DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 20/01296/CON Applicant: Manx National Heritage Proposal: Registered Building Consent for internal alterations to the outer gatehouse Site Address: Castle Rushen The Quay Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1LD Technical Officer: Mr Thomas Sinden Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 15.12.2020 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. The works hereby granted registered building consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this consent.

Reason: To comply with paragraph 2(2)(a) of schedule 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented registered building consents.

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

The proposal meets the tests of Section 16 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999, Strategic Policy 4 and Environment Policy 32 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 as the building is being preserved and the building fabric is being enhanced. The application is therefore judged to be acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

The decision relates to drawings 554CT-P03 and 01 to 13 received on 4th November 2020. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is Castle Rushen, Registered Building no.24, a large limestone fortress initially built around 1200AD. Manx National Heritage state in their information regarding the site that Castle

• Rushen is one of the best preserved medieval castles in the world. While originally used as a military fortress, the site has also been used as a royal residence, a mint, a prison and a courthouse.
• 1.2 The works proposed under this Registered Building Application focus on the Outer Gatehouse. Whilst initially built for defence, when the Castle was converted to a prison in the early 1800s, the Outer Gatehouse served an administrative purpose. Since the prison was relocated in the 1890s, the site has served as a museum alongside other civic purposes. The ground floor of the outer gatehouse now serves as part of the visitor ticket office and souvenir shop, while the first floor was used as a courtroom until 2013 and is now unused. Much of the fabric in the first floor courtroom dates from the 1970s, with a modern suspended ceiling and timber boarded painted plasterboard walls.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application proposes internal alterations to the outer gatehouse, including the removal of the existing modern suspended ceiling and the installation of a higher ceiling with raked outer sections. The raised area of floor is to be removed, returning the whole floor to one level. In additional to this, remedial works are proposed to improve the weatherproofing at the head of the first floor windows, and an opening is to be created in the first floor structure to facilitate the future installation of an accessible platform lift. The intention is for the room to be used for the Investiture Ceremony of the Island's Governor, but also to be suitable for temporary exhibitions.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 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.

3.2 National policy: THE ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 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;

Environment Policy 32: Extensions or alterations to a Registered Building which would affect detrimentally its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest will not be permitted.

Environment Policy 34: In the maintenance, alteration or extension of pre-1920 buildings, the use of traditional materials will be preferred.

• Environment Policy 40: Development will not be permitted which would damage, disturb or detract from an important archaeological site or an Ancient Monument or the setting thereof.
• Environment Policy 41: The Department will require that archaeological evaluations be submitted prior to the determination of proposals affecting sites of known or potential archaeological significance. In cases where remains are affected but preservation in-situ is not merited, the Department will expect to secure excavations and/or recording in advance of construction work either by the imposition of suitable conditions attached to a planning permission or through a formal agreement entered into with the developer.

3.3 Planning Policy Statements: 1/01 Policy and Guidance Notes for the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man

POLICY RB/3 General criteria applied in considering registered building applications The issues that are generally relevant to the consideration of all registered building applications are:-

• o The importance of the building, its intrinsic architectural and historic interest and rarity, relative to the Island as a whole and within the local context;
• o The particular physical features of the building (which may include its design, plan, materials
• or location) which justify its inclusion in the register; descriptions annexed to the entry in the register may draw attention to features of particular interest or value, but they are not exhaustive and other features of importance, (e.g. Interiors, murals, hidden fireplaces) may come to light after the building's entry in the register;
• o The building's setting and its contribution to the local scene, which may be very important, e.g. Where it forms an element in a group, park, garden or other townscape or landscape, or where it shares particular architectural forms or details with other buildings nearby (including
• other registered buildings).

POLICY RB/5 ALTERATIONS AND EXTENSIONS In considering whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting and in considering whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the 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.

Registered building consent is required for the building's alteration in any way which would affect its special architectural or historic character. There will be a general presumption against alteration or extension of registered buildings, except where a convincing case can be made, against the criteria set out in this section, for such proposals.

Applicants for registered building consent for alteration or extension to a registered building must be able to justify their proposals. They will be required to show why the works which would affect the character of the registered building are desirable or necessary and they should provide full information to enable the Department to assess the likely impact of their proposals on the special architectural or historic interest of the building and on its setting. Where registered buildings are the subject of successive applications for alteration or extension, consideration will also be given to the cumulative effect upon the building's special interest as a result of several minor works which may individually seem of little consequence.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 Applications 17/00857/GB and 17/00858/CON approved various alterations including the relocation of the visitor shop, replacement of the drawbridge, and a new ramp and steps to the ground floor of the keep.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division have stated that there is no highways interest in the application (27.11.2020). - 5.2 Castletown Commissioners have stated that whilst they are disappointed in a lack of detail regarding the mobility access element of the application, the Commissioners are supportive of the aims (8.12.2020).

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The issues for the application are the preservation of the Registered Building, its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest. - 6.2 Whilst Castle Rushen is a nationally important building and ancient monument, the works within this application focus on an area that has been heavily altered and retains almost no historic fabric internally. Much of the visible fabric dates from the 1970s and is related to the building's use as a courtroom until 2013. The works proposed are intended to remove much of this modern fabric, returning the floor to a single level, removing the suspended ceiling and installing a raked ceiling in its place. The removal of these modern features is judged to enhance the fabric of the Registered Building in accordance with Strategic Policy 4, and therefore judged to be acceptable. - 6.3 The application also proposes to undertake remedial works to window heads to reduce water ingress. The works proposed appear to be well thought out and sympathetically designed, and are clearly intended to preserve the building in accordance with Section 16 (3b) of The Town and Country Planning Act 1999, and therefore judged to be acceptable. - 6.4 The final element of works proposed within the application is to trim out a section of the existing first floor in order to accommodate a platform lift that will enable access for mobility impaired visitors. Following a site visit with Manx National Heritage's Head of Properties, the portion of floor being removed is not thought to be historic. The detailed installation of the platform lift,and any associated access works, is to be the subject of a future Registered Building Application, and therefore detailed matters regarding this element will be assessed at that time. As the preparatory works within this application are not impacting on any of the building's historic fabric, and will facilitate future access to an area not currently in public view, it is judged that this will enhance the special historic interest of the building and is therefore judged acceptable.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 It is judged that the proposal meets the tests of Section 16 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999, Strategic Policy 4 and Environment Policy 32 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 as the building is being preserved and the building fabric is being enhanced. The application is therefore 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 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: 15.12.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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