Report on Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre to the Planning And
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Manchester City Council List No. 7 Planning and Highways Committee 17 February 2011 Application Number Date of Appln Committee Date Ward 094310/FO/2010/S2 30th Sep 2010 17 February 2011 Didsbury East Ward Proposal Change of use of Bingo Club (D1) to Casino (Sui Generis) Location Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 5PG Applicant Grosvenor Casinos Ltd, Former Buckingham Bingo Club, Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre, Kingsway, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 5PG Agent Graham Murdoch, Murdoch Associates, 16 South Road, Bishops, Stortford, Herts, CM23 3JH Since the last Committee the Council has received notification of an appeal in respect of this application on the ground that the Council failed to give notification of the decision in the appropriate period. The appeal has been validated therefore the Committee will be unable to determine the application. However, any reason(s) put forward for refusal will form the basis of the Councils case at the appeal. Members will recall that this application was brought before the Committee on 25th November 2010 with a recommendation for approval. At this meeting representations against the proposal were made by residents, residents groups and Ward Members. Members of the Committee resolved to be minded to refuse the application for the following reason:- 1. That the proposal would create a significant increase in comings and goings, which would result in unacceptable levels of noise and disturbance, to the detriment of nearby residents, particularly during the early hours of the morning. The Head of Planning was asked to bring forward a report addressing the above concerns and proposing detailed reasons for refusal. As such the issues are explored further: Members are concerned that by allowing the premises to open as a 24 hour casino, the resultant noise and disturbance caused by comings and goings would be excessive and as a result would have a detrimental impact upon the levels of residential amenity currently enjoyed by the occupants of the nearby residential accommodation. Whilst it is noted that Environmental Health have not objected to the application and have not raised concerns that relate to residential amenity, it should be noted that they only assess the impact of the noise breakout from the building, rather than the potential noise and disturbance that is caused by patrons leaving the building. In order to assess whether the development would have a detrimental impact upon the amenity of nearby residential occupiers, the Council commissioned Colin Waters Acoustics (CWA) to undertake a noise assessment and Three Spires Acoustics to carryout a night-time noise survey. The survey recorded the noise levels from Page 1 of 17 Manchester City Council List No. 7 Planning and Highways Committee 17 February 2011 midnight to 5:00am. Similar measurement points were used to those used in the noise survey submitted by Walker Beak Mason on behalf of the applicant. The survey results clearly show the change in the levels of the ambient levels that occur between the late evening and the early morning. At around midnight the minimum value for the background noise level is 54 dB LA90 (LA90 a term used to describe background noise measurements) and a 5 minute background noise level of 55 dB. At 3am the LA90 reduces to around 45 dB. CWA report states that ‘this in itself is a very significant reduction. At midnight the noise would be perceived as a varying source that rises and falls in a relatively smooth manner. However at 3.00am the character would change to a low level background noise interspersed with discrete loud traffic noise events. The actual level of each traffic event would not be very different at each time but the difference between the traffic noise peak and the background would be greater. It is this difference that would emphasise the adverse effect of this early morning traffic impact’. The results also show that ‘that when a vehicle passes along Wilmslow Road it generates a maximum noise level of 75 dB over the existing background level of 43 dB (46 on a Saturday). The permitting of this development would change the number of times this occurred in a five minute period from around 17 to 23 at 2:00am and from 6 to 10 at 3:00am. The first of these increases would be considered noticeable and unwelcome but the second represents a considerable potential impact on local residents along this road. It is accepted that during the daytime the period LAeq is a reasonable measure, however at night this may not be the case. Matters such as sleep disturbance and the potential to be woken are the important factors. It is also a given that it cannot be assumed that residents should shut their windows to protect themselves from exterior noise. In addition to the noise from vehicles there will be noise from patrons, CWA report states ‘There is no doubt that this can cause significant noise in an area even with the most well regulated of establishments. With Clubs and Pubs this is a often discussed as being in the province of the police as it’s a public order matter, but that should not be the case for a planned leisure complex. It has to be a material consideration in planning terms and relevant to this assessment. Accordingly it is evident that noise will be present in the very early hours that would not be present if this application were to be refused’. The examination above reveals that if the Casino is permitted it would almost double the occasions when a vehicle passes along Wilmslow Road as such it is considered that this increase in traffic would have a negative impact on residential amenity. CWA also examined the report submitted by WBM and stated that ‘An examination of the report submitted to the Council by WBM shows that the metrics used to describe and assess these incoming noise levels serves to reduce the impact of the short duration of the events leading to an underestimate of the possible consequences’. At present the entertainment centre is closed for all activities after the late night cinema show finishes at 2.00am. It is considered that the establishment of the proposed Casino has the potential to significantly affect the noise environment of the Page 2 of 17 Manchester City Council List No. 7 Planning and Highways Committee 17 February 2011 local area after 2.00am. The scale of this affect results from the proposed 24 hour use of the Casino that will result in additional traffic and patron activity in the early hours of the morning. It is important to mention the recent appeal decision for the extension of opening hours to the Tenpin Bowling Unit at the Parrswood Entertainment Centre. The application (093286/JO/2010/S2) was refused but the decision was overturned on appeal and as a result Unit 1 at the Parrswood Entertainment Centre is now permitted to open until 08:00-01:00am on Sundays to Wednesdays, and 0800- 01:30am on Thursdays to Saturdays. Whilst the Inspector acknowledged that the extension to the opening hours would result in customers arriving at or leaving the premises in the early hours of the morning he considered that it would be unlikely that such activity would be of a scale to appreciably disturb residents in the area. Further the Inspector stated that there was no evidence to show that the resultant noise levels would generate undue noise and disturbance that would contribute to a substantial reduction in the residential amenities of nearby occupiers. Conclusion The Head of Planning's recommendation still remains one of approve subject, however this recommendation is now subject to an hours condition. Having regard to the evidence obtained from the noise survey and analysis, it is considered that there would be a significant adverse noise effect upon the local residents, particularly in the early hours beyond 2.00am. Planning Policy Guidance 24 (PPG 24) suggests that in these situations proposals such as this should be subject to conditions to mitigate the adverse effects. It is therefore considered in the context of the appeal decision on the bowling alley and the evidence prepared by CWA that an hours of use restriction between the hours of 2:00am to 7:00am would be appropriate. However, the applicant is seeking a 24 hour use therefore such a condition is not acceptable, it is considered that weight must be attached to Unitary Development Plan policies H2.2 and DC26 and PPG 24, and the application should be refused on the following grounds. 1. The Change of use of the premises to a 24 hour casino would substantially reduce the residential amenities of the occupiers of nearby properties due to the increase in comings and goings to the premises and associated noise problems, particularly in the early hours of the morning, and as such is contrary to policies DC26 and H2.2 of the approved Unitary Development Plan for the City of Manchester adopted in 1995 and Planning Policy Guidance 24. Description The application site is located in the Parrswood Entertainment Centre on Kingsway. It is a purpose built commercial leisure building located within the East Didsbury area of Manchester. The Entertainment Centre itself is bound by Parrs Wood Lane to the north and Kingsway and Wilmslow Road to the west. Car parking is situated to the south of the site with Parrs Wood High School situated to the east. Residential uses are situated on the western side of Wilmslow Road and Kingsway. Residential uses are also situated on Kingsway close to its junction with Wilmslow Road; The Gateway Page 3 of 17 Manchester City Council List No.