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This application is recommended for consideration by the Planning Committee rather than under delegated powers, as the previous application was determined by the Planning Committee.
The application site is a hot food takeaway located at No.2 Marina Road, Douglas. The site is zoned as an area of predominantly shopping use in the Douglas Local Plan.
This application is seeking to vary condition 4 of 99/01898/C so as to allow the takeaway to operate for a further hour on each day. The existing condition states that "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0030 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0300 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays."
The extension of the opening would mean that hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0130 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0400 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays."
Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: General Policy 2, Community Policy 7
General Policy 2 states that "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:
Community Policy 7 states "The design of new development and the extension and refurbishment of existing buildings and development must, as far as is reasonably practical, pay due regard to existing best practice so as to help prevent criminal and anti-social behaviour.
The following previous applications are considered relevant in the consideration of this application:
99/01898/C – Change of use of retail unit to fast food take away – granted at appeal on 31st August 2000.
Condition 4 states that "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0030 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0300 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
09/00907/R - Variation of condition 4 of PA 99/01898/C regarding opening hours – granted at appeal on 10th February 2010. The planning permission was granted on a temporary basis for one year.
Douglas Corporation has not objected to the application.
The Architectural Liaison Officer (ALO) of the Isle of Man Constabulary has provided the following comments "The force formally objected to the original application (09/00907/R). The key arguments contained within the report were:
"Details of all calls to the police are recorded within the I-net call handling system and crime reports are recorded within the Mentor system. The relevant records were examined for a two year period (June 2007- June 2009) to establish the level of late night crime and disorder incidents occurring within the Marina Road environment. It was found that a significantly higher level of incidents had occurred within Marina Road during the midnight to 5am period when compared to the routes giving immediate access to the said area (Castle Street and Harris Promenade). The only premises open
within Marina Road during the relevant hours were the two takeaways – The Istanbul and the Star Grill."
"The force has a finite number of uniformed officers serving within Douglas during the relevant time period. The report hypothesised that the incidence of crime and disorder would increase should the extension period be granted creating unsustainable demands on local policing resources, to the detriment of the rest of the neighbourhood policing area."
"The Planning Committee subsequently requested information relating to incidents occurring on Central Promenade, Douglas. A report giving a comparative overview of the number and nature of incidents occurring within both Marina Road and the Central Promenade (from Broadway, up to and including the Hilton Hotel Complex) environments was prepared. Analysis of relevant police records relating to the two study environments showed that whilst [Marina] Road was approximately a tenth of the length of Central Promenade, it had been the locus of approximately half the number of incidents that had occurred within Central Promenade during 2007 to 2009 study period. It was argued that the findings showed:
"I would particularly wish to drawn the Planning Committee's attention to the report's last paragraph which stated, "Whilst I am not suggesting that the levels of crime and disorder will increase to the same levels as those seen within Central Promenade, I would hypothesise that should the extension be granted, it is highly probably that Marina Road will see a significant increase in the level of criminal and anti-social behaviour during this period with a concomitant and associated increase in noise nuisance."
"On the 3rd March 2011 I received an undated letter from Mr Atis (the applicant) requesting details of incidents that had occurred within Marina Road during the periods 10/02/2009 to 10/02/2010 (the year before the temporary extension was granted) and 10/02/2010 to 10/02/2011 (the duration of the temporary extension). The relevant statistics were compiled and I formally responded to Mr Atis on the 9th March. The tables contained within the response (and appended to this report) have been compiled using the same criteria as were used during the forces response to the original planning application (PA 09/00907/R). For example, the disturbance category includes all types of assault and public order offences and/or complaints and the time period examined between 2200hrs and 0500hrs on a daily basis."
"Analysis of the statistics contained within the said tables shows that:
Increasing from 24 incidents during 2009/2010 to 35 during 2010/2011.
All offences/incidents – Saturdays increased from 2 incidents during 2009/2010 to 8 during 2010/2011, and Sundays increased from 2 during 2009/2010 to 4 during 2010/2011.
Disturbances - Saturdays increased from 2 incidents during 2009/2010 to 7 during 2010/2011, and Sundays increased from 1 during 2009/2010 to 4 during 2010/2011."
"There is cogent argument that the findings of this updated comparison exercise confirm the fundamental concern contained within my September 2009 report, namely that 'should the extension be granted, it is highly probably that Marina Road will see a significant increase in the level of criminal and anti-social behaviour during this period'. As has already been noted within this report, the force has a finite number of officers serving within the Douglas Neighbourhood Policing Team. The incidence of crime and disorder that occurred within Marin Road during the temporary extension period placed significant and arguably unnecessary, demands upon local policing resources, to the detriment of the extended neighbourhood policing area."
"Further, I would argue that the applicant confirms that the extended operating hours had an impact upon the Marina Road environment during the requested extension hour period. In his supportive letter he states that "During weekdays, the business does more take in between 12.30am to 1.30am that is does in 8 hours operation. At weekends, the busiest time is between 3.00am to 4.00am when people walk back from the clubs on their way home. During that one hour shop does same money that it does in a 9 hours week day shift [sic].' I would hypothesise that in order for the business to generate greater income in one hour than during an eight hour period on weekdays, and a nine hour period at weekends, there must have been a significantly higher number of persons entering and/or congregating in the vicinity of the applicant's premises during the extension one hour period. Ergo, as argued in my 2009 report it was acting as a 'honey pot' and, as would appear to be confirmed by the statistics contained within the appended tables, a crime (and disorder) generator. Whilst the applicant would indubitably benefit economically should the application be granted permission, should it be at the cost of the greater populace's quality of life?"
