Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No.: 25/90282/B Applicant: Mr & Mrs Christopher And Janette Gledhill Proposal: Erection of an integral extension to the rear of the existing garage Site Address: Crofton Pooilvaaish Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 4PJ Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.04.2025 _________________________________________________________________

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.

It is considered that there is no demonstrable harm arising from the proposal and, in view of the provisions of Paragraph 9.5.8, General Policy 2, Housing Policy 16 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the application is therefore recommended for approval.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 17th March 2025;

• o Drawing No.01
• o Drawing No. 02
• o Drawing No. 03
• o Drawing No. 04
• o Photographs of the site _________________________________________________________________

Right to Appeal

It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: DOI Highway Services - No objection

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of "Crofton," Pooilvaaish Road, Castletown, which is a large two storey dwelling situated to the North East of Pooilvaaish Road. - 1.2 To the rear of the existing garage there is a large amount of hardstanding. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the erection of a single storey extension to the existing garage which is situated to North of the property. The proposed extension is to measure 4.7m by 4m, with a garage door situated on the rear elevation. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The following application are relevant to the assessment of this application; PA18/00348/B - Erection of a garage with link extension to dwelling - Permitted PA17/00240/B - Variation of condition application to remove condition 3 pf PA16/00780/B, relating to the installation of sliding sash windows - Permitted PA16/00780/B - Erection of replacement dwelling - Permitted PA15/01346/B - Erection of a replacement detached dwelling - Permitted PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "not for development" on the Area Plan for the South. The site is not within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 Given the nature of the application, the land designation and the traditional form of the property. Housing Policy 16 is the key policy and seeks that extension of non-traditional dwellings or those of poor or inappropriate form will not generally be permitted where this would increase the impact of the building as viewed by the public. - 4.3 There are a number of other relevant policies specific to this application, Strategic Policy 5 which seeks that new development should make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island, General Policy 2 sets out general development control standards in connection with the Residential Design Guidance, General Policy 3 states that development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan other than a number of stated exceptions, which do not include the extension of existing dwellings and Environment Policy 1 seeks to prevent development which would adversely affect the side other than in exceptional circumstances. - 4.4 Furthermore consideration shall also be given to Community Policies 7 and 11 in respect of reducing outbreak of fire and preventing criminal activity and Infrastructure Policy 5 in respect of water conservation. - 4.5 Other material considerations for this application is the Residential Design Guidance (2021) which, although focused on dwellings within settlements, does offer advice in relation to the impact on neighbours and also Planning Policy Statement 3/91 which provides guidance on the design of residential development in the countryside.

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "No Highways Interest." (24.03.25)

5.3 Arbory and Rushen Commissioners were consulted on the 18th March 2025, of which no comments have been received at the time of writing this report, 22.04.25.

ASSESSMENT

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

• - principle (HP16, GP3)
• - detail of design (GP2, b,c & HP16)
• - impact on neighing amenity (GP2, g)
• - other matters (RDG, CP7, 11 & IP5)

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 The site is not designated for development, nor does it meet the expectation criteria in General Policy 3. However, Housing Policy 16 and its supporting text clearly allows for residential extensions and/or alterations in the countryside where they would not detract from the countryside which, in the case of the extension of non-traditional buildings means they must not increase the impact of the building as viewed by the public.
• 6.2.2 Due to the properties location within the overall streetscene and the surrounding environment, views of the rear of the property are unlikely, or if they are seen from Fishers Hill, the extension will be seen as a residential extension situated upon a residential property, as such the impact of the property when viewed by the public would be minimal.
• 6.2.3 Whilst the principle in general is acceptable, it is required to see whether the proposed works on this site would be acceptable.

- 6.3 DETAIL OF DESIGN

• 6.3.1 Turning towards the design of the proposed works, they are subordinate to the existing garage and in keeping with the existing dwelling, as such the proposed works are unlikely to impact the overall character and appearance of the property within the streetscene and as such deemed acceptable.

6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.4.1 With regards to neighbouring amenity, the nearest neighbour is "Spindrift" situated to the North West of the site, overall whilst a window is proposed within the elevation which will face onto them, this window is no higher than at eye level, which would not increase any perceived or actual overlooking above and beyond what would already be in place with the use of the rear garden of "Crofton."

• 6.4.2 The proposed works are approximately 32m away from the main dwelling of "Spindrift" and as such it is deemed that there would not be an impact from the works in relation to loss of light or overbearing impact.

6.5 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.5.1 The proposed works are an extension to an already existing structure within the residential site, as such the proposal is not expected to create any changes or new issues in respect of criminal actively or spread of fire. The proposal whilst increasing the surface area of the garage, any water run-off will be dealt with as per the existing arrangement of the existing garage. The proposed garage extension is deemed not be increasing water usage of the dwelling as a whole and therefore there are no new issues in this respect.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal complies with Housing Policy 16 and General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016. RIGHT TO APPEAL AND RIGHT TO GIVE EVIDENCE

8.1 The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 sets out the process for determining planning applications (including appeals). It sets out a Right to Appeal (i.e. to submit an appeal against a planning decision) and a Right to Give Evidence at Appeals (i.e. to participate in an appeal if one is submitted). - 8.2 Article A10 sets out that the right to appeal is available to:

• o applicant (in all cases);
• o a Local Authority; Government Department; Manx Utilities; and Manx National Heritage that submit a relevant objection; and
• o any other person who has made an objection that meets specified criteria.

8.3 Article 8(2)(a) requires that in determining an application, the Department must decide who has a right to appeal, in accordance with the criteria set out in article A10. - 8.4 The Order automatically affords the Right to Give Evidence to the following (no determination is required):

• o any appellant or potential appellant (which includes the applicant);
• o the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, the Department of Infrastructure and the local authority for the area;
• o any other person who has submitted written representations (this can include other Government Departments and Local Authorities); and
• o in the case of a petition, a single representative. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 : Permitted Date : 23.04.2025 Determining Officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the office copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online service/customers and archive record.