Plans to build a new Co-op store in Port Erin on the site of a former chapel of rest is being recommended for refusal.

Applicant JM Project Management Ltd wanted to model the new store on the Co-op outlet it had built in Crosby.

The application (24/91051/B) had not been opposed by Port Erin Commissioners.

But the planning officer has recommended refusal ahead of next week’s planning committee hearing, arguing the out-of-town development could threaten the long-term vitality and sustainability of Port Erin’s main shopping area.

He said its ‘starkly modern’ design was out of keeping and the demolition of buildings with historical and architectural significance was unjustified.

The building, which dates back to the end of the 19th century, was the Port Erin infants school until 1927 when Rushen School opened at Four Roads. It went on to become a chapel of rest for a funeral home.

JM Project Management had made changes to the scheme to address parking and highway concerns, but the planning officer said a shortfall of parking spaces and lack of formal pedestrian crossing facilities remain unresolved.

He said that based on out-of-town retail parking standards, the scheme should include 32 spaces for shoppers but only had 29, and six of these were exclusively allocated for residents of the tourist apartments planned for the first floor.

A retail assessment note included with the application estimated that the proposed store would get 55% of its turnover from Tesco, 25% from the existing Co-op, and smaller proportions from Spar and other outlets.

The planning officer said the proposal presented a ‘finely balanced planning judgement’.

He said the relocation of the existing Co-op to more modern and accessible premises could potentially improve the local retail offer.

But he said that while the site lies only marginally outside Port Erin’s designated shopping area, a clear justification for out-of-centre retail development had not been demonstrated.

‘The potential harm to the town centre's vitality and the lack of robust mitigation or justification mean the principle of retail development cannot be supported,’ he concluded.