Dept Decision and Inspector's Report

Cabinet Office

CABINET OFFICE Government Office DOUGLAS Isle of Man IM1 3PN Direct Line (01624) 685280 Fax Number (01624) 685710 Email [email protected] CHIEF SECRETARY Will Greenhow ACMA

Our Reference: DF14/0004

24th July 2014

Planning Secretary Department Of Infrastructure Planning and Building Control Division Murray House Mount Havelock Douglas

Dear Sir/Madam,

Town And Country Planning (Development Procedure)

(No2) ORDER 2013

PA Ref: 14/00068/B Applicant: Department Of Health Proposal: Creation of an over flow car park including an exit only road on to Braddan Road Address: Land adjacent to Leece Lodge Strang Douglas Isle Of Man

I refer to the abovementioned planning application.

In accordance with the Article 9 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, I herewith give notice of the decision as follows.

On 17th July 2014, the Council of Ministers considered the recommendations of the Planning Inspector and determined to approve the application subject to the condition(s) specified below.

1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice. (Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.)

1. The development hereby approved shall not be carried out except in full accordance with Drawing No. 01 Rev A (Job No. 13-134) received on 1 May 2014. (Reason: For the avoidance of doubt and to ensure that the development is carried out as approved.)

1. Prior to the commencement of the use of the car parking spaces hereby approved, the exit onto Braddan Road must be completed in accordance with the details on the approved drawing, and the visibility splays shown on that drawing must be fully available to the drivers of vehicles emerging from the site at that time and in perpetuity thereafter. (Reason: To ensure that vehicles using the parking spaces can exit safely and conveniently from the site.)

In accordance with article 10(c) of the Order, please be advised that the decision of the Council of Ministers is binding and final (subject to the possibility of judicial review by petition of doleance).

The Planning Inspector's report, upon which the decision was determined, may be viewed by visiting http://www.gov.im/categories/planning-and-building-control/planning-development-control/department-applications/departmental-applications-decisions/ or by contacting the office of the Chief Secretary for a hardcopy (Tel 685204).

Yours faithfully,

A Johnstone

Planning Appeals Administrator

Report To The Council Of Ministers

Application By The Department Of Health For Planning Approval For Creation Of An Overflow Car Park, Including An Exit Only Road Onto Braddan Road, On Land Adj. To Leece Lodge, Strang, Douglas, Isle Of Man

Case Reference: DF14/0004 Planning Application: 14/00068/B

Introduction

1. The application site includes land which is vested in the Department of Infrastructure. The application has been referred to the Council of Ministers for determination pursuant to Article 10 of The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013. I have been appointed to consider the application and make this report. I inspected the site on 23 June 2014. This report provides brief descriptions of the site and the proposal, and a summary of the main points made in planning statements submitted with the application and by the Department as Planning Authority and in replies to consultations. It continues with my assessment, conclusions and recommendation.

The Site And Surroundings And The Proposed Development

1. The site comprises a strip of land which was formerly part of the A23 Braddan Road. It is about 11 m wide and between 110 m and 140 m in length. It lies to the west of the roundabout from which access to Noble's Hospital is taken. The hard-surface of the former road is still present along much of the site, but is partly overgrown by vegetation on the land between the site and the roundabout. There is a stone wall along the western boundary. There is a footpath alongside this wall, which remains available for use and links to the roadside footways to the north and south of the site. There is no existing access from the A23 to the site at its southern end. At that point the A23 is at a significantly higher level than the former road along the application site. At its northern end the site adjoins the existing access road from the A23 into Leece Lodge. The Lodge is described in the Planning Authority's statement as an administration facility operated by the Department of Health. The Planning Authority also states that there is a children's respite facility to the north of the Lodge, together with a dwelling - No. 3 Leece Lodge Cottages. There are 2 further dwellings - Nos. 1 \& 2 Leece Lodge Cottages - on the west side of the application site at its northern end.
2. It is proposed to use the site as car parking in association with Leece Lodge and Leece Lodge Cottages. The 23 spaces to be created would be partly on the former road surface and partly on land to the east of that surface, which the drawings indicate would be given a stone finish. The spaces would be at an angle of about $45^{\circ}$ to the former road, thereby facilitating access from a one-way system from north to south. Vehicles would enter via the existing access to Leece Lodge from the A23. A new egress would be created at the southern end of the site onto the A23. This new egress would be curved from the line of the former road so as to join the A23 at right angles. A revised drawing submitted at the request of the Highway Authority indicates that the new egress would have visibility splays of 120 m towards the south east and of 65 m to the north east, the latter being the full distance to the roundabout.

