DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 22/00242/B Applicant: Corlett Sons & Cowley Proposal: Installation of cladding and change of use of buildings to vehicle restorations and repairs (retrospective) Site Address: Units 1 & 2 Corletts Yard Burnside Lane Union Mills Isle Of Man IM4 4AF Head of Development Management: Mr S Butler Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 01.04.2022

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

C 1. This use hereby approved relates to Class 2.3 - General industrial of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019 or any order amending or replacing that order.

Reason: for the avoidance of doubt. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

Although the site is zoned for residential use, it is part of a wider site which is not within such use presently and the proposed use is akin to the wider use of the site and as such will not materially alter the character of the area and as such this is not considered a reason for refusal. No concerns in relation to visual, environment, amenity or traffic impact have been identified that would warrant refusal. The proposal will help retain employment opportunities within a Service Village in accordance with Strategic Policy 3 and Business Policy 1.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the following information:

• - BR/CY/1 Location/Site Plan
• - BR/CY/2 Aerial Photographs
• - BR/CY/3 Photograph Building Fibre Cement Finish
• - BR/CY/4 Current Buildings 1& 2 Photograph
• - BR/CY/5 Site Plan
• - BR/CY/6 Existing/Proposed Use (Floor Plans) _____________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 4(2):

• Field to the North of the Site

as they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use of land owned or occupied by them and in relation to the relevant issues identified in paragraph 2C of the Policy, as is required by paragraph 2D of the Policy. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The Site form's part of Corlett's Yard at Union Mills, to the East of Burnside Lane and to the rear if the Memorial Hall. The site has 5 main units and was formally used as an agricultural bulk storage (crops including grain drying and storage and other agricultural products such as wool) and machinery sales and repair.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The form indicates that:

• - Full Approval sought for: Change of Use of Buildings 1 & 2 to vehicle restoration including minor mechanical repairs & paint spraying; and change of cladding on building 2 from fibre cement to box profile sheeting
• - The uses are given as existing - industrial grain drying & st (appears to be missing words) and proposed - industrial vehicle restoration
• - No change to access, number of parking spaces, site levels, services or drainage. There are trees within 15m of the site, but not within 9m of a watercourse or within a flood risk area.

2.2 Supporting information includes:

• - Site has been in industrial use for c60 years and PA 18/01248/B recognised this, but site was rezoned as Predominately Residential in the Area Plan for the East with no specific reference to the site.
• - Proposed changes to cladding means the building will fit in better with the other buildings in the yard
• - Site is accessed via Burnside Lane, the yard is gated and there if sufficient parking within the site.
• - Work on vehicles is all done within the buildings and no impact on amenity from noise as masked by background traffic noise.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The Site is within the Union Mills Settlement Boundary and washed over as Predominantly Residential. To the North of the wider site is allocation BH031s (Strategic Reserve Housing Site). The site is not shown as being at risk from river or tidal flooding, although there is some localised surface water flooding based on the flood map viewer. IT is not within a Conservation Area. - 3.2 The following policies of the Strategic Plan (2016) are considered relevant:

• - Strategic Policy 1(a) - optimizing use of buildings/land
• - Strategic Policy 2 - directs development to existing settlements
• - Strategic Policy 3 - protect character of settlements including having regard to materials and character
• - Strategic Policy 4 - no unacceptable environmental pollution or disturbance

• - Strategic Policy 10 - Transport Issues
• - Spatial Policy 3 - identifies Union Mills as a Service Village - Area Plans will define development boundaries so as to maintain and where appropriate increase employment opportunities
• - General Policy 2 - general 'Development Control' considerations
• - Environment Policy 22 - no unacceptable impact on environment or nearby properties due to inter allia airborne pollutants or vibration/odour/noise/light pollution Business Policy 1 - supports growth of employment opportunities
• - Transport Policy 7 - Parking Provision Community Policy 7 - Designing Out Crime

4.0 LEGISLATION - 4.1 The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019 states that,

"Subject to paragraph (2), "industrial process" means the carrying on of any process, for or incidental to any of the following purposes, namely — (a) the making of any article or of part of any article; (b) the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, packing or canning, or adapting for sale, or breaking up or demolition of any article; or (c) the getting, dressing or treatment of minerals; being a process carried on in the course of trade or business other than agriculture" (Article 4(1)).

