The King's Glory Church, King's Lynn, Norfolk.

 

19/01616/CU | Change of Use from B1 to D1 (Place of Worship) | Kings Lynn Paving And Patios 27 Bryggen Road North Lynn Industrial Estate King's Lynn Norfolk PE30 2HZ

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Following an initial consultation with the applicants En-Plan prepared a Planning Application that was subsequently submitted to King's Lynn Council to obtain permission for a Change of Use from commercial use to a new place of worship.

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The Planning Application

The application site is situated to the north of the Bryggen Road, within the North Lynn Industrial Estate. The application site comprises an existing 81 unit. The application site is set within the development boundary.
The application seeks full planning permission for change of use from 81 (business) to 01 (non-residential institutions), in this case a place of worship with ancillary food bank storage.

D1 uses are identified by the National Planning Policy Framework as main town centre use, which should be directed towards the town centre; however, there are already many D1 uses on the North Lynn Industrial Estate. Given this, and the substantial 81 provision within the area; the loss of the existing 81 use and its replacement with a D1 use is considered acceptable in principle.
 

The proposal includes a food bank, but the agent has confirmed that the building will have a dedicated room for storage of the food which will be distributed to local food banks for individuals to pick up. It is likely that food will be donated by members of the congregation and staff when visiting the premises for church services and such like. It is not anticipated that it will create an additional volume of traffic or parking at the site.
Furthermore, given that the area dedicated to the food bank storage is small, it is considered that it is ancillary to the D1 use and will not require 88 use.

The red line includes the carpark, which is owned by the Borough Council. However, notice (Certificate B) has been served on the Council's Property Services Department and no comments have been received.

The proposal doesn't involve any external alterations, so it won't impact the wider form and character of the area.

The current premises don't have restricted hours of opening and there are no residential uses within the area. Given this, it isn't considered necessary to condition the hours of opening. It is noted that the parking area is shared with other surroundings buildings and so full consideration has been given to the impact on the level of parking potentially arising from the proposed development. Whilst the hours of use will not be restricted (as there are no adjoining residential properties that would be affected), the proposed hours are very limited and include evenings when other surrounding businesses will be closed. The agent conducted a parking survey during the days and times proposed and it is evident that the car park is barely used. Furthermore, adjoining uses which generate a high volume of parking, such as the Gym directly to the north of the application site has their own separate parking area. On the basis of the above, the Local Highways Officer raises no objection to the proposal.
 

The proposed use is considered acceptable in the location and the proposed development won't result in harm to the form and character of the area or to neighbour amenity.

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Flood Risk Assessment

 

En-Plan prepared a flood risk assessment to supplement the recent planning application Church in respect of the proposed change of use of 27 Bryggen Road.

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The area is characterised by single storey modern commercial units, with brick built walls and profiled metal roofs. The units follow the vernacular of the wider locality. The Proposals and reasoning behind the selection of 27 Bryggen Road

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We have identified five sources of flooding:

 

1. Blockage to public surface water sewers.

2. Local blockages to existing IDB main drainage systems

3. Extreme weather conditions

4. Failure of North Lynn pumping station

5. Breach of the tidal River Ouse.

 

There is no known flooding at the site within the last 100 years and although the site is within Flood Zone three the site is not at risk due to current high standards of drainage and the existing low flood risk. No significant impacts are expected as a result of this change of use which does not later finished floor levels in anyway and will actually see a reduction in actual use of the building due to service times. The distance of the site from the river systems gives 2-3 days warring in the event of an incident.

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The Environment Agency provides a Flood Warning Service which includes Flood Warning Codes and uses direct warning methods where the impacts of flooding are high.  Flood warning sirens are currently operated in King’s Lynn.  Indirect warnings are provided in  all flood risk areas and even those with a low risk of flooding.  The main method is media broadcast via local radio and television and via automated texting and/or telephone messages.  The Environment Agency also operate a 24 hour a day floodline service providing advice information on flooding on 0845 988 118. On occupation of the premises the new occupants will produce a flood plan which will be kept in an easily accessible place for all to see.