"The police therefore wish to formally object to this application."
Furthermore, one the ALO's colleagues has informed us that at on 25/3/2011 and 26/3/2011 the premises were open and were still serving at 0345hrs and 0415 hrs, respectively. He also advises this is causing them an issue now as a lot of drunk people congregate in the area, mainly because the fact that they are remaining open.
Another of the ALO's colleagues has also stated that he attended the premises at 3.35am, Saturday 26th February to reports of a disturbance. An incident had occurred between a drunken male and taxi driver outside the premises and had spilled into the Istanbul becoming a fight. As a result the drunken male was arrested and bailed. The takeaway was very busy with numerous people inside and outside.
The ALO has provided further evidence that the Istanbul was opening on the following dates: Sunday 27th March – The Istanbul was full and still serving customers at 0400hrs Saturday 2nd April – open and serving customers at 0349hrs Friday 15th April – Serving customers at 0340hrs
Monday 25th April – serving customers at 0300. Staff were spoken to – they were fully aware of their permitted hours and they stated they were staying open 'because it was busy'
The main issue in respect of this application is whether the proposed permanent extension to the opening hours would result in harm to the surrounding environment. This application is still a finely balanced case. The area is zoned as area of predominantly shopping use where one would expect a higher degree of noise and disturbance through greater activity; however, there are residential
apartments located directly opposite the application site. There must be a balance whether the proposed opening hours would impact on the residential environment of those apartments and the provision of facilities. Generally, occupiers of apartments within a town centre location would expect a different standard of living compared to a residential cul-de-sac due to the general activity of a town centre, particularly during the evenings. The existing planning conditions states that "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0030 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0300 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays". This proposal would mean that the condition would be permanently revised to the following "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 0130 hours and 0700 hours on Mondays to Fridays, and between 0400 hours and 0700 hours on Saturdays and Sundays." There are been no objections from local residents.
It should be noted that there is another takeaway that is located at No.6 Marina Road, which currently has the same hours of opening as the application site. The opening hours are also controlled through a planning condition, which states that "The hot food "take-away" business may not operate between 00.30 and 07.00 a.m. on Mondays to Fridays, and 03.00 and 07.00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays."
Furthermore, there is a Chinese Takeaway at 35 Castle Street, which appears to have unrestricted opening times; however, its time of operation does not exceed beyond 12am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11.30pm any other time during the week.
The independent Inspector made the following comments about the previous application: "There is no direct evidence that the appeal premises operated by the appellant have actually caused or encouraged any criminal activity or disturbance or police incidents. The monitor table presented in the inquiry is for a year period prior to the occupation of the appeal premises by the appellant. There is no accurate statistics for the time when the appellant began operating the Istanbul Take Away. It is therefore unreasonable to assert that the appellant has any connection with previous "incident" statistics. No evidence was submitted on this point."
"From the evidence it is impossible to predict from statistics if the level of disturbance might increase in Marina Road if the opening hours of the Istanbul under its current owner were extended."
"In these uncertain circumstances it is appropriate to test the impact of changing the opening hours by imposing a temporary condition for 1 year. This would enable the Planning Authority to properly assess the precise impact of the extended opening hours. The testing of the impact should use up to date records of disturbances recorded by the police over the 1 year period and should also try to assess accurately how the appellant's premises and operation was involved in any Marina Road incidents."
The Police have provided up to date records of disturbance within the Marina Road environment; however, they have not been able assess how the applicants premises and operation were involved in the incidents. The closest information about the problems within the area is from the ALO's colleagues, as quoted above.
There are two schools of thought of dealing with crime and disorder, as part of the night time economy, which are 1) to disperse people from the locality as quickly as possible so as to reduce the chances of any crime and disorder, or 2) to concentrate people in one particular locality so that the police can monitor the behaviour of people and react quickly to any situations before they escalate into major incident. The Isle of Man Constabulary in this instance prefers to disperse people from this particular location. The behaviour of people at night is unpredictable in that some people go to a take-away to get their food and then quickly disperse but there are others who hang around to eat food and chat with their friends before dispersing from an area. The ALO has already identified the crime rate has increased within Marina Road during the temporary extended opening hours and it is also impacting on their resources. It is considered the extension of the opening hours has resulted in increased levels of disturbances and criminal activity to the detriment of the area.
It is recommended that planning permission be refused for the above reasons.
The local authority is, by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5) (c) and (d), considered an "interested person" and as such should be afforded party status.
The Department of Transport Highways and Traffic Division is now part of the Department of Infrastructure of which the planning authority is part. As such, the Highways and Traffic Division cannot be afforded party status in this instance.
The Architectural Liaison Officer of the Isle of Man Constabulary has commented on material planning considerations and as such should be afforded party status in this instance.
Recommended Decision: Refused
Date of Recommendation: 04.05.2011
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
R 1.
The proposed extension to the opening hours would result in increased levels of noise, disturbance and criminal activity to the detriment of the amenity of the area.
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: Refused Committed Meeting Date: 19/5/14
Signed: T. Brown Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason is required. Signing Officer to delete as appropriate
YES/NO
4 May 2011 11/00264/C Page 7 of 7
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