APPLICATION:       MA/10/2008           Date: 16 November 2010  Received: 6 January 2011

 

APPLICANT:	Mr I Edwards, Sanciuedwards Beauty Rooms Ltd
LOCATION:	20, TONBRIDGE ROAD, MAIDSTONE, KENT, ME16 8RT
PARISH:	Maidstone
PROPOSAL:	Change of use of first and second floors to holistic & beauty therapy clinic as shown on site location plan and floor plans received 16/11/10 and marketing agent letter received 06/01/11.
AGENDA DATE:   CASE OFFICER:	3rd February 2011   Kathryn Altieri

 

The recommendation for this application is being reported to Committee for decision because:

 

●        Proposal is a departure from the Maidstone Borough Wide Local Plan 2000 as it involves a non-B1 use in a designated employment area under Policy ED2

 

1.      POLICIES

 

●        Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000:  ED2, T13

●        South East Plan 2009:  CC6, BE1, T4
●        Government Policy:  PPS1 - Delivering Sustainable Development, PPS4 -     Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth, PPG24 - Planning and Noise

 

2.      HISTORY (1974+)

 

●        MA/79/0291 - Alterations and extension to existing offices - approved/granted with conditions

●        MA/75/1445 - Illuminated sign - withdrawn

 

3.      CONSULTATIONS

 

●        MBC Regeneration and Economic Development Manager has confirmed that there is a significant amount of vacant office space within the town centre area:

 

"There are currently sixty properties in the town centre area totalling some 30,708m² of vacant office stock."

 

●        MBC Environmental Health Officer: Raised no objections subject to conditions/informatives;

 

"The site is in a mixed residential area and the background noise is fairly high due to the

traffic on this busy road. One of the supporting documents with this application states

that “no loud music or noisy equipment will be used on site”. It appears from the plans

supplied that staff and customers will be parking at the rear of the property, entering

this parking area from Terrace road. One concern might be the loss of amenity due to

fumes and noise from vehicle movements at the rear of the property, but I suspect that

this would be unlikely since there is a relatively high background noise during the day

and there are no complaints on Environmental Health’s complaints system dating back to

when the site was used as offices. Restrictions on hours would probably be the best way

to ensure that nearby residents are protected from disturbance from noise etc.

 

Prior to any conversion activities the property should be checked for the presence of asbestos and any found should only be removed by a licensed contractor.

 

In addition to the above I note that no details appear to have been provided on how waste will be stored and disposed of, this information should be required in the future.

 

Recommended conditions;

 

No activity in connection with the use hereby permitted shall be carried out outside the hours of 0900 to 1800hrs Mondays to Fridays and 0900 to 1800hrs on Saturdays and not at any time on Sundays, Bank or Public Holidays;

 

Reason:   To safeguard the enjoyment of their properties by adjoining residential occupiers.

 

Prior to the commencement of the development, details of satisfactory facilities for the storage of refuse on the site shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the LPA and the approved facilities shall be provided before the first occupation of the building(s) or land and maintained thereafter.

 

Reason: No such details have been submitted and in the interest of amenity

 

Recommended informatives;

 

Adequate and suitable measures should be carried out for the minimisation of asbestos fibres during demolition, so as to prevent airborne fibres from affecting workers carrying out the work, and nearby properties. Only contractors licensed by the Health and Safety Executive should be employed.

 

Any redundant materials removed from the site should be transported by a registered waste carrier and disposed of at an appropriate legal tipping site."

 

 

 

 

4.      REPRESENTATIONS

 

4.1     None

 

5.      CONSIDERATIONS

 

5.1    Site description

 

5.1.1  The application site relates to a rectangular shaped plot that is occupied by a semi-detached three storey office building that is set back more than 5m from Tonbridge Road.  Located some 55m to the east of the junction with Terrace Road, the property is within the urban area of Maidstone.  The ground floor office space of 20 Tonbridge Road is occupied by ‘Macmillan Cancer Support’ and the two upper floors are currently vacant.  The three nearest buildings to the north-east of the site are occupied by flats (14, 16 and 18 Tonbridge Road).  The surrounding area is generally a mixture of residential and business accommodation of differing style, scale and age and Maidstone West train station is some 130m to the east of the site.

 

5.1.2  The land immediately to the south-west of the site is undeveloped but does have planning permission for a budget hotel (MA/08/1789).

 

5.1.3  The site does falls within an 'area of economic activity' (ED2 [xxvi]), as shown by the Maidstone Borough Wide Local Plan 2000, which designates the site as suitable for uses with Use Class B1.

 

5.2    The Proposal

 

5.2.1  The proposal is solely for the change of use of the first and second floors of 20 Tonbridge Road from office space (B1 Use) to a holistic and beauty therapy clinic (sui generis Use), employing around ten part-time and full-time members of staff.  These two floors are currently vacant.  Under this application, there would be six therapy rooms for such treatments as massages, facials, manicures/pedicures, spray tanning and waxing.  The proposal involves no external alterations to the building and there would be seven car parking spaces available to the rear of the building.