Planning Statement Accompanying The Application

The main points made in this statement are:

1. The Lodge is essential training space for the applicant Department. The proposal is necessary because the existing parking provision is insufficient on occasions. This leads to cars being parked on Braddan Road, which is inconvenient for persons attending training courses and results in a hazard to highway users. The Highway Authority advised that a two-way access/egress to the site from the access into the

Lodge could result in vehicular conflicts, but that a one-way system with a new exit junction onto Braddan Road would be more appropriate.

1. The scheme involves:

• cutting back of overgrowing vegetation and walling to give the necessary width for the parking;
• minor kerbing works to form the new entrance junction;
• some earthworks, kerbing and bituminous surfacing to create the new egress junction;
• utilising the existing road gullies for drainage;
• retention of the footway;
• new signage and lining to emphasise the one-way route;
• top soiling and grass seeding to match the existing highway verges.

Planning Statement By The Department Of Infrastructure

The main points made in this statement are:

1. The site is in an area designated as open space/agriculture on the Braddan Local Plan 1991. Due to the date of its adoption the Local Plan does not show the hospital or the roundabout/new road layout. Transport Policies 4 and 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan ("the Strategic Plan") are relevant.
2. Planning approval in principle has been granted for a new building to provide accommodation for adults with learning disabilities to the rear of $1 \& 2$ Leece Lodge Cottages. That approval includes rationalisation of parking and the creation of 8 extra spaces (PA13/91255). The roundabout adjacent to the site was implemented in accordance with approval granted under PA97/02069.
3. The proposal relies on land vested in the Department, but the Planning Officer is able to comment on the merits of the scheme because the Department has no direct interest in the substance of the proposal. There is a presumption against development in line with the area's designation as open space, but the site itself is shown on the Local Plan as public highway. The existing uses at Leece Lodge generate a need for more parking spaces than are available. This was evident during the Planning Officer's site visit at 0930 on 13 February 2014, when there were no vacant parking spaces for the Lodge and the Leece Lodge Cottages, and 2 other drivers were seeking parking spaces. The recently approved building may not exacerbate the parking situation, but is unlikely to make it any better.
4. The first main issue is whether the proposal would cause an unacceptable visual change and affect the character of the footpath. There would be little change to the appearance of the site. Any such change would largely be seen only by users of the footpath, who would be aware of the clearance of vegetation and the parking and movement of vehicles.
5. The second main issue is whether the proposal is acceptable in highway safety terms, with respect to the interface of pedestrians and motorists and the safety of the new egress onto the A23. The retention of the footway will serve to separate pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The Highway Authority has confirmed that the visibility at the new egress as shown on a revised drawing is acceptable. The lack of parking available to the users of land in the vicinity is a significant factor towards justifying the visual impact of the proposed development.

Responses To Consultation

1. Braddan Parish Commissioners are concerned that the proposal creates a road safety issue. They state that this proposal should have been included in the previous planning application for development at

Case Ref. DF14/0004 Application No. 14/00068/B Page 2

Leece Lodge if that building creates the need for the extra parking. They would like to see the visual impact being properly addressed.

1. The Highways Division has no objection following receipt of the revised drawing showing the visibility splays at the proposed egress.

