DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00468/B Applicant: Mr & Mrs Thomas Hampden + Lara Elizabeth Inskip Proposal: Construct a tennis court in the garden North West side of the house; Construct a soakaway in the south garden Site Address: Lorne House Douglas Street Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1AZ Technical Officer: Mr Thomas Sinden Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 10.07.2023

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. Prior to the commencement of works, all tree protection measures detailed on drawing TP-150523 are to be fully installed, and remain in place until construction works are completed. Reason: to protect the registered trees on the site.
• C 3. Prior to the installation of the finished surface of the tennis court and run-off areas hereby approved, a sample of the finished surface is to be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. Thereafter, the finishes are to be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

Reason: to ensure that the development does not have an adverse impact on the setting of the registered building.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The application is in accordance with section 16 of the Town and Country Act 1999, planning policy statement 1/01, and strategic policy 4 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 as the setting of the registered building is being preserved. The application is also judged to meet the tests of general policy 2 and environment policies 3 and 22 as the proposal will not result in

unacceptable harm to the environment or the woodland, respects the site and surroundings, and does not affect adversely the amenity of neighbours or nearby properties. The application is therefore judged to be acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to drawings 01, 02, 03, 04revA, 05, 06revA, 07 and 08, together with Arboricultural Impact Assessment AIA-150523 and associated drawings TS-240323, TP-150523 and TI-150523.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

The DEFA Forestry Officer cannot be awarded Interested Party Status as per section 3.2.4 of the policy. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is Lorne House, a registered building (RB 269). The property is a large Georgian house set in substantial grounds to the north of the harbour in Castletown. The house was built in 1826-7 and has been attributed as the work of notable architect Thomas Brine (1766-1840), although there is no currently known documentary evidence to confirm this. The house is perhaps best known as being the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor between 1834 and 1860. The house has undergone numerous alterations and extensions and was for a time used as offices and flats.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 This application proposes to construct a tennis court in the garden North West side of the house; and construct a soakaway in the south garden.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY The Lorne House site is defined as Private Woodland or Parkland on Map 5 of the Area Plan for the South 2013, and within the Castletown Conservation Area. The site is not at risk of flooding. - 3.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 S16 Registered buildings: supplementary provisions

(3) In considering —

• (a) whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting, or
• (b) whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the relevant Department shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.

3.2 National policy: THE ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016

General Policy 2 Strategic Policy 4 Infrastructure Policy 5 Environment Policy 1, 3 & 22 Community Policy 7, 10 & 11.

3.3 Planning Policy Statements: 1/01 Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man

POLICY RB/3 POLICY RB/5

- 4.0 PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 There are over 30 applications on the Lorne House site since 1985. The most pertinent applications are those relating to the most recent alterations, which are as follows:-

22/00280/CON & 22/00281/GB - Demolition of north east wing; external material alterations to north west wing; internal alterations to create family room; other minor internal alterations; partial demolition of non-historic garden wall to accommodate site access and reinstatement of same following construction works.

22/01523/GB & 22/01524/CON - Internal and external alterations including external door and window alterations, new external soil and rainwater pipes, replacement external steps, internal remodelling, removal of entrance hall panelling, replacement of metal entrance gates and demolition of modern stone garden wall.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Manx National Heritage - statutory responsibilities pertaining to the protection of the cultural and natural heritage of the Isle of Man are defined under the terms of the Manx Museum and National Trust Act. We have a few concerns with this application as the proposed tennis court is in very close proximity to a large number of registered trees. In order to protect the trees we would like to see a tree protection policy, which prevents damage or disturbance to their root systems, put in place as a condition of the applications approval (3.5.2023).

5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division have stated that there is no highways interest in the application (5.5.2023, 22.5.2023 & 6.6.2023). - 5.3 The DEFA Forestry Officer - Subject to the implementation of the detailed tree protection plan being made a condition of approval, we have no objections to this proposal (26.6.2023).

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 There are judged to be two principal issues with this application. Firstly, whether the proposals would affect detrimentally the setting of the registered building. Secondly, whether the proposals would have an unacceptable impact on the site's existing trees.

6.2 The proposed tennis court would be sited on the existing lawn to the west of the house itself. It is proposed that the level of the tennis court be set down from the current ground level, with the ground graded down where required on the edge of the court run-off areas. The court is proposed to be finished to permeable macadam. Photographs and surveys from the second half of the 20th century show that there was a tennis court within the grounds during this period, overlapping with the site now proposed, although centred further north. Given the intention of the current works approved to the property are to return the house to a single dwelling, the presence of a tennis court within the grounds is considered appropriate and not something that would sit awkwardly within the building's setting. The position and level of the court proposed is also judged to be well considered, and it is judged that the court would not have a detrimental impact on the setting of the registered building. The appearance of the material used to finish the court and run-off is something that has the potential to impact the setting of the building. As such, it is recommended that a condition be added to any approval that requires a sample of the material to be approved prior to the finish being installed. - 6.3 An arboricultural impact assessment has been submitted with this application, including a set of drawings showing the impact, constraints and proposed protection plan in relation to the

• trees on the site. DEFA Forestry have reviewed this information and have stated that they have no objections to the application, provided that the tree protection measures are included as a condition of any approval. There are 12 category A trees sited on either the west or south boundaries of the proposed court. The tree protection plan proposes to install 2m high protective fencing on these boundaries, and to have a construction exclusion zone in the area beyond this fence in order to protect the trees. Given that the existing trees are intended to be protected during the works, and that the existing tree canopies would only encroach on part of the run-off area and not at all on the court area itself, it is considered that the proposals would not result in an unacceptable amount of damage to the woodland area.
• 6.4 In addition to the tennis court, the application also proposes to install a soakaway. The position proposed is 5 metres south-west of the house, and approximately 10 metres from the trunk of the nearest tree. It is intended that the soakaway have the capacity to accommodate the surface water from the proposed tennis court as well as the surface water from the basement works and new downpipe approved under the 2022 approvals. The preamble to environment policy 22 states that "it is not the role of land use planning to duplicate controls which are the statutory responsibility of other agencies." In this respect, the size and position of the soakaway will be subject to ground condition information and other construction detail assessments as part of a Building Control application. From a development control point of view, given the position of the protected building, the registered trees within the site and the distance to other properties, it is considered that the proposed soakaway location would not result in unacceptable harm to the environment or the amenity of nearby properties.
• 6.5 Given the nature and scale of the proposals, the application is judged to comply with Infrastructure Policy 5 and Community Policies 7, 10 and 11 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The application is judged to be in accordance with section 16 of the Town and Country Act 1999, planning policy statement 1/01, and strategic policy 4 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016 as the setting of the registered buildings is being preserved. The application is also judged to meet the tests of general policy 2 and environment policy 22 as the proposal will not result in unacceptable harm to the environment, respects the site and surroundings, and does not affect adversely the amenity of neighbours or nearby properties. It is therefore recommended that the application be approved. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSONS STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material. 8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 11.07.2023 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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