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Application No.: 08/01542/B Applicant: Hartford Homes Ltd Proposal: Erection of a five storey office block with basement parking Site Address: 19 - 20 St Georges Street, Douglas, Isle Of Man ### Considerations Case Officer: Mr Ian Brooks Photo Taken: - Site Visit: - Expected Decision Level: - Planning Committee ### Written Representations PCMS Seacliffe Old Castletown Road Ballaveare | Objects to the proposal ### Consultations Consultee: Highways Division Notes: Do not oppose Consultee: Douglas Corporation Notes: Objection Consultee: Police Architectural Liaison Officer Notes: Consultee: Manx Electricity Authority Notes: Consultee: Drainage Services Manager Notes:** No Objection in Principle, subject to conditions.
The application site comprises land at the corner of Hope Street and St George's Street, backing on to St. George's churchyard. The land has been cleared of buildings, and is now used for surface-level car-parking, pending redevelopment.
The land falls by some 3m from the northern corner on Hope Street to the southern corner on St. George's Street. There are trees adjacent to the application site, being located within the churchyard.
21 October 2008 08/01542/B Page 1 of 7
To the west of the application site lies the site of the former Forester's Arms public house. This site has now been cleared, and is awaiting redevelopment.
The site is within an area zoned for Predominantly Office use in the Douglas Local Plan 1998.
The application proposes the erection of a 5 -Storey building (including a "semi-basement") which would accommodate 1670 square metres net office floor space and 20 car-parking spaces. The parking spaces would be accessed from St. George's Street. The spaces are generally . The length of the St. Georges frontage would be 28.2 m ; while the Hope Street frontage would be 28.5 m . The height of the building on the corner of Hope Street and St Georges Street would be 17.8 m . The height of the building would set down to 14.7 m when next to No. 18 St Georges Street. The height of the building at the northeastern corner would be 14 m .
The architecture is of modern style with a finish which is predominately a painted render. The elevations of St Georges Street and Hope Street are broken up by rectangular sections of glazing recessed back from the building line. The elevation towards St George's Church would be broken up by rectangular section of glass blocks. The fourth floor office area would be constructed mainly as a glass box set back from all facades. Glass Balustrades would be provided around the fourth floor roof terrace.
An electricity substation is indicted within the building, to be accessed from Hope Street.
The following previous applications are considered relevant in the consideration of this application: 01/00891 - Approval in principle for redevelopment of site, consisting of restaurant/wine bar, apartments, and parking - granted 14th September 2001.
02/00939 - Erection of building housing 22 apartments and car-parking - granted 15th November 2002.
03/00533 - Creation of temporary car-park - granted 14th August 2003. 07/00006 - Erection of a four storey building plus basement to accommodate 38 "Crash Pad" apartments and 15 car parking spaces - refused on 31st July 2007.
07/00007 - Erection of a four storey building plus basement to accommodate 30 "Crash Pad" apartments, a bar/restaurant (class 3), a retail/commercial unit (class 1, 2 or 3 ) and 10 parking spaces - refused on 31st July 2007.
07/01715/A - Construction of a four storey office building with basement car parking - granted on appeal 14th May 2008.
The Highways Division of the Department of Transport do not oppose the application. Douglas Corporation have indicated that the Public Works Committee object to the application on the grounds that the proposed development would be over-intensive for the area and too high in relation to the neighbouring properties.
The Architectural Liaison Officer of the Isle of Man Constabulary has commented about the security of the basement car park.
Standard Comments have been received from the Drainage Department of Douglas Corporation and the Manx Electricity Authority.
A resident of Port Soderick makes comment on the application, stating that the proposal is not to his liking in terms of design, as it is not exactly in sympathy with St George's Church or the older terracing in the vicinity. However given the number of large modern replacement offices in the area it is, for all intents and purposes, in keeping with many of those.
Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered relevant in the determination of this application: Strategic Policies 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10, General Policy 2, Environment Policies 36 and 42, Business Policies 7 and 8, Transport Policies 1, 4 and 7.
