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Application No.: 25/00106/LAW Applicant: Mr Ernest Richmond Proposal: Certificate of Lawful Development for construction of a garage and terrace at the rear of the dwelling house, and re-slating of the roof Site Address: 6 Laureston Terrace Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 5DH Planning Officer: Lucy Kinrade Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date of Recommendation: 13.03.2025 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. There is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the construction of a garage and terrace at the rear of the dwelling house and been in situ and for a period in excess of 4 years and that the re-slating of the roof works are lawful by the reason that the re-slating in this case does not result in a material change to the external appearance of the building and therefore does not constitute development. For these reasons it is recommended that a Certificate of Lawful Development can be issued.
This application relates to the following all dated online as received 14th Feb 2025 and date validated 17th Feb 2025.
(2010)
_________________________________________________________________ Right to Appeal n/a
1.0 INTRODUCTION - 1.1 In accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4, Part 1, paragraph 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 ("the Act"), a development carried out in breach of planning control shall become immune from enforcement action after a certain period of time, provided that formal enforcement action has not already been taken. The relevant time periods are set out below:
1.2 Section 24 of the Act makes provision for the submission and issuing of a Certificate of Lawfulness to establish the lawfulness of a breach of planning control. - 1.3 An application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is determined on the basis of fact. Unlike an application for planning approval, it is not concerned with land-use planning considerations or the impacts of the development upon the public realm. - 1.4 The principal test is whether, on the balance of probabilities, the breach of planning control has occurred continuously for the given period. The burden of proof rests with the applicant and their evidence must be both precise and unambiguous. If the Planning Directorate has no evidence of its own to contradict that provided by the applicant, then provided that the applicant's evidence is sufficiently precise and unambiguous, a Certificate of Lawfulness may be issued. It is not usually necessary for the Planning Department to corroborate the applicant's evidence.
2.0 APPLICATION SITE - 2.1 The application site relates to 6 Laureston Terrace, Douglas.
3.0 THE PROPOSAL AND EVIDENCE SUBMITTED - 3.1 A Certificate of Lawful Development is sought for:
3.2 The application has been submitted with the following evidence (in no order):
(2010)
3.3 The application form completed by the applicant states that the operations started 1997 and in use 1998 and roofing works undertaken between 2001 and 2007 using CUPA4 slate.
4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The site has not been subject to previous applications.
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only. It must be reminded that LAW applications do not consider planning merits and are assessed on a factual basis only. - 5.1 DOI Highway Services - do not oppose (26/02/2025) no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking as the garage is off a slow speed back service road so visibility and parking is completed at low risk and HDC appear not to have recorded any history/incidents regarding safety issues with the erected garage. - 5.2 Douglas City Council - no objection (04/03/2025)
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 This is an application seeking a Certificate of Lawful Development, and therefore it is not a matter of considering the planning merits of the scheme but rather a legal determination based on the facts to establish whether the stated operations are established and lawful by period of time and therefore beyond the scope of enforcement action. The test of the evidence is based on the balance of reasonableness. In this instance, the applicant seeks to rely on the fact that the works in question have been in situ for a minimum of 4 years to establish that the development can be considered lawful, as set out in Part 4, Section 24(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999. - 6.2 The applicant has provided dated aerial images, streetview images, dated photographs and invoice statements. The aerial images and google have been crossed checked and are correct and along with the additional documents all contribute to a timeline of events that demonstrate that the garage and roof terrace have been in situ for a period in excess of 4 years and a certificate can be issued for these elements. - 6.3 In respect of the roofing works there is less evidence available to demonstrate the 4 years, however previous roof covering was slate and the works undertaken as shown in photographs provided show slate as being re-installed, and so the works do not result in a material change to the external appearance of the building. This roofing aspect of the application is lawful by the reason of the fact that it does not constitute development and a CLAW can be issued for this part.
7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 In view of the above, it is recommended that a Certificate of Lawfulness can be issued for all elements in respect of the garage, terrace and roofing works.
8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 As the application is for a CLU this is not required to be assessed. There is no right to appeal against this decision.
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, and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date : 18.03.2025 Determining Officer
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