called into question.

1. Lest my assessment seems a litany of adverse points, I will add that I disagree with Mr Spencer's criticisms of the traffic calming strip. As Mr Sewell says, this would not be a raised platform or speed curbing cushions, but an area of setts at carriageway level over which vehicles would pass entering this stretch of road. Along with the carriageway pinch point it would signal a change in highway character rather than physically force reduced speed, which could risk the jolting, braking and abrupt changes of engine tone that Mr Spencer fears. I commend the use of paving rather than in-situ concrete along the footways and the use of granite kerbs with bands of setts along the carriageway edges, which would be both visually attractive and perceptually narrow the carriageway and reinforce signals to drivers that this is a "place" as well as a route.

1. Taken as a whole, however, I found the Planning Statement to be mainly about general principles with insufficient content regarding the specific aims and details of these particular proposals. The drawings for example indicate that lamp posts will be replaced but without details of the intended standards or illumination. My conclusions and recommendation, if accepted, would represent a set-back for those promoting regeneration at Peel, but permanent measures are proposed, at a sensitive location and as a Phase 1 Pilot for other locations. Getting it right should precede implementation.

Recommendations

1. I recommend that the application be not approved for the following reason. The proposals as currently submitted take an insufficiently comprehensive and cohesive approach to the aims of public realm regeneration for this part of Peel, and consequently fail to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of General Policy 2, Environment Policy 35 and Environment Policy 22 of The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007.

1. In the event that the Council of Ministers disagree and determine to grant approval, then I recommend the following conditions.

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

1. This approval relates to road refurbishment including road resurfacing, realignment and repaving of footpaths, creation of bus stop, creation of marked street parking and installation of street furniture at Derby Road, Peel from the junction with Mona Street to approximately half between the junction with Mona Street and Athol Place as shown in drawings PH01/P01A, PH01/P02A, PH01/P10D and PH01/P11A all received by the Department on 8th April 2013.

1. Prior to the commencement of works on site, samples of all finish materials and further details of the proposed bollards and lighting units must be provided to and approved by the Planning Authority and development must accord with the samples and details as approved.

Alan Langton Inspector