DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 21/00583/D Applicant: MacFarlanes Ltd Proposal: Installation of retractable awnings Site Address: 24 - 26 Duke Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 2AY Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.06.2021 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The advertisement(s) hereby granted consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented advertisement consents. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2, General Policy 6 and Environment Policy 37 of the Strategic Plan. Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the submitted documents, and drawing no's P10-01, P/10-02, P10-03 date-stamped as having been received on 14th May 2021. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the commercial curtilage of Wine Down Restaurant, 24-26 Duke Street, Douglas, four storey and two storey mid-terrace buildings located on the east of Duke Street.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for the installation of two retractable awning on the shop front of each building.

2.2 The awnings will have a ground projection of approx. 2.13m. The awnings will have the golden logo of a traditional corkscrew with the golden name of the restaurant "Wine Down" located at the end of the awning on a black background.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Erection of illuminated signage and a retractable awning was APPROVED under PA 18/00801/D. This application only proposed an awning for one shop front and only project approx. 1.5m on the ground.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 In terms of local policy, the site lies within an area designated as Mixed Use Area (Strand Street) in the Area Plan for the East. The site is also within the Athol Street/Victoria Street Conservation Area. - 4.2 The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 make it clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of amenity and public safety. In the case of amenity, such as the general characteristics of the area, it needs to be taken into account along with the presence of any features of historic, architectural, cultural, or similar interest. The public safety should consider the safety of any person using a road, railway, tramway, harbour or aerodrome including the obscuration of any traffic sign or similar. - 4.3 In terms of strategic plan policy, due to the designation of the site and the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider the following policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016: - 4.4 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:

• (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; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways."

4.5 General Policy 6: "Within our towns and villages, the display of external advertisements will be permitted on the site or building to which they relate provided they:

• (a) are of a high standard of design and materials and relate well to the building and site on which they are to be displayed;
• (b) are in keeping with and do not detract from the surrounding area; and
• (c) are located so as not to cause a highway safety hazard."

4.6 Environment Policy 37 states: "As a general policy, advertisements within Conservation Areas will be permitted only if:

• i) the proposal preserves or enhances the Conservation Area;
• ii) the signage is in a style appropriate to the character of the area;
• iii) traditional materials and finishes are used and glossy and highly reflective materials are excluded from proposals; and
• iv) internally illuminated box fascia and projecting box signs are excluded from the proposals.

5.0 REPRESENTATION - 5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection to this application (01/06/2021). - 5.2 DoI Highway Services does not object to this application (08/04/2021). The comment states there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network efficiency and /or parking.

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issue to be considered in the assessment of this application is the impact of the proposed development upon the character and appearance of the street scene and on highway safety. - 6.2 The signage is still directly related to the use of the property. Therefore, it has no adversely impact on the character of the area. - 6.3 As the Highway Services has no objection it is considered that there is no highway safety issues.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2, General Policy 6 and Environment Policy 37 of the Strategic Plan. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval.

8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land which the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

8.2 The decision-maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 25.06.2021 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

Customer note

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