DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 21/01348/B Applicant: Balderton Consulting Ltd Proposal: Erection of seven industrial / storage buildings Site Address: Unit D Balderton Court Balthane Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 2AJ Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 26.04.2022

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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification), the units hereby approved shall only be used for General industrial (Class 2.3) and/or Storage/distribution (Class 2.4) and for no other purpose at any time.

Reason: The Department has assessed the impact of the proposal on the basis of the specific use and any alternative uses within the same Use Class will require further consideration.

• C 3. Notwithstanding the meaning of development in Section 6 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 or any act revoking or re-enacting that Act, no mezzanine floor shall be constructed without a further application for planning approval being submitted and approved.

Reason: the parking provision is considered acceptable on the basis of the floor area of the proposed units as shown in the submitted plans and on only one floor of accommodation per unit.

• C 4. The development hereby approved shall not be occupied or operated until the parking and turning areas have been provided in accordance with the approved plans. Such areas shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking and turning of vehicles associated with the development and shall remain free of obstruction for such use at all times.

Reason: To ensure that sufficient provision is made for off-street parking and turning of vehicles in the interests of highway safety.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The development complies with Employment Recommendation 1, Employment Proposal 2, and Landscape Proposal 19 of the Area Plan for the South and with General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 6 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 3rd November 2021;

• o Drawing No. Site Location Plan
• o Drawing No. GA400
• o Drawing No. GA401
• o Drawing No. GA402
• o Drawing No. GA410 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is a piece of land situated within Balthane Industrial Estate, situated to the Northern part of Balderton Court, which is a cluster of industrial units situated in three main blocks. The proposed site will contain block No.D. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for exactly the same as what was approved under PA12/00291/B which was never taken up.

2.2 The proposal is for the erection of an industrial/ storage building which is to provide seven units, six of which are to be the same size/layout with the unit closest to the roadside (North East elevation) being slightly bigger with an additional half unit added on, situated in an angle. The building will be constructed of steelwork with blockwork walls for the first 2, from ground floor level with coated insulated panels above to the South and West Elevation. The South East elevation is to have power coated cornflower blue aluminium curtilage walling with double glazing.

2.2 The sizing of the same sized units is approximately 7m by 15.7m with the larger unit measuring 15.7m long with a short width of 7.4m and a long width of 13.7m. To the rear of the units there is a window and doorway within each unit, with the unit to the South East having two windows. There is proposed 29 insulated rooflights installed in the front and rear roof slopes.

2.3 In the front elevation there would be seven roller shutter doors, pedestrian doors and windows. - 2.4 There would be approximately 1.3m between the rear elevation and the boundary shared with the adjacent property "GE White", there would be a distance of approximately 2m between the rear elevation of the proposed building and the rear elevation of "GE White". There are windows in the rear elevation of the "GE White" building, but there are also some in the side elevation. - 2.5 Proposed are 20 parking spaces of which 10 are to be situated to the North East of the unit and 10 parking spaces to be situated in front of the units with 5 units having one space allocated to them and two with two spaces allocated to them. PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The previous applications are not relevant in the assessment of this application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Industrial/ Business Park on the Area Plan for the South, Map 4 - Ballasalla. The site is not within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 When looking at the Area Plan for the South, Landscape Proposal 19 is the most relevant proposal and seeks that new development at Bathane and Ronaldsway Business Park/ The Freeport if visible from the A5 or the Steam Train should be of high quality, functional design. - 4.3 Turning towards the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the most relevant policies are Business Policy 5 which seeks that land zoned for industrial is only used for industrial or storage and distribution, General Policy 2 which seeks general "development" considerations and Paragraph 9.2.7 in connection with Appendix 7 which set out parking standards.

• 4.3.1 Appendix 7 sets out the following parking standards for each of the proposed uses: Light industrial, research and development = 1 space per 30 square metres nett floor space. General industrial = 1 space per 50 square metres gross floor space. Storage and distribution = 1 space per 100 square metres gross floor space.

4.4 Other policies which are relevant are Strategic Policy 7 which seeks that land zoned for industrial is retained as such, Business Policy 1 which seeks the growth of employment opportunities throughout the Island and Business Policy 2 which seeks that land for industrial development should be appropriate for the area, close to public transport, close to labour and have the availability of water, sewerage and other utilities. - 4.5 Also relevant is paragraph 9.2.3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan which defines "industrial." REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state "Do not Oppose." (03.12.21)

5.3 No comments have been received by Malew Commissioners at the time of writing this report.

5.5 Manx Utilities have considered the proposal and have no issues subject to the standard foul and SW conditions. (14.12.21 & 24.02.22)

• ASSESSMENT
• 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - the principle of the proposal (SP6, 7 & BP1, 2)
• - visual impact/impact on the wider environment (EP 22 and GP2 b, c & f)
• - impact on the highways & parking (TP7, GP2 h & i, SP10)

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 When looking at the principle of the proposal in connection with Strategic Policy 6, 7 and Business Policy 1 & 2, it can be seen in section 4 of this assessment that the land designation is for Industrial as such the principle of the development is acceptable.

• 6.2.2 The proposed industrial units would comply with Strategic Policy 6 by taking into account the need for employment generating development sited on land for which they are zoned for, of which a condition should be attached to comply with the land designation of industrial. Such a condition will also assist the application in complying with Strategic Policy 7. The site also complies with Strategic Policy 6 by benefiting from the integrated transport network.

• 6.2.3 The proposal could offer additional employment opportunities to the area, which would comply with Business Policy 1 and 2.

- 6.3 VISUAL IMPACT

6.3.1 Whilst the proposed units will be seen from the main road within Balthane Industrial Estate, the units will not be viewable from the main A5 road, this is due to the mature trees and hedging which screen Balthane Industrial Estate from this main road. The proposed building will also be in keeping with the surrounding area, due to there already being several units of this type within the surrounding area and the proposal being based on the other units within this specific site.

• 6.3.2 The likelihood of the proposed structure being seen from the main A5 road will be minimal due to the mature hedging and trees which shields Balthane Industrial Estate from this road. As such the visual impact from the proposal will be minimal.

6.4 HIGHWAY AND PARKING

• 6.4.1 The proposed building is indicated to be for a mix of industrial and storage use. As stated in section 4 of this report, both uses require a different demand for vehicle parking. As the information submitted for the application does not specify which of the units will be used for what purpose, a general amount of caution needs to be taken, specifically as general industrial needs 1 space per 50 square metres and Storage and Distribution requires 1 space per 100 square metres.

• 6.4.2 As stated above within section 2 of this report there are proposed 20 spaces, 10 of which are within their own parking area to the East of the site and 10 spaces which are separated and situated in front of the doorway and window, this is a typical arrangement for industrial units and that it would be up to each unit occupier to manage this and move any parked cars throughout the day to facilitate access for the roller shutters or service vehicles.

• 6.4.3 The proposed development is approximately 780 square metres, therefore the proposal requires 16 parking spaces. The applicant has demonstrated that 20 parking spaces can be achieved.
• 6.4.4 As such is considered that the proposal is acceptable in terms of parking and highways safety.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal is considered to meet with the tests of Business Policy 5, Paragraph 9.2.7 in connection with Appendix 7 and the general standards towards development as set out in General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan.

7.2 The application is recommended approval subject to conditions limiting the use to industrial or storage.

INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country (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 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 _____________________________________________________________________

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: 27.04.2022 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.