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Application No.: 15/01217/B Applicant: Turner Properties Limited Proposal: Conversion of existing office accommodation into three residential apartments Site Address: 35 - 37 Victoria Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 2LF Case Officer : Mr Jason Singleton Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation
Officer’s Report APPLICATION SITE
1.1 The application site is 33 - 35 Victoria Street, Douglas, a corner terrace building situated on the southern side of Victoria Street and west of Duke Street. The property is traditional four storey building, with office/ professional services on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks planning permission for a change of use of the upper three floors from offices to three residential apartments. There is to be one apartment per floor, with apartments 1 & 2 being one bedroom apartments and apartment 3 a two bedroom apartment and the utilisation of the basement for the storage of bicycles. As part of the application it is not proposed to make any structural external alterations to the building or the reveals but only internal reconfiguration to accommodate the change of use. Each of the apartments would have the outlook over Duke Street and Victoria Street. The drawings indicate the current bin provision with access onto King Street will be utilised for the apartments. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Regarding the upper three floors, this application site has not been the subject of any previous planning applications that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application. It is worth considering the current use of the ground floor has recently changed from retail to financial services. 14/00993/C. Approved. DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES - 4.1 The site is within an "Area of Predominantly Shopping Use" in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. The site is also within a Conservation Area.
4.2 The following policies in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 are considered relevant: - 4.3 General Policy 2 state: "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:
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4.4 Housing Policy 4 states [in part]: 'New housing will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions of these towns and villages where identified in adopted Area Plans'. - 4.5 Housing Policy 17 states: 'The conversion of buildings into flats will generally be permitted in residential areas provided that:
4.6 Some of the supporting text to HP17 at paragraph 8.13.4: "In recent years, interest has grown in the development of residential dwellings from redundant commercial space, primarily above shops… The Department generally supports the conversion of redundant storage space above shops (which are often outside of residential areas), into residential development unless the occupants would suffer adverse noise, general disturbance or loss of residential amenity from other land uses." - 4.7 Transport Policy 7 is also relevant: 'The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards.' The standard in respect of town centre residential development is one car parking space per each one-bedroom flat and two spaces per each two-bedroom flats but this can be relaxed when having regard to:
4.8 Environment Policy 35 states; "Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development." REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection (16/11/15) - 5.2 Highway services have commented to say; "In accordance with the IOM Strategic Plan 4 off road parking spaces need to be provided. Applicant has not demonstrated the parking arrangements for this application". (27/11/15) - 5.3 DEFA Environmental Health have commented to say "The proposed flats/apartments must on completion of the intended works, comply with the requirements of the Housing (Registration) Regulations 2013 and be registered thereafter under the Regulations PRIOR to any of the flats being occupied". (12/11/15)
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are contained within the guidance of Housing Policy 17, which requires new dwellings provided through a building's conversion have a clear outlook, adequate amenity space and car parking where practical.
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6.2 It is understood from the applicant the use of the upper floors have been unsuccessful in letting and have been vacant for several years and in spite of considerable efforts have been unable to find tenants for office use. The principle of conversion of the redundant space will be discussed. - 6.3 As there are no proposals to alter the facades of the building or amend the existing window configurations or sizes or replacement windows, the impact on the street scene or that of the character of the conservation area would be minimal, posing little to no visual harm. - 6.4 The building has a number of large windows and is located on a fairly wide highway/street scene, with views in two distinct directions, albeit commercial townscape in character is varied and not unattractive but a busy and vibrant street. Each living room is positioned on the corner of the building affording views in either direction with adequate amount of space within each apartment. - 6.5 Each apartment is self-contained to each of the floors, 2x one bedrooms and a further 1x two bedroom apartments. The apartments are large enough to accommodate a lounge, separate kitchen and dining room. There would appear to be adequate space to allow for the drying of clothes. The living environment of the proposed apartments is deemed to be acceptable. Being with the town centre development there is no outdoor amenity space provided. However there is ease of level access to good public open space that would provide a degree of respite from the activity in the area, namely Douglas promenade and the beach and other leisure areas off the promenade or Douglas head. The current bin provision for the benefit of the offices is to be retained for the use of the apartments and ground floor office which is accessed of the rear lane adjacent to King Street. - 6.6 The site provides no parking provision, However Transport Policy 7 requires one parking space per one bedroom apartment and two per two bedroom apartment. The agent notes; that the upper floors proposed for conversion presently extend to approx. 270sq metres of let-able floor area. Under the strategic plan the parking requirement for town centre offices require 1 space per 50sq meters of nett office floor space. This equates to 5.5 spaces to serve the present building. This proposal would create 3 apartments with 4 bedrooms resulting in a parking requirement of 4 spaces. - 6.7 Highway Services have noted the IoM strategic plans call for four off road parking spaces. Given the application site is with the town centre location which is within close proximity to primary public transportation links. Provision is allowed within the strategic plan in Appendix 7, Parking standards, A.7.1 which says "however, in general, the need to find a use for redundant buildings which are in sound condition will outweigh the drawback of any shortfall in parking provision". The site is immediately adjacent the bus stop, offering routes throughout the Island, and is also centrally located within the Island's capital. The strategic plan also allows for a relaxed standard where "In the case of town centre and previously developed sites, the Department will consider reducing this requirement having regard to: (a) the location of the housing relative to public transport, employment, and public amenities". There are also taxi ranks, local services and employment opportunities to encourage pedestrian movement amongst the above. The application site is amongst the most sustainable locations on the Island and so an objection on grounds of a lack of parking is not considered significant enough to warrant a refusal. - 6.8 In considering the impact of the use, the Central Douglas Master plan, 2015, seeks to create a more rounded town centre whereby we move away from a 9 to 5 population; "A mix of uses throughout the town will increase the attraction of the Centre, retaining and increasing footfall and movement across all periods of the day and into the early evening (p.10)". One of the key drivers of this is to "increase the residential population (p.9)". This would indicate a need to attract more uses and to encourage residential back into the town and the utilisation of redundant floors can add to the vibrancy and out of hours use.
RECOMMENDATION 7.1 Overall, it is concluded that the planning application is in accordance with aforementioned General Policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 and is recommended for approval.
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INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 In line with Article 6(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure)(No2) Order 2013, the following Persons are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings relating to the application: the applicant or, if there is one, the applicant's agent; the owner and occupier of the land the subject of the application; Highway Services, and the Local Authority in whose district the land the subject of the application sits.
Recommendation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.12.2015 Conditions and Notes for Approval: C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 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) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
This approval relates to drawing reference numbers 1255.1 date stamped as received 3rd November, 2015.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date: 22.12.2015 Determining officer
Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer
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