DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Applicant: Mr & Mrs T Roberts Proposal Variation of condition 4 of PA 09/00703/B to remove agricultural tie Site Address Swallows Rest Gibdale Farm Bayrauyr Road St Marks Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AT Case Officer : Mr Jason Singleton Site Visit: Expected Decision Level Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation 28.07.2020 Recommended

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes (if any) attached to the 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.

Reason for approval: The mitigating evidence against the retention of the condition would tip the balance in favour of the applicant in this instance without setting a precedent for future similar applications. As such it is recommended that the removal of the condition is allowed.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None ________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

- 1.0 THE SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 'Swallows Rest' Gibdale Farm, Bayrauyr Road, St. Marks. The property sits to the north of the highway set back approx.100m+ in a rural setting with high hedges on both sides of the highway. - 1.2 The dwelling has the appearance of a traditional two storey house and resembles some of the design attributes from Planning Circular 3/91. The frontage is a typically modest Manx cottage in appearance, with a projecting Manx stone two storey projecting gable to the front and two single storey annexes on each side of the main build. The building has a traditional chimney stack on each gable and a natural slate roof with concrete verge cappings. The windows are all either vertically proportioned or wider apertures and window casings.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the removal of condition number 4 attached to the original approval (09/00703/B) for the dwelling, which restricts occupancy to persons engaged in agriculture;

"The dwelling may be occupied only by a person or persons engaged or last engaged solely in agriculture; or a widow or widower of such a person, or any resident dependants".

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 In terms of local plan policy, the site has been zoned under the Isle of Man Development Plan Order 1982 as being within an area of 'white land' or not zoned for development. - 3.2 Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: - 3.3 there is a presumption against development in such areas not zoned for such (countryside) as set out in Strategic Plan General Policy 3, Environment Policies 1 and 2 and particular policies against the development of new dwellings in these areas - Housing Policy 4 and Strategic Policy 2 are relevant. - 3.4 Exceptions to these policies can be made under specific circumstances, including agricultural need as set out in Environment Policy 15 and Housing Policies 6-10, referring to agricultural buildings and dwellings. Housing Policy 8 explains that if approved, a condition would usually be attached to restrict the occupancy of the property to someone who was employed in agriculture. Paragraph 8.9.4 states: 'Such a condition will not usually be removed on subsequent applications unless it is shown that the long-term need for dwellings for agricultural workers, both on the particular farm and in the locality, no longer warrants reserving the dwelling for that purpose'.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The planning history associated with the site and concerning the application site are briefly noted below; 19/00019/B - Alterations to existing driveway - approved

• 10/00448/B - Creation of a farm track- approved
• 11/01380/B - Erection of an agricultural barn- refused 09/00703/B - Erection of a replacement agricultural worker's dwelling - approved PA 08/0574 - erection of replacement dwelling - refused on appeal PA 06/0256 - erection of agricultural building - permitted PA 04/1462 - removal agricultural worker's occupancy condition - refused on appeal PA 02/1446 - installation of windows in converted agricultural building - permitted PA 01/0677 - conversion of agricultural building to dwelling - permitted PA 90/1327 - alterations and extensions - permitted PA 84/0136 - erection of dwelling, field 685 - permitted

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Malew Parish Commissioners have no objection (04/06/20) - 5.2 Highways Services have no objection (27/05/20)

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application is; Whether there is justifiable long term need to retain the condition. Each case must be assessed on its merits and with particular reference to the history of the use; the situation regarding such matters as ownership, tenure and land use and whether or not there is a need for such a continued 'tied' use. - 6.2 Looking at the more recent history of the site, under the 2009 permission a replacement building of a much larger scale was approved and implemented. Considered at that time of consideration was that there was sufficient reason to justify the dwelling of this size on the basis of an agricultural need. - 6.3 The applicant has confirmed, the property has approx. 60 acres of land and woodland (identified in blue on the plan) much of the land to West of the dwellinghouse is woodland and is not farmed by the current owner or by a tenant farmer. Whilst Planning consent was granted (PA 06/0256) for an agricultural barn, there is no agricultural activity taking place on the land or at the property and they further state neither of their employment statuses are related to agriculture or horticultural industries. The applicant further states they have not been in compliance with the condition since purchasing in 2005, furthermore the 2009 approval where the agricultural occupancy condition was imposed, this was never appealed if this was not the intention. Although the applicant states; "this was not what we applied for". - 6.4 Building control records state a submission was made to them (BC ref; 11/07003/DOM) in January 2011 and a completion certificate was issued on 14th April 2016. The applicant has also stated they pay normal domestic rates (private residential dwelling) and not the lower agricultural level normally associated with a farm workers / agriculture dwelling. This has been verified by the Rates department on 24/07/20 by email, who confirmed; "At the time of valuation, April 2016, checks were made with DEFA who advised that no farming was being undertaken by the owners (currently the applicants). - 6.5 DEFAs' agricultural officer has confirmed the property Swallows Rest and the wider land holding is not an active farm and does not have any livestock registered to the property or surrounding fields. On this basis, it appears that the property has functioned as a normal dwelling house and has clearly not been 'required for use by an agricultural worker'. - 6.6 The applicant states the property was marketed through two estate agents and a letter from one of the agents, Black Grace Cowley, dated 10th February 2017 confirms the property was marketed "for sale by private treaty for approximately 12 months". Whilst there had been significant interest, this has not materialised in a sale and they (Black Grace Cowley) consider the agricultural tie has been a material consideration for purchasers which has prevented a successful sale. - 6.7 The applicant confirms in their supporting statement the property was marketed at a reduced market rate to take into account the occupancy condition and whilst there was substantial interest in the property, of the two offers received and accepted both parties withdrew their respective offers once they understood the implications of the occupancy condition. Throughout the marketing period there was no interest from any individual who would be able to comply with the condition as such the property is no longer on the market due to having been withdrawn by the owner in light of the above. - 6.8 From this information it appears that the property is unlikely to be acquired by someone who would comply with the condition and those already involved in agricultural activities would already be in accommodation near to or on the farm they currently have. As this is not a viable

