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Planning Statement
| Received 1504111100551 |
|---|
| DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE |
| PLANNING and BUILDING CONTROL |
| DIVISION |
| Town and Country Planning Act 1999 |
| Decision: |
| Appas: |
1.0 Introduction 2.0 The site 3.0 Planning history 4.0 Planning policy context 5.0 The proposal 6.0 Summary
1.1 This application seeks planning approval in principle for the redevelopment of a site between Castletown Road and the River Douglas for residential purposes. The site is currently occupied by vacant commercial premises known as Bridgeworks, which have most recently been used as tyre/exhaust workshops. 1.2 Whilst this application seeks planning approval in principle only, consultation has previously taken place in respect of redeveloping the site with an office scheme. Clearly this application seeks approval for a different form of development, but it is helpful to note that the consultees in that instance raised no concerns in respect of the principle of redeveloping the site. Consultees included;
1.3 This application simply seeks confirmation that, in principle, the redevelopment of the site for residential purposes is acceptable. Given the location and characteristics of the site any residential redevelopment is likely to be in the form of apartments. The application does not seek approval for a specific number of dwellings or a building of a particular size or design, which are amongst the issues that would form the subject of a subsequent application which seeks approval to Reserved Matters. This application does however include information which is sufficient to demonstrate that the site can be accessed safely and that a redevelopment scheme will take account of flood risk.
2.1 The application site is located between Castletown Road and the River Douglas, and is immediately to the west of the Bridge Road/South Quay roundabout. It is occupied by low-grade commercial buildings, which were most recently used as tyre/exhaust workshops but are currently vacant. The site is linear in form and has two points of vehicular access from Castletown Road. As the highway passes the site it slopes upwards towards the Bridge Road/South Quay roundabout, and as such the floor level at the eastern end of the site is below the level of the highway. 2.2 The River Douglas runs alongside the northern site boundary, with the newly constructed Quay West residential development on the opposite riverbank. Adjacent to the site on the southern side of Castletown Road are a mix of uses - commercial units, multi-storey car parking, and residential property. The relationship of the proposed scheme to these adjacent uses is illustrated in the application drawings, which include sections through the site and its surrounds.
3.1 Planning approval in principle has previously been granted under PA 04/01417 to develop the application site with a scheme of apartments ${ }^{1}$. An application which sought detailed approval for an office scheme was submitted in December 2010 under PA 10/01889 but was immediately withdrawn. 3.2 Quay West (across the river to the north) has been the subject of a number of approvals, the most recent being PA 10/00088. Subsequent phases of residential development to the west of Quay West are proposed under PA 09/01386.
[^0] [^0]: ${ }^{1}$ The approval notice for PA 04/01417 is attached at Appendix 1
4.1 The planning policy context for the application is set out in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (loMSP) and the Douglas Local Plan 1998.
4.2.1 The loMSP was adopted by the Department in June 2007 and approved by Tynwald the following month, and is intended to provide "the strategic and general policy framework within which provision will be made for development and conservation needs for the period 2001-2016". Together with Area (and Local) Plans the loMSP forms a Development Plan as required by the 1999 Town and Country Planning Act. It is made clear in the Plan that "in the case of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Strategic Plan and the provisions of an Area Plan, whichever came into force later will prevail", with the Strategic Plan being the most recent in this instance. 4.2.2 Amongst the Strategic Objectives of the Plan it is indicated that resources should be protected, used, and re-used in an efficient and economic way, and that most new development should be guided towards existing settlements in order to make "the optimum use of existing and planned infrastructure and services". This accords with the stated intention to promote urban regeneration and the re-use of derelict and redundant sites. The Plan also seeks to reduce the need for travel, "especially by private car", and states that new housing and employment should be located "close to existing public transport facilities and routes, or where public transport facilities are, or can be improved, thereby reducing the need to use private cars and encouraging alternative means of transport". The Strategic Objectives also seek to provide for sufficient housing of an acceptable standard and of an appropriate nature and in appropriate locations to meet the needs of the community. 4.2.3 The Strategic Policies which flow from these objectives emphasize the need for development to make the best use of resources by, amongst other things, directing development to sites within towns and villages and "optimising the use of previously developed land, redundant buildings, unused and underused land and buildings, and re-using scarce indigenous building materials", as well as ensuring the efficient use of sites and being located so as to utilise
existing and planned infrastructure, facilities and services. New development should have regard to the use of local materials and character, and should be designed so as to make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island. The Plan also requires new development to be located and designed so as to promote a more integrated transport network, in order to minimise journeys (especially by private car), make the best use of public transport, not adversely affect highway safety, and encourage pedestrian movement.