 

5.2.2  The total floor area of the two floors subject to this planning application measures some 100m².

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.3    Planning Issues

 

Principle of development

 

5.3.1  The application has been advertised as a departure from the Development Plan because the proposed use (Sui generis Use) does not fall within Class B1 Use.  Indeed, the application site is within an area designated for employment purposes (B1 Use) under saved Policy ED2 of the Maidstone Borough Wide Local Plan 2000. The Policy states;

 

‘Planning permission will not be granted to redevelop or use vacant business, industrial, storage or distribution sites or premises for non-employment purposes unless the retention of the site or premises for employment use has been explored fully without success.’       

 

5.3.2  Central government guidance and advice has changed since the Maidstone Borough Wide Local Plan (2000) was adopted.  Therefore, when determining this application, it is appropriate to give weight to the more recent central government guidance and assess whether this would override the existing local policy.

 

5.3.3   However, Planning Policy Statement 4 – ‘Planning for the Sustainable Economic Growth’ (December 2009) supersedes policy ED2 of the Development Plan and does set out the government objectives for national sustainable growth whilst broadening the definition of 'economic development' to;

 

                   "For the purposes of the policies in this PPS, economic development includes development within the B Use Classes, public and community uses and main town centre uses.  The policies also apply to other development which achieves at least one of the following objectives;

 

·         Providing employment opportunities;

·         Generates wealth; or

·         Produces or generates an economic output or product.  

 

5.3.4  I am satisfied that the proposed change of use would generate employment opportunities and as such, is identified as a form of economic development.  I appreciate that it would be a relatively low level of employment, but it should be put into context that this proposal is only concerned to two floors (100m²) of a modestly sized three storey building.

 

5.3.5 Policy EC11 of PPS4 is of most relevance to this proposal, as it relates to the determination of planning applications for economic development not in accordance with an up to date Development Plan.  This policy states;

 

"In determining planning applications for economic development other than for main town centre uses which are not in accordance with the development plan, local planning authorities should:

 

a. weigh market and other economic information alongside environmental and social information

 

b. take full account of any longer term benefits, as well as the costs, of b. development, such as job creation or improved productivity including any wider benefits to national, regional or local economies; and

 

c. consider whether those proposals help to meet the wider objectives of the development plan"

 

Marketing information from applicant

 

5.3.6  Due to this employment designation, the applicant was asked to demonstrate that the retention of the site for B1 Use based employment purposes has been fully examined, without success.

 

5.3.7  The applicant's supporting information demonstrates that the premises have been vacant since the 23^rd April 2009; and so from the end of January 2011 these offices would have been empty for some twenty-one months.  Furthermore, 'Harrisons Chartered Surveyors' have thoroughly marketed these premises since October 2009, by way of a large ‘To Let’ sign along Tonbridge Road (still in position at time of writing this report), extensively using mailing lists and advertising the property on their own website as well as a national website ('Estates Gazette').  The applicant first showed interest in these premises in November 2010 and to date no other interest has been shown by any other party.

 

5.3.8  The chartered surveyors ('Harrisons') also refers to research carried out by 'Focus (Costar)' in December 2010 which states that there is currently 49,332m² of vacant office accommodation available in Maidstone.

 

Assessment of supporting evidence

 

5.3.9  By reason of the amount of vacant office space, the submitted evidence does appear to show an over-provision of office accommodation within Maidstone town centre.  Furthermore, work carried out to date, by GVA Grimley on behalf of the Council (Employment Land Review - September 2009) showed that there was an excess of 50,000m² of vacant office space within the borough of Maidstone; and that 3,268m² of this was within the Tonbridge Road/London Road area.  I consider this study to be a material consideration in the determination of this planning application.  No interest has been shown in this accommodation being used as office space since April 2009 and what with the current economic climate, there is little indication that this form of economic growth is imminent. 

 

5.3.10 In addition to this, the Council’s Regeneration and Economic Development Manager confirmed that there is 30,708m² of vacant office stock within the town centre area (details given 10^th Jan 2011), which is similar to the figure given by 'Harrisons Chartered Surveyors' (that being some 49,332m²).  This figure includes four sites within 200m of 20 Tonbridge Road that, in total, have some 3651m² of vacant office space available.  These sites are Concorde House (London Road), London House (London Road), 4 Tonbridge Road and 2 Westree Road.

 

5.3.11 Together with the existing over supply of office accommodation, there are     several outstanding planning permissions that will further expand the provision within the town.  As an example, the Springfield site will have three purpose built blocks equating to some 16,500m².  This shows that there is a clear over-supply of poor quality accommodation; and those interested in re-locating to, or enlarging within the town are seeking more high specification office space.

 

5.3.12 There has been a trend over recent years for moving away from office accommodation to residential in this area for viability reasons.  For example, part of Bower Terrace (itself designated as B1 employment under policy ED2) was granted planning permission for student and housing accommodation under MA/05/1251 despite the employment designation.

