Officer Report

Application No.: 18/00808/B Applicant: Mr John Sheppard Proposal: Erection of a pair of semi-detached dwellings with associated parking and access Site Address: Land at Clarecourt 14 Marathon Road Douglas Isle of Man Senior Planning Officer: Mr Jason Singleton Site Visit: 16.10.2018 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.10.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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. No development shall be commenced until a hard and soft landscaping scheme has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. Such a scheme shall include details of all trees, hedgerows and other planting which are to be retained and details of all new walls, and other boundary treatment, finished ground levels; a planting specification with root protection measures and details of the hard surface treatment of the open parts of the site and a programme of implementation. The approved scheme shall be implemented in accordance with the programme of implementation. Reason: To ensure the provision of an appropriate landscape setting to the development.
• C 3. Prior to the dwellings hereby approved being occupied, the visibility splay(s) identified on C-010-B-1 shall be constructed in accordance with the approved plans and thereafter kept permanently clear of any obstruction exceeding 1.05mm in height above adjoining carriageway level. Reason: In the interests of highway safety.
• C 4. The dwelling hereby approved shall not be occupied until the parking and turning areas have been provided in accordance with the approved plans ref: C-050-A-1. Such areas shall not

be used for any purpose other than the parking and turning of vehicles associated with the development and shall remain free of obstruction for such use at all times.

Reason: To ensure that sufficient provision is made for off-street parking and turning of vehicles in the interests of highway safety.

Plans/Drawings/Information:

This approval relates to the design and access statement and drawing referenced C-060-1, received on 1st August 2018 and amended drawings referenced C-010-B-1, C-061-A-2, C-050A-1, C-091 and 3045/090 date stamped received 12th September 2018.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 14 Marathon Road, Douglas. The property is detached dwelling house that sits on the corner of Ballanard Road and Park Avenue. On the west elevation is a lean-to conservatory. PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is an amended proposal to a former permission for; the erection of a pair of semi-detached dwellings with associated parking and landscaping. The proposed building would be two stories in height with accommodation utilised in the roof space and provides off road parking for four vehicles to the front of the properties.

2.2 The application is supported by a comprehensive design and access statement which highlights the benefit of architectural context, how the utilisation of passive house design has been adopted and associated methods towards sustainability and materials selection. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 15/01013/B - Erection of a dwelling with detached garage and greenhouse/shed. APPROVED.

3.2 14/00688/B - Erection of a dwelling with detached garage and greenhouse/shed. APPROVED.

3.3 13/00755/REM - Reserved Matters Application for erection of a dwelling and garage with greenhouse and shed. REFUSED. - 3.4 12/00771/A - Approval in principle for erection of a dwelling. APPROVED. - 3.5 10/01277/B - Creation of hard standing and vehicular access onto Victoria Road. REFUSED. - 3.6 10/00003/B - Creation of hard standing and vehicular access onto Victoria Road. REFUSED. PLANNING POLICY

4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is within an area recognised as beingwithin predominantly residential use under the Douglas Local Plan 1998.

4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this application;

4.3 General Policy 2 (GP2) (in part) Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:

• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape;

• (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;
• (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;

4.4 Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states: "As a general policy, in built up areas not controlled by Conservation Area or Registered Building policies, there will be a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general."

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Douglas Borough Council has not commented but were consulted on the 31.08.18

5.2 Highways Services have commented (received on 31/08/18); the site entrance should accommodate two way traffic and be increased from 3.2m to 6m with dropped kerbs; visibility splays of 2.4 x 43m for the 30mph speed limit; nothing within 1.05m within the visibility splays; a Section 109 agreement would be required; the proposed parking layout requires to be altered to accommodate vehicle manoeuvring within the site; site levels no steep than 1:12 for vehicular access and no drainage onto the public highway. Highways requested a deferral on making a decision until the applicant to consider the above. - 5.3 DEFA Arboriculture Officer has commented and ongoing liaison with the application has culminated (19/09/18) no objection to the removal of a the Sycamore; recommended a geocell type material is used in areas of new planting as the existing ground after construction would be heavily compacted; The above can be addressed by a condition for suitable tree planting scheme and engineering details for their substructure.

ASSESMENT 6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are;

• (i) the impact of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the surrounding area and street scene; (ii) impact on Highway safety.

6.2 The principle of construction a dwellinghouse on site is acceptable given the planninghistory. The main aspect is whether the proposed alteration to the appearance of thedwellinghouse is acceptable. The proposed dwelling in its appearance, as a semi-detached andarchitectural finishes would not appear out of character with the streetscene, where there is adiverse range of architectural styles. The scale and massing of the proposal would not be anyhigher than the neighbouring dwellinghouse to the North (White Lodge) and would beproportionate to the plot without being considered overdevelopment. The proposed plantingschemes whilst detailed on the plans can be secured with a planning condition to ensure theroot protection measures are implemented to give the new trees every chance of success.

6.3 The comments from Highways services are noted in paragraph 5.2, however increasing the width of the entrance to 6m see a loss of boundary treatment (1.0m high masonry wall) which helps create a degree of privacy to the car parking area. In this case the applicant has amended the proposal, the parking is directly in front. The access within the front boundary wall would now give a 5m wide access with a boundary wall 1.0m in height offering clear visibility when exiting the site. On balance, the proposed modifications are seen to address highways concerns and can be reinforced through planning conditions.

6.4 On the whole, given the history of the site, the level and scale of development proposed within this planning application, it is considered to be relatively modest and not judged to cause harm to the enjoyment of the proposed dwellinghouse or more importantly is considered to not have any harm towards the character and quality of the streetscene and wider surrounding area. RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 For the above reasons, it is concluded that the planning application would not harm the use and enjoyment of neighbouring properties or the highway network and would comply with aforementioned planning policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and is recommended for approval. 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 can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 18.10.2018 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.