Officer Report

Application No.: 18/00471/B Applicant: J R Creer Ltd Proposal: Erection of hut, positioning of portable cabins (both retrospective) and creation of a turning area Site Address: Fields 430657, 434504 & 434614 Middle Cordeman Farm St Marks Country Park Cordeman Road St Marks Ballasalla Isle of Man Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken: 21.06.2018 Site Visit: 21.06.2018 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 03.07.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. The Arctic cabin and shepherd's hut(s) must remain finished in a dark brown colour unless otherwise approved by the Department. Reason: to minimise their visual impact on the countryside.
• C 3. The Arctic cabin and shepherd's hut(s) may be occupied only as tourist accommodation and may not be used as permanent residential accommodation.

Reason: to control the development of residential units in unsustainable locations which are not designated for development.

Plans/Drawings/Information: This approval relates to the drawings and information received on 1st May, 2018. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):

The resident of Ballaquark, Douglas _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report

THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE CONTRARY TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

THE SITE

1.1 The site is the holding of Middle Cordeman Farm, a holding situated to the north west of St. Mark's and accessed from the Cordeman Lane which continues north from B30 and which accesses a small number of houses as well as the farm, and which continues to Stoney Mountain Plantation. - 1.2 The site accommodates a number of permanent buildings - a farmhouse, large modern barn, more recent modern outbuildings including an approved shop/cafe (12/00841/B). Planning approval has been granted for a number of recent developments which culminate in a tourist venture which offers modest and basic tourist accommodation in three traditional cottage style units and a converted stone barn together with associated car parking and access to a facilities building for clothes drying, storage etc. Permission has also been granted for a visitor's centre in association with a local hedgehog conservation organisation. The focus of the tourist facilities are access to the agricultural operations and learning about wildlife and agriculture. - 1.3 The tourist "cottages" are currently white: the approval required a scheme for their colouring to reduce their impact and a range of colours submitted by the applicant, have been approved. The applicant is in the process of implementing these. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed now is the introduction of an area of hardcore at the entrance to field 43434614, at the north of which is the stone building converted to a tourist unit. Also proposed is the introduction of a shepherd's hut and an artic cabin in one each of three possible locations. The shepherd's hut is a rectangular shed on wheels with a curved roof - all timber and will dimensions of 4.2m by 2.4m and a height of 2.6m. The arctic cabin has a pentagonal footprint and a steeply pitched, tiled roof, all also made of timber and with a pitched roof front porch, with pentagon sides 1.65m long and a ridge height of 2.6m, a chimney cowl taking the overall height to 3.6m. This is currently in situ alongside the pond. - 2.2 No supporting statement or clarification of the proposals have been provided. The shepherd's hut and the arctic cabin are both for basic overnight accommodation. PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site is within an area on the Area Plan for the South adopted in 2013 designated as open space, that is not identified for a particular purpose. During the consideration of the Area Plan, the applicant made a submission to the Department to have this site designated as Tourism (for the creation of 6 holiday chalets) but this was rejected on the basis that the site is clearly part of the countryside and the proposal does not comply with any of the exceptions listed in the Strategic Plan.

3.2 The site lies within an area of Incised Slopes on the draft Landscape Character Appraisal where the APS states the following:

Ballamodha, Earystane and St Marks (D14) The overall strategy is to conserve and enhance the character, quality and distinctiveness of the area, with its wooded valley bottoms, its strong geometric field pattern delineated by Manx hedges, its numerous traditional buildings and its network of small roads and lanes. The strategy should also include the restoration of landscapes disturbed by former mining activities.

Key Views Distant views prevented at times by dense woodland in river valleys and by the cumulative screening effect of hedgerow trees, which tend to create wooded horizons. Open and panoramic views out to sea from the higher areas on the upper western parts of the area where there are few trees to interrupt views.

3.3 There are no specific landscape policies which should be applied to this area. - 3.4 The Area Plan includes part of the southern part of the site, near where the ponds are situated, as a draft area of ecological interest. - 3.5 The Strategic Plan protects the countryside for its own sake (EP 1) and sets out in General Policy 3 where there may be exceptions to this general provision:

"a) essential housing for agricultural workers who have to live close to their place of work (Housing Policies 7, 8, 9 and 10)

• b) conversion of redundant rural buildings which are of architectural, historical, or social value and interest (Housing Policy 11)
• c) previously developed land which contains a significant amount of buildings; where the continued use is redundant; where redevelopment would reduce the impact of the current situation on the landscape or the wider environmental and where the development proposed would result in improvements to the landscape or wider environment
• d) the replacement of existing rural dwellings (Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14)
• e) location-dependant development in connection with the working of minerals or the provision of necessary services;
• f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry
• g) development recognised to be of overriding national need in land use planning terms and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative and
• h) buildings or works required for interpretation of the countryside, its wildlife or heritage".

3.6 The Plan is very specific that tourism-related development should be subject to no less strict restrictions than other forms of development as the countryside itself is one of the attractions for tourists to the Island (paragraph 9.5.3).

REPRESENTATIONS

4.1 A resident of Douglas expresses concern at the name of the site, suggesting that there is no planning approval in place for use of the site as a park, and considers that the proposed structures are tacky and will not enhance the countryside, to the detriment of tourism and local amenity (05.06.18).

4.2 Malew Parish Commissioners have no objection to the application (30.05.18). - 4.3 Highway Services do not oppose the application as they consider there would be no changes to the current arrangement for turning, access and parking and would not create any new highway issues (18.05.18).

PLANNING HISTORY

5.1 The site has been the subject of a great number of applications, the most recent of which are those relating to the creation of the tourist facilities - 16/00125/B and 16/01258/B. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The arctic cabin is in situ by the pond and is not easily seem from within or outwith the site due to the existing vegetation and the dark colour of the unit help it blend into the surrounding area both from within the site and outwith from where it is not easily seen, if seen at all. The shepherd's hut is very modest and will not be likely to have a significant visual impact in an overall landscape that is expansive, undulating and vegetated.

6.2 The hardcore is limited in area, will help vehicles get grip at the entrance to the field and will not have any adverse or significant visual or environmental impact. - 6.3 The proposal will enhance and increase the range of tourist accommodation on the site without adversely or significantly affecting the environment and the application is recommended for approval. - 6.4 Whilst the structures are timber and currently a dark colour which enables them to blend comfortably into the background countryside, a condition requiring them to remain a dark brown colour would be appropriate to ensure they continue to have a minimal impact on the character and appearance of the countryside. A condition to require their occupancy only for tourists would also be appropriate.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal is considered to support the Government's Destination Management Plan 2016 - 2020 and would not have an adverse environmental impact that would contravene EP1 and the proposal is supported. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
• (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
• (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
• (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. 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 in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.

Decision Made : Pending Decision Committee Meeting Date: 16.07.2018 Signed : S Corlett Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report YES/NO See below

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