DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00652/GB Applicant: LT Properties Limited Proposal: Installation of rear balcony at first floor level and change of use from offices to single dwelling (in association with RB consent application 23/00653/CON) Site Address: 9 Auckland Terrace Parliament Street Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1AF Technical Officer: Mr Thomas Sinden Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.08.2023

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.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The proposals meet the tests of Section 16 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 as the character of the Registered Building is being preserved. The proposals also meet tests within the relevant strategic plan policies and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 as the registered building is being protected and preserved, the proposals would not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the surrounding streetscape. Although the site is located in an area at risk of tidal flooding, the property's historic use as a dwelling and the mitigation measures proposed are such that it is judged that the use is acceptable in this instance. It is therefore judged that the application is acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to drawings 1659.2rev1 and 1659.3rev1 received 22nd August 2023, and the other supporting information received 25th May 2023.

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

The Department of Infrastructure Flood Risk Management Division have raised matters that the Department considers material, and as such it is recommended that they be awarded Interest Party Status. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is 9 Auckland Terrace, a three storey mid-terrace property on the north side of Parliament Street in Ramsey. The property (and the terrace as a whole) is in a Georgian style, dating from the early to mid-19th century. Numbers 3 to 10 inclusive are included on the Protected Buildings Register (RB 152). - 1.2 The property is currently in use as an office (although vacant), and also has a recent approval for conversion to two self-contained apartments.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application proposes to convert the property back to a single dwelling, including the installation of a rear balcony at first floor level. The application is concurrent with registered building consent application 23/00653/CON).

3.0 PLANNING POLICY. - 3.1 The site is within an area defined as Town Centre - Mixed Use on the Ramsey Local Plan 1998 (Map 2). The site is in an area at high risk of tidal flooding. - 3.2 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 S16 Registered buildings: supplementary provisions

(3) In considering (b) whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the relevant Department shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.

3.3 National policy: THE ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 General Policy 2: (b) (c) (g) Strategic Policy 4 Environment Policy 13

• Environment Policy 32
• Environment Policy 33
• Environment Policy 34

3.4 Planning Policy Statements: 1/01 Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man POLICY RB/5 - ALTERATIONS AND EXTENSIONS

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The Department's electronic database contains the following applications for the site:

Reference Number: 16/00370/CON Status: Permitted

Proposal: Registered Building consent for the installation of an additional hair washing sink in approved salon area and replacement of existing ground and basement (lower section) staircase (Registered Building Nos. 152)

Reference Number: 16/00058/C Status: Permitted Proposal: Change of use of basement office / store to a beauty salon and ground floor office to a hair salon

Reference Number: 21/00251/CON Status: Permitted Proposal: Registered Building Consent for the conversion and erection of extension of existing offices to provide two residential apartments (class 3.4) (in association with 21/00250/GB) Registered Building Nos. 152

Reference Number: 21/00250/GB Status: Permitted Proposal: Conversion and erection of extension of existing offices to provide two residential apartments (class 3.4) (in association with 21/00251/CON)

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Department's website. This report contains summaries only. - 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure Flood Risk Management Division objects to the application on the basis that sleeping accommodation is proposed at basement and/or ground floor level (5.6.2023). - 5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services finds the application to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking (6.6.2023).

5.2 Ramsey Town Commissioners have no objection to the application (29.6.2023). - 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The pertinent issues to be assessed by this application are the impact of the proposed alterations on the special interest of the registered building, the impact on the amenity of local residents, and the impact on the character of the surrounding townscape. - 6.2 External alterations and their impact on the registered building and surrounding townscape. The extent of the alterations proposed within this application are at the rear of the property, with a window proposed to be replaced by a glazed door and a small external terrace constructed, with a glass balustrade surround. The balcony would overlook the property's rear yard, and the rear yard of no.10 Auckland Terrace to the west. In terms of the impact on the amenity of no.10, the balcony would have a degree of overlooking. The proposed balcony is very modest in size (less than two square metres), and as such is not judged to be a place where a group of people are going to spend extended periods of time. In addition to this, the balcony is proposed to be on the half landing, not level with the windows of no.10. With these factors in mind, it is judged that the proposed balcony would not have any significant negative impact on the amenity of the neighbouring property. In terms of the impact on the registered building, the application proposes to remove a rear window and replace it with a door. Whilst the detailed matter of the proposed works and their impact on the registered building's special interest are a matter for the concurrent registered building application (23/00653/CON), it is worth having in mind that the physical alterations requiring planning consent are focussed in the rear yard and on the outrigger (the outrigger does not appear on the first edition ordnance survey map from the 1860s). Although the addition of a small balcony with access via a new

• doorway is not something that would have existed historically, the intervention would be obviously modern, could be reversed in the future, and is considered to be very modest given the building's scale. With the above factors in mind, the alterations to the registered building are considered acceptable given that they would help to facilitate returning the building to its original use.
• 6.3 Use change impact on amenity of local residents. The property's existing establish use is an office. The properties along Auckland Terrace currently have a mix of office and residential use. Historically, all of the properties along the terrace would have been single dwellings. The property has parking within its rear yard for two vehicles, and is sited on Ramsey's principal shopping street close to the main bus routes and other amenities within the town. With these things in mind, the parking provision is judged sufficient for the proposed single dwelling. As the application proposes to return the building to its historic use, and one that is akin to several of the other properties in the terrace, it is considered that the use would provide sufficient amenity standards in itself and have no adverse impact on the amenities of surrounding residents and other property users.
• 6.4 Flood risk considerations. The property is in an area at high risk of tidal flooding. The Department of Infrastructure Flood Risk Management Division have objected to the application on the basis that sleeping accommodation is proposed at basement level. Environment Policy 13 states that development which would result in an unacceptable risk from flooding will not be permitted. The applicant has submitted a flood risk assessment with the application that lists the measures proposed to mitigate the level of risk. Whilst Flood Risk Management Division have raised concerns that temporary flood barriers are not ideal and require weather forecasts to be monitored, the terrace is entered on the Protected Buildings Register as a result of its special architectural and historic interest, and any permanent flood prevention measures that would impact the building's special interest need to be very carefully considered. This application proposes to return the building to its former use, and as such it is considered to be a different scenario to a proposal to put a building to a new use as residential. The use as residential has also recently been approved under application 21/00250/GB, an approval that could still be implemented without any further consents. The preamble to Environment Policy 33 concerning the change of use of registered buildings states that "the best use for a Registered Building is usually the use for which the building was designed." Given the property's registered status, its former use as a single dwelling, and the mitigation measures that are proposed, the fact that the site is at high risk of tidal flooding is not considered a sufficient reason to refuse the application in this instance.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 It is judged that the proposals meet the tests of Section 16 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 as the character of the Registered Building is being preserved. The proposals also meet tests within the relevant strategic plan policies and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 as the registered building is being protected and preserved, the proposals would not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the surrounding streetscape. Although the site is located in an area at risk of tidal flooding, the property's historic use as a dwelling and the mitigation measures proposed are such that it is judged that the use is acceptable in this instance. It is therefore recommended that the application be approved. - 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 a Principal Planner 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: 05.09.2023 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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