• option as a farm the purpose of the condition is questionable, it could be considered more akin to those with equestrian interests.
• 6.9 Turning to the properties advertisement price, this reflected in the size of the property and its curtilage. It is clear that an agricultural workers salary would not be commensurate to a property of this size and alienates those employees from this financial level of property on the Isle of Man.
• 6.10 It is understood the application site has been under review by the departments planning enforcement team. A section 25 Notice was served on 23rd March 2016 stating a breach of the agricultural occupancy condition. A legal response was submitted to the Section 25 Notice. No further correspondence on this matter has been received since (the department last wrote on the) 3rd January 2018. To date no formal action has been taken and the option to "regularise" the breach is currently being exercised through this application.
• 6.11 To understand the farming context on the Island, in 2018 there were 731 individuals employed by in Agriculture/ horticulture. The Island currently has 338 farms. (data from Agricultural and Horticultural Census 2018) Presumably each with a dwellinghouse on.
• 6.12 The Department receives a number of applications for the removal of agricultural ties year on year and it is becoming more apparent that modern day farming on the smaller scale has been declining despite government financial support (Appendix 1 - Developing a Reliable, Sustainable, Self Reliant Manx Agriculture) to help offset the rising cost associated with importing fertilisers, sprays, feeds and fuel. The report further highlights on page 19; "The Island also has a high cost production system due to the wonderful latticework of small fields which reduces production efficiency but significantly enhances the countryside heritage and the rural enjoyment of the Island's residents and visitors. The land and farm type on the Island substantially restrict the producer's ability to diversify into alternative products, restricting much of the Island's landscape to grass based livestock production for human consumption". This helps us understand the current farming situation and the demand for farming.
• 6.13 Considering the land holding with the property, as noted with 60 acres, whilst this could be classed as a small holding (private use, not necessarily a productive or viable farm folding), reviewing the land quality and topography we can see, the land comprises 21 fields with an average field size of approx. 3 acres, and as the owner confirms there is no farming activity, much of the land (2018 aerial imagery) appears to be overgrown or left to develop as nature intended for the condition of the land. The IoM soils maps identify this area as being of class of 3 and 3-4 quality. Considering Class 3 land characteristics can be summarised as land with moderate limitations which restrict the choice of crops and/or demand careful management, while Class 4 are poor quality agricultural land with severe limitations which significantly restrict the range of crops and/or level of yields. The quality of the natural land goes some way to understand the limitations of agricultural usage and helps understand the viability in trying to manage the land without financial risk.
• 6.14 Weighing up the above factors, it is considered that the retention of the agricultural condition would appear to be no longer reasonable in this current context. This is also reinforced by the fact that attempts to sell the property to local farmers and those aspiring to have some form of agricultural holding have not been successful. The fact that it has not been used as an agricultural worker's dwelling since it was built, neither of the occupants are employed in this industry and residential occupancy rates are being paid since 2016 to date. The quality of the land surrounding the property and modern farming practices, all contribute to reasons for the property or those occupants of the property not to become involved in farming. In this case the applicant has met the strict test required by Policy HP8 and, due to the particular circumstances of this case, it is not considered that the removal of Condition No 4 (removal of an 'agricultural tie') would set any precedent for future similar applications.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 From the above assessment, it is difficult to conclude there is no long term requirement for an agricultural dwelling in this location, however the mitigating evidence against the retention of the condition would tip the balance in favour of the applicant in this instance without setting a precedent for future similar applications. As such it is recommended that the removal of the condition is allowed.

8.0 INTERESTED PERSON 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 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 : …Refused……….... Committee Meeting Date:…10.08.2020

Signed :………J SINGLETON……….. Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below

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.

Planning Committee Decision 10.08.2020

Application No. : 20/00473/B Applicant : Mr & Mrs T Roberts Proposal : Variation of condition 4 of PA 09/00703/B to remove agricultural tie Site Address : Swallows Rest Gibdale Farm Bayrauyr Road St Marks Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AT Senior Planning Officer : Mr Jason Singleton Presenting Officer As above Addendum to the Officer’s Report

The Planning Committee disagreed with the Officer’s recommendation and unanimously refused the application for the removal of an agricultural tie.

The reason to refuse was given as;

The proposal would result in the loss of an agricultural dwelling on land which could be used for agriculture and there remains insufficient evidence to demonstrate a lack of need for the original occupancy condition to be removed from the site. The proposal therefore does not accord with the exceptions to the presumption against residential development in the countryside set out in General Policy 3, Environment Policy 15, Housing Policies 7-10 in particular Housing Policy 8 and paragraph 8.9.4, of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

20/00473/B Page 6 of 6