 

As the proposal is for the change of an existing vacant commercial unit in an area where the precedent for such a change has already been established and accepted by the Council, there is nothing in planning terms that would preclude an approval and there will be no impact upon Flooding or personnel safety as a result of approval.

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With gthe above outlined to the Environment Agency is a bespoke Flood Risk Assessment prepared by En-Plan no objections were receievd and the project could proceed.

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The loss of commercial floorspace issue

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One of the main purposes of the charity is to provide support to the King’s Lynn community, to do so on an ongoing basis they must make best use of any funding they receive. As such suitable premises must not just be considered on the basis of physical size but also on affordability. Units that are too large would simply be underutilised and use funding that could be used to support the people of the local area.

 

Having searched for a period of 6 months and considered the above units the Church are looking to use 27 Bryggen Road as they believe will enable them to carry out the charities purposes for the best cost and with least negative impact on the local community in terms of noise, traffic and potential employment losses due to how small the unit is and the fact that they are applying for a temporary permission.

 

There were no D1 units for sale or rent at the time of the search and the chuch even approached the Council if they had any suitable premises but to no avail (as demonstrated by an email from Fiona Heubeck, a Valuer  from the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk stated that they were no D1 properties available for sale. (I have attached the email and response.)

 

Additional Spare Capacity in the locality.

 

As of the 12.09.2019 there is approximately 350 000 sq feet of commercial land and vacant floor area vacant in King’s Lynn (Sources Realla and Rightmove)

 

Authority Annual Monitoring Report 2016-2018states the following:

 

Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan (2016) Employment Allocations

 

The Core Strategy through Policy ‘CS10 The Economy’ states that some 66 hectares of employment land will be allocated over the plan period. The SADMP in line with this makes employment allocation for some 69 hectares.  There are some 28 hectares of employment land with planning permission for commercial uses with 0 hectares under construction at present in the 2017-2108 period.

ermission 28.55

Sustainability Appraisal

 

a) an economic objective– to help build a strong, responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring that sufficient land of the right types is available in the right places and at the right time to support growth, innovation and improved productivity; and by identifying and coordinating the provision of infrastructure;

 

There is more than enough residual capacity in both existing floor area and permissions still un-built in the district and King’s Lynn.  Neutral impact in this respect.

 

b) a social objective– to support strong, vibrant and healthy communities, by ensuring that a sufficient number and range of homes can be provided to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by fostering a well-designed and safe built environment, with accessible services and open spaces that reflect current and future needs and support communities’ health, social and cultural well-being.

 

In this respect the proposal has a high positive impact upon the welfare of the people attending this community group and gives people a focus and ensures spiritual wellbeing for members, as well as a base from which to carry out their work in the Community by offering the support needed by members of the congregation, and anybody who will reach out for their help.

 

c) an environmental objective– to contribute to protecting and enhancing our natural, built and historic environment; including making effective use of land, helping to improve biodiversity, using natural resources prudently, minimising waste and pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change, including moving to a low carbon economy.

 

The re-use of a redundant building in a sustainable location will bring a small beneficial impact.

 

As the proposal is for the change of an existing vacant commercial unit in an area where the precedent for such a change has already been established and accepted by the Council, there is nothing in planning terms that would preclude an approval.

 

The change of use will not impinge on the ability of the Council to provide a diverse portfolio of employment sites given that there are 28 hectares within the district in the 2017-2018 period with planning permission but 0 hectares under construction which shows the low demand for such development.

 

With the above points in the mind planning consent will allow for an important Community based church group conduct services and activities without any conflict with adjoining occupiers in a small unit that meets the needs of the Church financially whilst not impinging on any future developments in the West Norfolk commercial markets.

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Further Information

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If you would like to find out more about how our Planning Consultancy and Architectural Design Services can work in perfect sync to achieve a successful outcome in the planning system please contact us and we will be only too happy to talk through any questions or development proposals you may have.

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