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TL2  Criteria for Urban Tourism  Policy

Within the urban area proposals for new tourist attractions, visitor facilities and other related uses will be permitted subject to Policy TL1 and where:

(i) the siting, scale and external appearance of any buildings and/ or related structures is appropriate within the surrounding area;

(ii) the proposals would not give rise to unacceptable levels of noise or other disturbance, particularly to areas of residential property;

(iii) provision for car parking, access and servicing arrangements, including provision for buses and coaches where appropriate, is adequate in terms of the number of visitors expected to be attracted to the development and the availability of public transport facilities within the area; and

(iv) the use proposed serves to enhance or complement existing tourist attractions and visitor facilities and is appropriate to the general character of the location.

Where necessary, planning permission will be subject to conditions regulating the design and operation of the proposals in order to minimise their impact upon the surrounding area.

Reasoned justification :

10.13 Policy TLR1 states that new tourist facilities will normally be directed to existing built-up areas of the Borough. They are not, however, suitable in every location and Policy TL2, therefore, sets out the criteria that the Local Planning Authority will use in order to assess their appropriateness.

10.14 The Policy TL2 criteria are based upon whether the site would be suitable to accommodate the nature and scale of the use proposed in terms of both its operational requirements and its impact upon the surrounding area. In particular, they provide for the protection of residential amenity and allow the Local Planning Authority to control aspects of the operation of the site in order to achieve this objective.

10.15 In dealing with proposals for new tourist-related facilities and attractions under Policy TL2, special regard will be given to the capacity of local infrastructure to cope with the number of visitors expected, especially at peak periods when local highway and parking problems will be at their maximum. The Local Planning Authority will, in all cases, need to be satisfied that visitor numbers and related traffic can be accommodated without harm to the character of the surrounding area.