DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/01349/B Applicant: IOM Trike Tours Limited Proposal: Installation of air source heat pump Site Address: 11 Castlemona Avenue Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 4EA Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Photo Taken: 17.01.2020 Site Visit: 17.01.2020 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.01.2020 _________________________________________________________________

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.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the following submitted documents and drawings date-stamped as having been received on 28th November 2019: IOMT/01 and Product Information. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the commercial curtilage of 11 Castlemona Avenue, Douglas, a two-part building, a single-storey showroom connected with a two-storey office, located at the west of Castlemona Avenue.

- 2.0 THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the installation of an air source heatpump (ASHP) to generate renewable heating for the building. A metal cage would be coveredover the ASHP for protection. The air source heat pump would be 1.05m wide, 0.48m deep and

1.02m in height. The ASHP would be located to the rear of the office, about 0.5m from the boundary of 15 Castlemona Avenue (2.3m away from the dwelling). It would also be about 4m away from the closest apartment of Villa Courts.

2.2 Noise levels provided by the product specifications submitted indicate that the noiseemitted by the unit would be 58-60 at the power level and 45-47dB at 1-metre pressure level.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There is no past planning application considered being material relevant to this application.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is within an area for Predominately Residential Use in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. - 4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains a few policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of the planning application: - 4.3 The Strategic Objectives of the Strategic Plan provides a framework for the detailed policies and it sets the following objectives: "3.2 Resources

• (d) to support energy generation from renewable resources.
• (e) to embrace the principles of Sustainable Development

3.3 Environment (g) to minimize environmental pollution to air, water and land" - 4.4 Strategic Policy 5 states: "New development, including individual buildings, should be designed so as to make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island."

4.5 General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan states: "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 and (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

4.6 General Policy 3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states: "Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan." - 4.7 Environment Policy 1 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states: "The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix

3 at A.36 or which is not designated for future development on the Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted."

4.8 Environment Policy 23 states:

• "When considering alterations and improvements to existing facilities, the Department will require that consideration be given to the potential adverse impact of the proposed changes to existing neighbours."
• 4.9 The Strategic Plan also provides guidance on the installation of renewable energy apparatus (12.2.8) which states: "The Department is fully supportive of the need to secure greater energy efficiency in new and existing development ……At the same time, the Department recognizes that renewable energy sources can have adverse environmental impacts. ……There may also be other impacts such as noise…… The Department will assess any proposals … by weighing the benefits of using such renewable energy sources against the environmental impact arising in any particular site."
• 4.10 Accordingly it is required to assess Energy Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, which states: "Development involving alternative sources of energy supply, including wind, water and tide power, and the use of solar panels, will be judged against the environmental objectives and policies set out in this Plan."
• 4.11 The site is designated as "Mixed Use" in the Area Plan for the East (Draft).

- 5.0 REPRESENTATION

5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objections on this application (19/12/2019).

5.3 DoI Highway Services states there is no highway interest in this application (05/12/2019). - 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The key issue relates to the potential impact (noise) on neighbouring amenities by the development and the potential visual impacts upon the amenities of the countryside.

6.2 The proposed ASHP is promoting the reduce consumption of fossil fuels and therefore positively contribution to SP 5 and should be encouraged. The ASHP generally has higher energy efficiency than typical modern boilers and therefore also fits in GP2 (n).

6.3 According to EP 23, the addition of noise is a material consideration. The units would be located to the rear of the office and would be 2.3m away from the closest residential property. Accordingly, the proposal may have some impact on neighbouring property. - 6.4 In terms of noise impact, the sound pressure level 1m away from the pump is expected to be around 45-48dB. For reference, 50dB is similar to the noise generated by light traffic, 60dB that of normal conversation or an air conditioner. There will be a background noise generated from the unit but it's expected that the noise levels and impact will be low and not likely to have a detrimental impact on the living conditions or amenity of the neighbours. - 6.5 In addition, as the premise is going to be used for commercial/office purpose. It is most like to only operate during business hours and in turn, unlikely to use the ASHP at night and therefore unlikely to affect neighbours at night when people are most sensitive to background noises. - 6.6 In relation to the potential visual impact upon the area, given its location to the rear of the office and distance to the nearest public vantage point, the proposal would not be apparent from the adjacent highway. It would be visible for apartments close to the office but the impact is acceptable as it does not stand out.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 Overall, it is considered that the overall level of development contained within the proposal is relatively modest and in keeping with the character of the dwelling, with suitably limited impact on the neighbouring properties. As such the proposal does not adversely affect public or private amenity and is therefore in accordance with the relevant IOM Strategic Plan polices and therefore recommended for approval.

7.2 Because the effect of noise is not significate therefore no condition regarding noise is recommended for this approval. - 8.0 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 which 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 a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 21.01.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

Customer note

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