Business Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, states that "New office floor space should be located within town and village centres on land which is zoned for the purpose on the appropriate area plan; exceptionally, permission may be given for new office
Business Policy 8 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 states that "New office buildings should, in terms of height and mass, respect the scale and character of adjoining and nearby buildings and should accommodate parking space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 7 of the Plan."
Transport Policy 7 states that "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards."
Environment Policy 36 states that "Where development is proposed outside of, but close to, the boundary of a Conservation Area, this will only be permitted where it will not detrimentally affect important views into and out of the Conservation Area."
The principal issues in assessing this application are a) land use; b) parking provision; and c) visual impact of the building itself, in the street scene, and from the churchyard. The following paragraphs deal with these issues in the above order, followed by consideration of other matters of detail.
The Local Plan zoning of the site is for office use. Therefore, the principle of developing the site for office use would be in accordance with the land use zoning within the Douglas Local Plan.
The car parking standards set out in Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan requires 1 space for every 50 square metres of net floor space. The application is proposing to provide 1670 square metres of floor space which would equate to a requirement for 33 car parking spaces. However, the development will only provide 20 car parking spaces on site, which is of the total car parking requirement for this development. Out of the 20 spaces being provided, 4 of them are of limited usefulness as they are tandem spaces so in effect only 15 of the spaces are usable. This equates to only of the total car parking requirement for this development. The site cannot physically provide any further car parking spaces within the submitted scheme.
The Strategic Plan states that "the car parking standards may be relaxed where the development is within a reasonable distance of an existing or proposed bus route and it can be demonstrated a reduced level of parking will not result in unacceptable on street parking in the locality". The
application site is within 55 m of Circular Road and 130 m of Peel Road with both of these roads serving as major bus routes into and out of Douglas. The applicant has not demonstrated that the reduced level of parking will not result in unacceptable on-street parking in the locality; however, it must be acknowledged that the site is situated within a town centre location.
Paragraph 11.5.3 of the Strategic Plans states that "The long term target is to reduce the level of car parking required for town centre developments and seek to develop more sustainable staff and visitor transport plans including improved public transport, staff buses, shared and pooled cars, cycling and walking". It should be noted that the previous office development was approved subject to a travel plan as the applicants had indicated that they were willing to accept a condition requiring the adoption of a travel plan and it is recommended that the same condition be attached to this application. The proposed parking area incorporates spaces for bicycles and motorcycles.
In summary, the proposed parking provision does not accord with the policies in the Strategic Plan. However, the site is located within a town centre location where the provision for car parking within developments will be limited. It is considered that the reduced car parking provision and the introduction of a travel plan, which would help to promote sustainable transport objectives, is acceptable. Furthermore, it would assist in meeting the long term target of reducing the level of car parking in town centre developments.
The design of the building is modern in its appearance and reflects the needs for the building's use as a modern office block. It is considered the overall appearance of the building is pleasant and incorporates materials which are used within the locality. The architecture of the surrounding locality is a general mix from traditional styles to more modern styles of buildings.
In respect of the visual impact of the proposal on the streetscene of St Georges Street, the road slopes down from Circular Road to Athol Street with the buildings stepping down between Carrick House and Derby House. The proposed building is similar in footprint and overall scale to the recently approved office scheme for the site (PA07/01715/B); however, it is proposing to include an additional floor level, which would increase the height of the approved building by 3.4 m . This additional floor level would be set back 3.7 m from the front elevation of the building, which would help to reduce the massing of the development within the street scene. The external appearance of the building is considered to be more appealing and interesting, and would contribute more to the street scene than the approved office scheme. Due to the setback of the additional floor level and the improved external appearance, it is considered the proposed development would not adversely affect the visual amenities of the street scene.
In respect of the visual impact of the proposal on the streetscene of Hope Street, the Hope Street elevation is completely different in size, frontage length, height and design when compared with the approved scheme. The additional floor level would be set back 3.4 m from the front elevation of the building, which would help to reduce the massing of the development within the street scene. This elevation also includes an additional service tower, which would give a more balanced appearance to the building compared to the previous single service tower on the corner of the building at the junction of St Georges Street and Hope Street. The external appearance has been significantly altered to include recessed windows. The building is considered to be more appealing and interesting architecturally than the approved scheme. The massing of the building is significantly different to the approved scheme; however, it is considered that the amendments to the scheme work as a package and would not adversely affect the visual amenities of the locality.
