Conversion and extension of former caravan repair premises into car sales, MOT centre and vehicle repair garage.
Local Member: Councillor Jason Humphreys
Minutes:
Conversion and extension of former caravan
repair premises into car sales, MOT centre and vehicle repair garage.
(a)
The
Senior Development Control Officer elaborated on the background of the
application and noted that it included extending the main building on the site
by extending it 2.3m forward to the boundary of the highway. The extension to
the building would create 37m² of extra floor surface area. The site was
located within the development boundary of Porthmadog
and it was noted that the application had been submitted to the Planning
Committee at the request of the local Member.
In terms of
visual amenities, as the development was on a previously used site for a
similar use and adjacent to buildings of the same scale, it was not considered
that it would look out of place and it was considered that the development’s
appearance would be acceptable and would conform to the requirements of
relevant policies. Nor was it considered that the proposal would cause
significant harm to the amenities of the area.
It was noted
that acceptable parking provision and arrangements could be secured on the site
in order to satisfy the requirements of the Transportation Unit regarding the
impact on highway safety.
Given all of
the above considerations, it was noted that the proposal was acceptable based
on its use, location, setting, design, materials, scale and any potential
effect on the general amenities of the area and therefore it met the
requirements of the relevant policies.
(b) Taking advantage of the
right to speak, the applicant’s Agent noted the following main points:
·
That
the former Pennant Motors garage was on the site in the past and that the
proposal created four new jobs and had been filled by local Welsh people.
·
The
proposal to create a garage corresponded with the applicant’s current business
in Dolgellau and would be a way to help make the business sustainable and
protect 20 existing jobs.
·
It
was noted that the extension was relatively small but necessary to be able to
display cars within the display room.
·
The
conversion work had been commenced to get rid of asbestos as soon as possible.
·
A
planning permission to develop and extend the building already existed.
·
The
public consultations were responded to in terms of overdevelopment by noting
that the proposal was simply an adaptation of the previous use that had already
been approved by the planners.
·
Creation
of more traffic – the consideration of the highway specialist confirmed that
the business would not create a substantial increase in traffic.
·
Impact
on the amenities of neighbouring residents – it was noted that the site had
been used in the past as a garage, a caravan repair site and also as the
Pennant Motors garage.
·
Transport
observations – that plans had already been adapted for parking spaces and had
been accepted to be suitable with the requirements.
·
Public
protection – no complaints for the use of caravan repairs which was similar to
the proposal.
·
Limiting
working hours would create a concern as the business needed to be available to
repair the cars of North Wales Police in an emergency.
·
Details
of low levels of glare from the lighting had been submitted which showed that
residents’ amenities would not be affected by light pollution.
·
The
development was to be seen as an improvement to the existing appearance and the
proposal complied with planning policies.
(c) The Local Member (not a member of this planning committee) noted
the following main points:
·
That
he was reluctant to object to an application by a local business but welcomed the
opportunity to note the concerns of local residents and the Town Council.
·
Light
pollution in terms of adjacent houses that faced the site would be unacceptable
- whilst he acknowledged that there were other businesses on the street no
light pollution emanated from these businesses.
·
Concern
regarding loss of lighting in the Snowdon Street houses - one of the houses had
been visited and there was evidence that the kitchen had darkened.
·
There
would be a substantial increase in noise in the workshop.
·
Concern
about parking as there was only space for one vehicle.
·
Concerns
had been received about speeding on the street and that there were insufficient
measures to mitigate speeding.
·
The
Planning Committee was asked to refuse the application.
(a)
In
response, the Senior Planning Service Manager noted that while he sympathised
with the concerns the use of this application had be considered and that it was
an opportunity to have better control of operational hours than what had been
in the past. It was noted that the application had planning history and that
there would be no increase in terms of impact on local residents and that there
would be more control over what currently existed. It was further noted that
permission had been granted in 2013 to extend the front of the shop.
(b)
The
Senior Engineer (Development Control) reiterated that observations had been
made following the first consultation, but since then additional information
had been received on how vehicles and the parking of staff vehicles would be
managed and he was satisfied with the arrangements. Reference was made to the
island at the front of the site and that there was an opportunity to remove the
island and consequently gain a bit of parking space for residents and
customers.
(c)
A Member noted that the Town Council objected
to the application and it was proposed and seconded to visit the site.
RESOLVED: To defer consideration of the
application and arrange a site visit.
Supporting documents: