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Clinch’s Brewery is located on the corner of the North Quay and Bank’s Hill and is part of the former Clinch’s Brewery complex, now a Registered Building (RB78) with in the North Quay Conservation Area.
The application site is located within an area of “Mixed Use – Town Centre” on the Douglas Central Local Plan, 1998. Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan, the following policies are considered relevant:
Environment Policy 32: “Extensions or alterations to a Registered Building which would affect detrimentally its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest will not be permitted”.
Environment Policy 33 states: "Change of use of Registered Buildings will only be permitted if the proposed use is appropriate and any alterations associated with the change are not detrimental to its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest".
The following applications should be considered in the assessment and determination of this application:
Approval in principle to part demolish, construct and conversion into restaurant, shops, offices and car park – Permitted
Alteration to convert ground and first floors into restaurant and associated facilities – Permitted
Construction of Office building, shops and showroom development and 4 flats – Permitted
Provision of two additional residential units, one in top level of tower and one over service archway – Permitted
Change of use of 3 flats over shop units to office units – Refused
Exterior lighting over signage and floodlighting of tower – Permitted
Main entrance alterations (In association with 08/01787/CON) – Pending
Registered Building consent for main entrance alterations (In association with 08/01785/GB) Registered Building Nos.078 – Pending PROPOSAL
This application seeks approval for the change of use of this Registered Building from residential accommodation on the second, third on fourth floors into offices. This would consist of some internal alterations with the removal of an existing partition wall on the third floor to expand into a large office, with upgrading of doors and glass to fire regulation standards on first floor. There is an existing opening that would be blocked for fire protection from the restaurant which is situated on the ground floor, with slight adjustments to walls and doors to create safe working areas. There would be car parking facilities available at Clinch's complex in the court yard to the rear of the building.
Douglas Corporation has no objection to the proposed application.
The Department of Transport do not oppose the application subject to the imposition of the following condition: "The development must provide off street parking facilities in accordance with the IOM Strategic Guide"
Standard Comments have been received by Manx Electricity Authority
The main consideration in assessing this application is 1) compatibility with the land use zoning, and 2) whether sufficient parking is provided. The following paragraphs deal with these issues in the above order, followed by consideration of other matters of detail.
The applicant is seeking permission for the change of use of the upper floors of the building into offices. The relevant policy for consideration is Business Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007. The policy deals with new office space, which could include applications involving a change of use of existing buildings into office uses and not just new build developments. Paragraph 9.3.3 of the Strategic Plan states that "The Department has supported the location of offices in town and villages centres for several reasons:
Business Policy 7 requires new office space to be located on land which is zoned for the purpose in the appropriate area plan. The relevant area plan in this instance is the Douglas Local Plan 1998, which zones the site as mixed use, particularly Town Centre. It is acknowledged the site is not zoned for office use; however, since the zoning refers to mixed use this would allow for office development to take place so as to add to the variety of uses within an area. Furthermore, the site is located in a town centre location. It is considered the proposed use is compatible with the land use zoning of the Douglas Local Plan and Business Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007.
The car parking standards set out in Appendix 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 requires 1 space for every 50 square metres of net floor space. The application is proposing to create 69.89 square metres of net office floor space which would equate to a requirement for 1.4 car parking spaces to be provided. The application forms state that the "car park facility confirmed available at Clinch's complex."
The Isle of Man 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 is site located on North Quay which is within walking distance of major bus route out of Douglas namely Lord Street. 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 and the proposed use does not actually need a sufficient number of spaces to be provided.
None of the car parking within the Clinches complex is outlined in blue. It must be assumed that it is outside the ownership of the applicant. If the applicant is able to use the existing spaces it must be considered to be a bonus as it long term security for the office use is uncertain. Since the proposal can not provide any parking within the application site, the proposal 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 and it will not be a significant traffic generator to warrant the need for additional parking. It is considered the proposal will not result in any significant parking problems within the locality.
This content of application has been considered with particular regard to POLICY RB/5 ALTERATIONS AND EXTENSIONS as set out within Planning Policy Statement 1/01.
There is no indication give on the application of the historic nature of the existing fabric, so consideration of the application is difficult. Additional photos have been requested and received from
the applicants showing the interior of the property. These photos are very useful as they show that the partitions and doors are modern and of no historic interest.
On the basis of the above, the proposals are not considered to have a negative impact on the character of the Registered Building and are therefore acceptable.
It is recommended that the planning permission be granted subject to conditions.
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.
The comments from the Manx Electricity Authority are not a material consideration and should not be afforded party status in this instance.
Accordingly the following parties are not granted Interested Party Status:
Manx Electricity Authority
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 23.12.2008
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C 2. This permission relates to the change of use of the second, third and fourth floors of the building into offices as shown in drawing numbers SC1122/P/10-01, SC1122/P/10-02 and SC1122/P/10-03 date stamped 17th September 2008.
I confirm that this decision accords with Government Circular No 56/08 (Delegation of Functions to the Acting Senior Planning Officer), GC 55/08 for Advertisements and 69/08 for Registered Buildings.
Decision Made : Permitted Date: 14/11/09
Signed: DByA Acting Senior Planning Officer
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