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Case Officer: Mr Chris Balmer Photo Taken: 02.05.2014 Site Visit: 02.05.2014 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation
1.1 The application site comprises the curtilage of Cliff Lodge, which is located on the north-western side of Switzerland Road. The site consists of the residential property and a cliff face, which has extensive vegetation. To the north east of the application site is the residential property of No.1 Switzerland Terrace and to the south west is the Edelweiss Hotel. The application site is located within an area zoned as Tourism/Residential within the Douglas Local Plan. The application site is also within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area.
2.1 The application seeks approval for the variation to condition one of PA 09/01324/B to extend the period of approval by six months.
2.2 The original application (09/01324/B) proposed to demolish the existing two storey building and erect three townhouses with associated parking. The building will be 15.3m in width and will be between 10.8m and 14.18 m in depth to the cliff face. The building will be between 11.1m and 12.8m in height to the ridge height when measured from pavement level. The building will be finished in white render, Manx stone and natural slate.
3.1 Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: Strategic Policy 4, General Policy 2, Environment Policies 35, 39 and 42, Housing Policy 6, Transport Policies 1, 4 and 7.
3.2 Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic 2007 states that "Within a Conservation Area, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development."
3.3 Environment Policy 39 states that "The general presumption will be in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area."
3.4 Environment Policy 42 states that "New development in existing settlements must be designed to take account of the particular character and identity, in terms of buildings and landscape features of the immediate locality. Inappropriate backland development, and the
| Application No.: | 14/00333/C |
| Applicant: | Forest Homes Developments Limited |
| Proposal: | Variation to condition one of PA 09/01324/B to extend the period of approval by six months |
| Site Address: | Cliff Lodge |
| Switzerland Road | |
| Douglas | |
| Isle Of Man | |
| IM2 4NG |
removal of open or green spaces which contribute to the visual amenity and sense of place of a particular area will not be permitted. Those open or green spaces which are to be preserved will be identified in Area Plans."
Section 18 (4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 states that "Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing it character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act."
3.5 Housing Policy 6 states "Development of land which is zoned for residential development must be undertaken in accordance with the brief in the relevant area plan, or, in the absence of a brief, in accordance with the criteria in paragraph 6.2 of this Plan. Briefs will encourage good and innovative design, and will not be needlessly prescriptive."
3.6 Transport Policy 4 states that "The new and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the environmental objectives of this plan."
3.7 Transport Policy 7 states that "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards."
3.8 Within Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Policy and Guidance Notes of the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: CA/2 and CA/6
4.1 The following previous application is considered relevant in the consideration of this application:
4.2 09/01324/B - Demolition of existing dwellings and erection of three town houses with associated parking - approved - Condition 1 of the approval stated : "The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice."
4.3 07/01930/B - Demolition of existing building and erection of an apartment block to provide eight apartments with associated car parking - refused at appeal on 13th August 2008.
The reasons for refusal where as follows:
1) The demolition of the building within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area would be contrary to Policy CA/6 of Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and Environment Policies 35 and 39 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 in that no proper assessment has been carried out and submitted to assess the merits/justification for the demolition of the building. It is therefore considered that the demolition of the building would be premature and would adversely affect the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.
2) The proposed development would be contrary to General Policy 2, Environment Policies 35 and 42 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 by reason of its height, design, massing and external appearance and will introduce a prominent and incongruous structure that will be out of keeping with the locality and would not preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Conservation Area, to the detriment of the visual amenities of the locality. In particular, the inclusion of a flat roof within a streetscene characterised generally by pitched roofs would be unsympathetic to the appearance of the streetscene and would
emphasise the height of the building, and the provision of a series of garage doors at pedestrian level would be unattractive and out of keeping with the domestic scale of surrounding buildings at this level.
3) The proposed development would be contrary to General Policy 2 and Housing Policy 6 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 by reason of its height, design, massing, siting and close proximity to No.1 Switzerland Terrace in that it would result in overshadowing, loss of light, would be overbearing and a visual intrusion to the occupiers of No.1 Switzerland Terrace.
4) The proposal would not provide satisfactory amenity standards for some of the occupants, in that there would be unacceptable levels of natural light to certain bedrooms.
4.4 06/02176/A - Approval in principle for the erection of a block of nine apartments and associated parking – application deemed withdrawn on 15th June 2007.
5.1 No objection has been received.
6.1 The principle issue in the determination of this application is whether there have been any Material Planning matters (i.e. Policy changes/ land used designations / Local Plan adoption etc) that have changed since the approval of the last application.
6.2 The applicants have indicated that they wish to extend the period by 6 months, as they are currently in the process of a Building Control Application (submitted November 2013), where a full survey of the cliff is required and preparing of this report is being undertaken (albeit a consultant from the UK is required and this has delayed the engineering aspect of the scheme). They believe this extension will enable the Building Regulation application to be approved and commence works on the site.
6.3 Since the initial approval there have been no material planning changes which have arisen. The Douglas Local Plan, Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and the Isle of Man Strategic Plan are still in force and have not been superseded. Furthermore, no objections have been received.
6.4 Accordingly, it is considered for those reasons it is appropriate to extend permission of the application to commence by a further 6 months.
7.0 RECOMMENDATION 7.1 It is recommended that the application be approved. 8.0 PARTY STATUS
8.1 It is considered that the following meet the criteria of Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2013, paragraph 6 (4) and should be afforded interested party status:
Douglas Corporation DOI Highway Services
Recommended Decision: Permitted
C: Conditions for approval N: Notes attached to conditions R: Reasons for refusal O: Notes attached to refusals
The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of six months from the date of this decision notice.
Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
This approval is subject to the same conditions and terms as approved under planning application 09/01324/B.
Reason: The ensure the development is erected in accordance with all of requirements and conditions of the previous planning application.
This approval relates to Drawings reference numbers 0610/PL100 all received on 25th March 2014.
I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to Director of Planning and Building Control /Head of Development Management/ Senior Planning Officer.
Decision Made: Permitted Date: 20 May 2014
Signed: _________________________ Chris Balmer
Senior Planning Officer
Signed: _________________________ Michael Gallagher
Director of Planning and Building Control Signed: Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer Signed: Jennifer Chance Head of Development Management
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