4.1 Class 2.2 - Light Industrial and Research & Development is defined as,

"Use for all or any of the following purposes — (a) for any industrial process; or (b) for research and development of products or processes, being a purpose which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit".

4.2 Class 2.3 - General Industrial is defined as,

"Use for the purpose of carrying out an industrial process other than a purpose falling within class 2.2"

4.3 Sui Generis Uses include Special Industrial which is define as,

"the carrying on of processes (including storage) which may be particularly offensive by reason of noise, smell, vibration, smoke, soot, ash, dust, grit, or fumes, or dangerous by reason of the storage or use of dangerous or inflammable material, or inimical to public health by reason of vermin or other causes".

4.4 From the information available, it is considered that the proposal would fall under the definition of general industrial.

5.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 5.1 Part of the application site has planning approval for erection of an agricultural shed with the proposed use to be storage to house the grain and bales of wool (04/02530/B). - 5.2 There are a number of other planning applications which show the evolution of the site from agricultural to industrial use for example:

• - One of the other units on the site is an office building which is occupied for the purpose of managing the business and the site - the most recent planning approval was for the erection of a detached agricultural/industrial storage building (19/01333/B) plan; and
• - One of the units is occupied and has planning approval for the erection of a workshop this was previously used as a grain store and warehouse (14/00144/B) - this was subject to 3 conditions - 4 years implementation, clarifying what the approval related to and requirement to provide parking.

- 6.0 REPRESENTATIONS

6.1 DOI (Highways) - Do not oppose (11.03.22) - 6.2 Braddan Commissioners - No Objection (16.03.22) - 6.3 Owner/Occupier of Field to the North of the Site (07.03.22) make the following points:

• - Their land is within 20m of application site;
• - Access to site is owned by the commissioners and is inadequate width for two cars and has inadequate visibility - little or no opportunity to widen/improve
• - Yard has been developed in an ad hoc manner and the current proposals further exacerbates the traffic issue (as does the nursery) - situation is unsafe
• - No Road Safety Audit or Traffic Assessment - this information should be fundamental
• - Adjoining site is owned by objector and is part of a much larger proposal to the Area Plan for the East which included transport measures which would have improved the situation but this opportunity has been lost so no opportunity to remedy the situation

7.0 ASSESSMENT - 7.1 It is considered that the main issues are:

• - Principle of Use
• - Visual Impact
• - Environmental/Amenity Impact
• - Traffic Issues (Parking and Access)

7.2 Principle of Use

• 7.2.1 The site was subject to a number of planning applications for the buildings to demolish the old, out dated buildings and build new purpose built industrial buildings. The use of the site in these application is agricultural/industrial.
• 7.2.2 Although the site is zoned for residential use, it is part of a wider site which is not within such use presently and the proposed use is akin to the wider use of the site and as such will not materially alter the character of the area and as such this is not considered a reason for refusal.
• 7.3 Visual Impact

• 7.3.1 Although not widely visible it is considered that the alterations to the cladding are an improvement.

7.4 Environmental/Amenity Impact

• 7.4.1 Given the industrial character of the wider site, that there is sufficient space to carry out works inside the buildings and the relatively modest scale of the development there are no concerns that would justify refusal.

7.5 Traffic Issues

• 7.5.1 The concerns raised by the objector are noted, but it is considered that there is unlikely to be such an intensification of the use of the access to warrant refusal or the requirement for further information, and the advice from DOI (Highways) is also noted.

8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 Although the site is zoned for residential use, it is part of a wider site which is not within such use presently and the proposed use is akin to the wider use of the site and as such will not materially alter the character of the area and as such this is not considered a reason for refusal. No concerns in relation to visual, environment, amenity or traffic impact have been identified that would warrant refusal. The proposal will help retain employment opportunities within a Service Village in accordance with Strategic Policy 3 and Business Policy 1.

9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 9.1 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 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.

9.2 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 confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 11.04.2022

Signed : S BUTLER Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below

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