Inspector'S Assessment And Conclusions

1. The main issues concern (i) the visual impact, and (ii) the effect on the safety of highway users. In defining these issues, I have not found the fact that the site is in an area designated for open space/agriculture in the Braddan Local Plan to be a matter to which significant weight should be given. That is because the Local Plan pre-dates the changes to the road system in this location, including the creation of the roundabout, and because the bulk of the site is a former road that was shown on the Local Plan as a public highway, with much of its original hard-surfacing still in situ.
2. The visual impact of the scheme would be limited, taking into account that the existing hard surfacing would be utilised and that the extended area to be stone-surfaced would be relatively limited in extent. Some vegetation would be cleared, but this has something of a wilderness appearance, having overgrown from the land adjacent to the former road. Its loss would not cause any substantial visual harm. The overall scheme would be evident to persons using the footpath along the western edge of the site, but the appearance of the parking area and its access road would not be out of keeping given that the immediate surroundings include the major visual feature of the roundabout. Due to the relative ground levels, and the angle at which the roundabout is approached by vehicles travelling from the south, the car park would not be an intrusive feature as seen by the drivers and passengers in such vehicles. Those drivers would be aware of the car park, and particularly of the junction of its egress with the A23, but these would not constitute seriously intrusive features having regard to the existing character of the surroundings. The car park would be screened by remaining vegetation on the land between the roundabout and the site from the view of persons travelling south along the A23 and those leaving the hospital towards the roundabout. It would also be screened in views from the roundabout itself and its immediate environs. I have concluded that the proposal would do not any significant harm in terms of its visual impact. Its effect on the appearance of the immediate area would be acceptable.
3. The Highway Authority has raised no objections to the proposal as it has been amended to show the visibility splays for drivers exiting onto the A23. These splays would allow drivers to see 120 m to the south east and to the roundabout to the north east, which would facilitate safe egress. Safety at the egress would also be assisted by the intention to have a maximum gradient on the egress road up to the A23 of 1:12, with a maximum of 1:20 on the upper 1.5 m of the egress. Pedestrians would be largely unaffected as the footpath would be retained, and so the separation of pedestrian and vehicular movements would be provided for. There would be no conflict in that regard with Transport Policy 6 of the Strategic Plan, by which the needs of pedestrians are to be given similar weight to the needs of other road users in the design of new development and transport facilities.
4. Entry to the site would be by way of the existing access from the A23 at the northern end of the site. As the proposal is intended to overcome an existing deficiency in parking provision, rather than to encourage extra vehicle trips to the site, there would be unlikely to be any substantial increase in the use of that access. In any event, there is no evidence to suggest that this existing access is substandard or unsafe. As there is evidence that vehicles are at present having to park on Braddan Road due to the inadequacy of existing parking provision, the proposal would be likely to have road safety benefits by removing the need for on-road parking and by reducing the number of drivers entering and then leaving

Case Ref. DP14/0004 Application No. 14/00068/B Page 3

the site of the Lodge having failed to find available parking spaces. I have concluded that the proposal would not cause any significant harm to the safety of highway users, and could well be beneficial in its effects on highway safety. There would be no conflict with Transport Policy 4 of the Strategic Plan, which expects the highways which serve new development to be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated in a safe and appropriate manner.

1. I have taken account of the comments of Braddan Parish Commissioners. The visual impact has been addressed and found to be acceptable in my report. Whether or not this parking proposal should have been considered at the time of the application for a new building to provide accommodation for adults with learning disabilities is not a matter which can be revisited. That application (PA13/91255) was approved, and that decision cannot be reconsidered in the context of the current application.

1. I have reached the overall conclusions that this proposal is acceptable in planning terms and that approval should be granted. I am incorporating the conditions suggested by the Planning Authority in my recommendation, with a further condition to confirm that the development is to be carried out in accordance with the approved drawing. The latter is required in particular because a revised drawing was submitted. I have amended the wording of one of the suggested conditions in the interests of clarity and precision. All the recommended conditions are necessary and reasonable requirements.

Recommendation

1. I recommend that the planning approval be granted for creation of an overflow car park, including an exit only road onto Braddan Road, on land adj. to Leece Lodge, Strang, Douglas, Isle of Man, subject to the following conditions:

1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of 4 years from the date of this decision notice. (Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure)(No 2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals).

1. The development hereby approved shall not be carried out except in full accordance with Drawing No. 01 Rev A (Job No. 13-134) received on 1 May 2014. (Reason: For the avoidance of doubt and to ensure that the development is carried out as approved.)

1. Prior to the commencement of the use of the car parking spaces hereby approved, the exit onto Braddan Road must be completed in accordance with the details on the approved drawing, and the visibility splays shown on that drawing must be fully available to the drivers of vehicles emerging from the site at that time and in perpetuity thereafter. (Reason: To ensure that vehicles using the parking spaces can exit safely and conveniently from the site.)

Stephen Amos MA (Cantab) MCD MRTPI Independe nt Inspector

Case Ref. DF14/0004 Application No. 14/00068/B Page 4