In respect of the impact on the visual amenities of the churchyard of St Georges Church, there are a number of deciduous trees running along the boundary of the Church and the application site which would help to prevent any views of the application site when the trees are in leaf. During the winter months the site would be visible. The approved office development had a series of stepped back elevations to take out of the rear boundary wall and the trees that run along the boundary; however, this application is proposing a curved elevation which follows the curvature of the rear boundary and
would be set back from the canopies of the trees. This proposal seems to be more sympathetic to existing features of the site and tries to work those features into the design of the building. It is acknowledged the height of the building would be taller than the approved scheme, when viewed from the churchyard; however, considering the way the scheme would work with the existing features of the site it is considered that the proposals would not adversely affect the character and appearance of the adjoining conservation area.
The protection of the churchyard wall and the trees may be controlled by a condition which requires the submission of a method statement.
It is therefore recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions in the attached schedule.
The Department of Transport and the local authority are, by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5) (c) and (d), considered "interested persons" and as such should be afforded party status.
Whilst the Manx Electricity Authority represents a statutory authority, the points raised in correspondence relate to Building Control matters and not planning and as such should not be afforded party status in this instance.
The Architectural Liaison Officer of the Isle of Man Constabulary has commented on planning matters and as such should be afforded party status in this instance.
Mr Jessop of Seacliffe, Old Castletown Road, Port Soderick, given his distance from the application site is not granted Interested Party Status under the provisions of Planning Circular 1/06.
In summary, it is considered that the following parties, who submitted comments, accord with the requirements of Planning Circular 1/06 and are therefore, afforded interested party status:
Accordingly the following parties are not afforded interested party status:
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 20.10.2008
C: Conditions for approval N: Notes attached to conditions R: Reasons for refusal 21 October 2008 08/01542/B Page 5 of 7
The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
This permission relates to the erection of a five storey office block with basement parking as shown in drawing numbers SC1081/P/10-00, SC1081/P/01, SC1081/P/02, SC1081/P/03, SC1081/P/04, SC1081/P/05, SC1081/P/06, SC1081/P/07, SC1081/P/08, SC1081/P/3D-01, SC1081/P/3D-02, SC1081/P/3D-03 and 1055-01 date stamped 5th August 2008.
Prior to first occupation of any part of the building hereby approved there shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority a Travel Plan that shall commit future occupiers of the building to a range of practical measures aimed at reducing reliance on the private car and finding alternative means for staff and visitors to the building to travel to and from it. Unless prior written authorisation for any variation has been obtained from the Planning Authority the building hereby permitted shall not be occupied except in accordance with the approved Travel Plan.
Development shall not commence until a method statement for the protection of trees adjacent to the site has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority. Unless prior written authorisation has been obtained from the Planning Authority for any variation development shall not proceed except in accordance with the approved method statement.
Development shall not commence until a method statement for the protection of the churchyard wall adjacent to the site has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority. Unless prior written authorisation has been obtained from the Planning Authority for any variation development shall not proceed except in accordance with the approved method statement.
No development shall take place except in accordance with samples of finishes for the external walls which have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
No development shall take place except in accordance with samples of materials for the plant room which have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
The building hereby permitted shall not be used unless and until the car parking and associated manoeuvring space shown on the approved plans has been provided. Thereafter those areas shall be kept marked out and available for that approved use at all times.
The building hereby permitted shall not be used unless and until the cycle/motorcycle parking facilities shown on the approved plans have been provided. Thereafter those areas shall be kept marked out and available for the approved use at all times.
No development shall take place except in accordance with details of the security shutter or gates for the basement car parking, including colour coating details that have previously been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
N 1. No permission is granted or implied for the display of advertisements on the building, a separate consent must be obtained under the Control of Advertisements Regulations 2005.
Decision Made : Smetted Committee Meeting Date : 30/01/08
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