The IoMSP includes an Island Spatial Strategy (ISS) which is intended to guide the physical development of the Island up to 2016. The Island is divided into North, South, East and West regions and the ISS seeks to "promote a balanced and equitable pattern of sustainable development across the Island". It is proposed to provide sufficient development opportunities so as to enable the provision of 6000 additional dwellings within the Plan period, 2,500 of which will be in the East. These figures are confirmed by the Housing policies of the Plan.
General Policy 2 of the Plan identifies standards of development that should be complied with, which include criteria in respect building scale and appearance, impact upon landscape or townscape, amenity standards for local residents, highway matters, flood risk, personal safety/security and energy consumption. Environment Policies 7, 10 and 13 refer to watercourses and flood risk respectively, indicating that certain applications may need to be accompanied by a flood risk assessment. Environment Policy 36 states that development which is outside of a Conservation Area but close to the boundary must not detrimentally affect important views into and out of the Conservation Area. Environment Policy 42 requires the design of new development in existing settlements to take account of "the particular character and identity, in terms of buildings and landscape features, of the immediate locality".
Transport Policy 1 of the Plan states that new development should, where possible, be located close to existing public transport facilities and routes, including pedestrian, cycle and rail routes. Transport Policy 4 seeks to ensure that new and existing highways are capable of safely accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys created by development. The supporting text which precedes Transport Policy 7 indicates that the long term target is to
reduce the level of car parking required for town centre developments and to seek more sustainable staff and visitor transport plans. Transport Policy 7 requires that parking provision in all new development meets the Department's standards, which is shown at Appendix 7 of the Plan to be 1 space per bedroom for apartments (to a maximum of 2). The Plan makes provision however for standards to be relaxed in the case of town centre and previously developed sites, having regard to (amongst other things) the location of the housing relative to public transport, employment and public amenities. Transport Policy 8 requires all applications for major development to be accompanied by a Transport Assessment.
4.3.1 The extant Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Douglas Local Plan) Order 1998 was approved by Tynwald in December, 1998, and as a reflection of its use at that time the site is shown on the Central Area Map as an area of Light Industrial Use. Policies D/O/P1 and D/O/P2 of the Plan seek to restrict new office development to the town centre, although some exceptions are noted. 4.3.2 Paragraph 7.2 of the Plan defines the Central Area of Douglas, in transport terms, as an area which broadly equates to that shown on the Central Area Map. It is stated at Paragraph 7.27 that residential parking must be considered in the context of both the current situation and the principle of encouraging residential development in the town centre, and Policy D/CP/P6 (para 7.28) confirms that the requirement for car parking provision in new development proposals will be re-examined. It goes on to state that the current standard of 1.5 spaces per unit (in 1998) will be increased to 2 spaces outwith the town centre, but conversely consideration will be given to reducing the standard for town centre development. 4.3.3 Policy D/CP/P7 (para 7.29) of the Plan indicates that town centre parking provision should be based upon "bed spaces and residential use", and gives as an example 1 space for a $2 / 3$ bedroom apartment. These provisions have in any event been superseded by the parking standards and guidance of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan.
