DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00406/B Applicant: Miss Sarah Quine Proposal: Installation of a flue Site Address: 15 St Stephens Meadow Sulby Isle Of Man IM7 3DA : Graham Northern Photo Taken: 30.04.2024 Site Visit: 30.04.2024 Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 10.05.2024

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 proposed development is acceptable in terms of its form, mass and design by providing a suitable addition to an existing residential property and as such comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 4, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (2016).

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to drawings referenced; 24-110-01 Rev A, 24- 110-02 Rev A and 24-11003 Rev A, and documents all received 10.04.24 . _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

- 1.0 THE SITE

1.1 The application site relates to a detached dwelling house and its associated curtilage at the end of the cul-de-sac, St. Stephens Meadow, a residential estate constructed in the early 2000s. The site falls within the wider established settlement boundary of Sulby, is bounded by mature vegetation along its rear boundary.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Planning permission is sought for the erection of a flue to the gable side elevation of the property. The flue would resemble the height of the existing chimney and would facilitate a log burning stove in the ground floor living room.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 No recent planning history

4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The application site is identified on the Sulby Local Plan (1998) as land zoned for 'predominantly residential' purposes, is not within a Conservation Area nor identified as being at risk of flooding. - 4.2 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered pertinent in the assessment of this application;

Strategic Policy 2 Priority for new development to identified towns and villages 3 To respect the character of our towns and villages 5 Design and visual impact

Spatial Policy 4 Development in Remaining Villages General Policy 2b,c,g General Development Considerations Environment Policy 42 Designed to respect the character and identity of the locality Community Policy 7 Designing out criminal and anti-social behaviour 11 Prevention for the outbreak and spread of fire

4.3 Residential Design Guide (2021) This document provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing property as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential properties and sustainable methods of construction.

This specifically refers to flues as follows: "5.1.4 In recent years the Department has seen a number of planning application for flues serving wood burning stoves, and is broadly supportive of these. Consideration should be given to their placement, height, size, and finish, as the main issue is likely to be the visual appearance of them and whether they would fit with the existing property and the streetscene as a whole.

• 5.1.5 Tall and/or prominent flues which have a detrimental impact to a property and/or streetscene are unlikely to be supported. Where a flue may have an unacceptable detrimental impact, it may be possible to mitigate the impact by: o colouring the flue to blend in with the existing colour of the wall the flue may adjoin (or a dark colour when the flue sits within a

roof); o encasing the flue so that it appears as a chimney; or o incorporating the flue within the existing or new chimney stacks.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Lezayre Parish Commissioners - no comments received - 5.2 Highways Services - no highways interest (19.04.24) - 5.3 Environmental Health - The proposed flue appears to discharge at the same height as the existing chimney and in the same vicinity, we would have no comments or additional conditions to add (02.05.24).

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are as follows:

• - Principle of development (SP4)
• - Design and visual impact (STP5, GP2, EP42)
• - Impact upon neighbouring amenity (GP2, g)

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 The site falls within the settlement boundary of Sulby and an area zoned for residential development, where there is a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing properties provided such development would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent properties or the surrounding area in general.

6.3 DESIGN AND VISUAL IMPACT

• 6.3.1 The proposed side flue is of a height similar to that of the existing chimney and it is located to the side gable facing the end of the cul de sac making it well screened by the existing property and chimney from the majority of public vantage points. The flue is not considered to have a significant adverse impact to the visual amenities of the property or street scene, been a more common form of development found to residential properties.

• 6.3.3 The proposals are therefore considered to be acceptable from a visual impact perspective in the context of the immediate streetscene and of a high quality of design, in compliance with General Policy 2 (b) & (c) and Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan

(2016). 6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.4.1 The proposed flue, by reason of its limited scale and siting in the context of adjacent properties either side, is not considered to result in a material impact upon the amenities of surrounding residential properties, particularly with respect to overdominance, obtrusiveness, overshadowing or overlooking. In addition in the absence of any evidence that this current proposed flue will result in harm to the living conditions of those in adjacent dwellings, it is considered that the application is acceptable. The proposals are therefore deemed compliant with General Policy 2 (g) of the Strategic Plan.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposed development is acceptable in terms of its form, mass and design by providing a suitable addition to an existing residential property and as such comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 4, General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 42 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (2016). 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 the Acting 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 : 15.05.2024 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting 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.