 

5.3.13 I am therefore happy that there is up-to-date economic information that supports an alternative use of the site and consider it appropriate to assess the potential viability of this proposal to provide employment within other sectors, in accordance with PPS4.

 

5.3.14 Therefore, whilst the application is technically a departure from the Development Plan, in that it would not provide B1 employment accommodation within the application site, it would, nonetheless provide employment which is suited to a town centre use, whilst falling within the broadened employment definition set out in PPS4.  Therefore, on considering the supporting evidence, I consider this proposed change of use would be in accordance with policies EC1, EC10 and EC11 of PPS4.  This together with the Council's research currently being undertaken, points towards the acceptability of alternative uses on this allocated site. 

 

Impact upon the neighbours

 

5.3.15 The relatively low intensity of customer usage and the nature of this proposed business would result in a change of use that would not have a significant detrimental impact upon the neighbouring apartments to the north-east of the site (14, 16 & 18 Tonbridge Road), in terms of noise, disturbance, loss of privacy, outlook, daylight and sunlight.  To elaborate on the issue of sound and disturbance, the majority of the treatments would not involve the use of noisy equipment that would have a detrimental impact upon the neighbours (i.e. massages, pedicures, facials, waxing and spray tanning).  Furthermore, Tonbridge Road is a busy, main route out of Maidstone centre and I consider the levels of noise generated by the proposed change of use would not cause a significant increase in disturbance to the neighbours, when compared to what is already generated by the large volume of traffic using Tonbridge Road. 

 

5.3.16 Whilst it is considered that the treatments would not generate an unacceptable level of noise for adjoining neighbours, the general comings and goings of staff and customers could result in unacceptable levels of disturbance.  I therefore consider it justified to impose a condition on restricting the opening hours of usage for this proposed change of use (09:00 and 20:00 Mondays to Fridays, 09:00 and 18:00 Saturdays and not at any time on Sundays or Bank or Public Holidays).

 

5.3.17 There has been no information submitted with regards to what level of ventilation from aerosols there would be, how this would impact upon the residential amenity of the neighbours and what storage facilities there are for refuse on the site.  In the interest of neighbour amenity, I have therefore imposed conditions for these details to be submitted.

 

5.3.18 Therefore, subject to condition, I believe that this proposal would not have an adverse impact upon the amenity of neighbouring residential properties.

 

Impact upon the property and the streetscene

 

5.3.19 This proposal is for a change of use only and would not involve any external alterations to the building. 

 

Impact upon parking and highway

 

5.3.20 Due to the nature of the proposed business and its low-level customer use per day, it would not significantly increase the volume of traffic to and from the site, enough to warrant refusal on highway safety grounds.  Furthermore, there would be seven off-street parking spaces available for staff and customers behind the site and the property is within walking distance of the town centre and the various public car parks. 

 

5.3.21 The premises are on the Tonbridge Road, a main route in and out of Maidstone that is well serviced in terms of bus routes and Maidstone West train station is within easy walking distance of the site.  I therefore consider this proposal, because of its nature and sustainable location, would not have a significant impact upon the parking provision or generate a significant need; and nor would it have a detrimental impact upon highway safety.

 

 

 

 

6.      Conclusion

 

6.1     I conclude that it is appropriate and justified to depart from the existing Development Plan and to give greater weight to the more recent guidance provided by Central Government (PPS4).  I therefore recommend conditional approval of the application on this basis.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

APPROVE PLANNING PERMISSION subject to the following conditions:         

 

1.   The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission;

Reason: In accordance with the provisions of Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

2.   The development shall not commence until details of an extraction ventilation scheme to deal with particulates from aerosol spraying commensurate with the intensity of the scheme have been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The development shall thereafter be undertaken in accordance with the subsequently approved details and maintained thereafter.

Reason: In the interest of residential amenity in accordance with PPS1.

3.   The development shall not commence until details of satisfactory facilities for the storage of refuse on the site have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority and the approved facilities shall be provided before the first occupation of the building(s) or land and maintained thereafter.

Reason: No such details have been submitted and in the interest of amenity in accordance with PPS1.

4.   No activity in connection with the use hereby permitted shall be carried out outside the hours of 09:00 and 20:00 Mondays to Fridays, 09:00 and 18:00 Saturdays and not at any time on Sundays or Bank or Public Holidays;

Reason:  To safeguard the enjoyment of the occupiers of the neighbouring residential properties, especially 18a and 18b Tonbridge Road, in terms of noise and disturbance in accordance with PPS1 and PPG24.

 

 

Informatives set out below

1. The applicant should contact the Environmental Health Department, in order to fully comply with Health and Safety legislation on (01622) 602184.
2. Any redundant materials removed from the site should be transported by a registered waste carrier and disposed of at an appropriate legal tipping site.

 

The proposed development, subject to the conditions stated, is considered to comply with the policies of the Development Plan (Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 and the South East Plan 2009) and there are no overriding material considerations to indicate a refusal of planning consent.