5.1 The application seeks planning approval in principle for the redevelopment of the site for residential purposes, to replace the low grade commercial buildings which currently occupy the site. Given the location and characteristics of the site this is likely to be in the form of apartments. Approval is not sought for a specific number of dwellings or a building of a particular size or design, which are amongst the issues that would form the subject of a subsequent Reserved Matters application. 5.2 The site is within the Central Area of Douglas as identified in the Local Plan, and is adjacent to areas of established residential use. It is also close to town centre employment areas as well as shopping and leisure facilities. As a redundant/under-used site within the central area of Douglas its redevelopment accords with objectives and policies of the loMSP, and its location in close proximity to employment, services and other facilities will ensure that redevelopment with for residential purposes will not prejudice the provision of such within other central areas. The Local Plan designation of "Light Industrial" reflects the site's use at that time, and the granting of planning approval in principle to develop the site with apartments has established that its land-use zoning may be set aside to enable its redevelopment for other purposes. It should be noted that the Riverside Apartments on the southern side of Castletown Road (opposite the site) also replaced a commercial building within an area designated for Light Industrial use. 5.3 The application seeks to demonstrate that, in principle, the site is capable of being redeveloped with a residential scheme that can be safely accessed/egressed without detriment to new or existing highway users. The detailed office scheme which was submitted in December 2010 but subsequently withdrawn was accompanied by a Transport Assessment which considered a number of relevant issues;
Castletown Road is therefore typically operating at some 60% of its traffic carrying capacity during the morning and evening peak periods and less at other times of the day. There are therefore gaps in its traffic flow into which vehicles from side roads or accesses can emerge. Delays to traffic on Castletown Road, in the vicinity of the application site are caused by junctions rather than its link capacity and the mini-roundabout at the junction of Bridge Road and South Quay has this effect whilst also reducing the speed of traffic as it travels along the site frontage.
In the case of the previous detailed office scheme, which proposed to provide 14 no. spaces on site, it was shown that the flows in the vicinity of the proposed development would increase by approximately 1% at peak times of day. If the number of spaces within the proposed residential development were to be the same it would generate the same number of vehicles as the office development but vehicles would leave the development during the morning peak and return during the evening peak, the opposite directions to that generated by the office development. The additional traffic will therefore again be less than the daily variation in flows which occur under normal circumstances and will not be material or noticeable. In addition, the traffic should not all be considered to be new to the highway network because the existing premises could generate some traffic in their own right and hence the impact of the traffic generated by the proposed development will be further reduced. The operation of the proposed site access with Castletown Road was again analysed using the PICADY 5.1 program and the predicted morning and evening peak hour flows. It was also assumed that vehicles waiting to turn right into the car park access would prevent other traffic from travelling in a westerly direction along Castletown Road until that right turn manoeuvre is complete. The results of the analyses show that the maximum RFC values would be 0.071 and 0.016 during the morning and evening peak periods respectively and that this would result in delays of some 15 seconds for vehicles waiting to turn right out of the car park access into Castletown Road during the morning peak period and some 13 seconds for vehicles waiting to turn right from Castletown Road into the development during the evening peak.
period. The analyses also showed that this will not cause queues of traffic to form behind vehicles which may be waiting to turn right into the development even though the analysis assumes that they will prevent the through movement of any other traffic. In practice, cars and light vans will be able to pass other vehicles which are waiting to turn right and they will not, therefore, cause unacceptable delays to traffic on Castletown Road.
along Castletown Road to see vehicles which may be emerging in time for them to slow down or stop safely if that should be necessary. They therefore comply with the recommendations of PPG13 and are not reduced to such a level that danger is likely to be caused.
5.4 The application is also accompanied by a Flood Risk Assessment, which recommends that the development utilises suitable flood resilient construction techniques in order to protect the lower level. As with Quay West on the opposite side of the river the riverside wall will be tanked up to a level which helps to achieve this objective.
6.1 The application site is within the central area of Douglas and is at present occupied by unused workshops. Its Light Industrial zoning in the Douglas Local Plan simply reflects that previous use and planning approval in principle
has been granted under PA 04/01417 to redevelop the site with apartments. It is a previously developed site in a sustainable location and must be developed efficiently in order to accord with the provisions of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan.
This application simply seeks confirmation that, in principle, the redevelopment of the site with a residential scheme is acceptable. As such it does not seek approval for a specific number of dwellings or a building of a particular size or design, which are amongst the issues that would form the subject of a subsequent Reserved Matters application. This application does however include information which is sufficient to demonstrate that the site can be accessed safely and that a redevelopment scheme will take account of flood risk.
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