DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 20/00996/C Applicant: Daryl Blake Construction Ltd Proposal: Levelling of site, erection of wall up to 1.5M and laying of hardcore hardstanding. Site Address: Pound Lane Depot Castletown Road Port St. Mary Isle Of Man IM9 5LT Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken: 25.11.2020 Site Visit: 25.11.2020 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.12.2020 _________________________________________________________________

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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. There must be no discharge of surface water to the abutting watercourse on the western boundary of the site during the construction period.

Reason: to ensure that the water course is not adversely affected by the discharge of harmful materials such as concrete or washings entering the waterway.

N 1. This approval has been granted for the following works; the levelling of site, erection of wall up to 1.5M and laying of hardcore hardstanding as described in the application and does not include any proposals for the change of use of the site from its current designation. No approval is granted for the change of use of the site from the current site designation within the Area Plan for the South 2013.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal is considered to accord with Environment Policy 1 and Strategic Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the Photographs date stamped and received 10 March 2020, and Site Plan and Section drawing, received 17 November 2020. _______________________________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is a parcel of land which lies on the southern side of the Castletown Road which runs between Four Roads, Port St. Mary and Bay ny Carrickey, Rushen. The site has a frontage to the road of 11m and the site widens towards the rear boundary. - 1.2 The site has stone walls along its frontage with sections of the site elevation partly enclosed in the stone which continues towards the rear elevation. The site is grassed and generally devoid of structures or features within. - 1.3 The nearest adjacent properties are two residential dwellings to the west - Douval and Brook Cottage and on the other side of the road, slightly to the east, is the Southern Civic Amenity site.

2.0 THE APPLICATION - 2.1 The application seeks permission for the levelling of site, erection of wall up to 1.5M and laying of hardcore hardstanding. - 2.2 The works would involve:

• 2.2.1 The clearing out of rubble "infill" (hardcore) at the rear section of the site to existing site level of site frontage in order to form a level area for the entire site. This would make the entire site area level with the abutting highway. The site would be infilled with hardcore type 1 to ground area compacted to road level throughout site.
• 2.2.2 The erection of walls to join up the existing walls and to create a retaining wall to shore up the raised section at the rear sections of the site that are enclosed by the raised earth bank. This wall would be 1.5m high (matching the existing stone walls) with concrete coping stones on top and floated render finish to walling, and would form a retaining wall for the raised bank.
• 2.3 These works would be done to ensure the entire site area has the same level so that the site can be tidied up and grassed. As at the time if the site visit, the rear elements of the existing wall had been broken up with the site levelled to its proposed position, with raised bank firmly compacted.

- 3.0 PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as not for a particular purpose and thus there is a presumption against development here as stated in Environment Policy 1 and General Policy 3. The site is not within an area of High Landscape Value on the 1982 Development Plan and as such, Environment Policy 2 is not applicable. On the draft Landscape Character Appraisal which is incorporated into the Area Plan for the South, the site lies within an area of Incised Slopes and where the site is not identified in particular but the overall objective in the landscape strategy is to preserve the existing rural character appearance and distinctiveness of the area. - 3.2 The following policies of the Strategic Plan are also considered to be relevant in the assessment and determination of the application:

• 3.2.1 Paragraph 7.5: Protection of the Open Countryside

• 7.5.1 Areas of open countryside fall both inside and outside the existing landscape classification system. It is important however that this openness is not detrimentally affected by inappropriate development. Where areas of countryside fall outside the designation of 'High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance' or are not recognised within any category contained within any revised landscape assessment in the future, this does not imply that these land areas are poor in appearance or quality. It is recognised that all of the countryside across the Island is generally of a good quality and where development proposals are permitted by other policies of the plan, they should be

designed in such a way which helps preserve the rural character of the open countryside. Accordingly, the following general policy is adopted.

Environment Policy 1: 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.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an over-riding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative.

• 3.2.2 Strategic Policy 4: Proposals for development must:

• (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings(1), Conservation Areas(2), buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest;
• (b) protect or enhance the landscape quality and nature conservation value of urban as well as rural areas but especially in respect to development adjacent to Areas of Special Scientific Interest and other designations; and
• (c) not cause or lead to unacceptable environmental pollution or disturbance.

- 4.0 PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 A previous application for Certificate of Lawful Use for the use of site for storage of equipment and materials under PA 20/00008/LAW was declined for the following reason:

"It has not been demonstrated that the use of the site for the storage of materials and plant has ever been carried on in a material sense or that it has been used for such for a period of ten years".

As such, the site is still considered as land not designated for a particular purpose, as there is no change in use status.

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

5.1 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division confirms that they 'Do not oppose' in the letter dated 27 November 2020.

5.2 Rushen Commissioners have stated that they support the application in a letter dated 19 November 2020. - 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 There are two main issues with this application, the first being the impact upon the landscape due to the proposed excavation and levelling works, and second the impact of the proposed works on the street scene.

6.2 Regarding the levelling works and erection of stone wall to form a walled enclosure around site and retaining wall at rear section of site, it is necessary to consider the policies aimed at protecting the Manx countryside and in particular areas of incised slopes where the overall objective in the landscape strategy is to preserve the existing rural character appearance and distinctiveness of the area. Environmental Policy 1 therefore sets out that the countryside will be protected for its own sake and that development which will adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted.

6.3 As indicated the levelling works involved the excavation of sections of the site which resulted in the increase in the site area that is level with the highway and reduction in the size of elevated sections of the site. These works when completed would change the appearance of the landscape around the site, especially when viewed from the abutting highway and surrounding fields, albeit, the works would tidy up the area and improve the appearance of the landscape; creating a uniform appearance with the surrounding area; as the site is the only part of the landscape south of the

• highway currently in poor form. As such, it is considered that the proposal would comply with Environment Policy 1.
• 6.4 In terms of the impact on the visual amenity of the street scene, it could be argued that the works would be in keeping with the character of the street scene given that the Manx stone wall which is a common feature within the street scene would be preserved. In addition, the works would tidy up the site area and ensure that the site area ties in with the appearance of the surrounding sites with the undulating green surrounding blending in with the graded sections on the southern end of the site when the grass is fully grown. Therefore, it is considered that the impact of the proposed material alteration of the site upon the visual amenity and openness of the area would be positive and would accord with Strategic Policy 4 (b & c).

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 Overall, it is considered the proposals would be acceptable and in keeping with the character of the surrounding countryside for the reasons given within this report. Accordingly the application is recommended for approval. - 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 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 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 : 18.12.2020 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.