DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 23/00660/B Applicant: Mr Jason Marc And Mrs Deborah Helen Corlett Proposal: Alterations, erection of extension and decking (Amendment to PA 22/00279/B) Site Address: Ard Beg Pinfold Hill Laxey Isle Of Man IM4 7HN Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.07.2023

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.

• C 2. Obscure glazing (Grade 5) shall be installed in the South elevation of the first floor en suite bathroom window and shall be kept and maintained thereafter. Reason: To preserve the amenities of the occupants of the adjacent dwelling.

N . FOR YOUR INFORMATION Please be aware that a ban on the installation of fossil fuel heating systems in any new building(s) and or extension(s), will come into force on 1st January 2025.

You therefore are encouraged to ensure that your proposed development includes alternatives to fossil fuel heating systems if you believe that such works will not be completed by that date.

To this end, if you propose an alternative, such as air source or ground source heat pump(s), or any other heating system that would require planning approval, the details of this should be addressed now. This may require you to resubmit your planning application to accommodate the alternative permitted heating system proposed.

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

The planning application accords with the provisions set out in General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 22 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 28th February 2022;

• o Location Plan
• o Drawing No. 1
• o Drawing No. 2 - As approved
• o Drawing No. 2 - Proposed with addition of Log Burner
• o Proposed Roof Plan _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Ard Beg, Pinfold Hill, Laxey which is a single storey detached dwelling located to the western side of Pinfold Hill. The property has a hipped roof with two chimney stacks. - 1.2 Pinfold Hill is characterised by detached single and two storey houses sited on a steep incline with views out over the coast. The style of the properties in this area is architecturally varied. The properties along the east of Pinfold Hill, including the site, are accessible from the main road via steps leading to the front of the building, and accessed from the rear of Pinfold Lane where several properties have made parking spaces. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The proposal is an almost copy of PA22/00279/B, description below, of which there is the addition of a log burner and flue and the addition of a utility door to the North Elevation. - 2.2 The description of PA22/00279/B reads, "2.1 The current planning application seeks approval to erect an extension to the East elevation and to raise the height of the property to create a rooms in the roofspace bungalow with feature pitch to the East elevations. The proposal will raise the roof pitch by 1.7m high to accommodate new living accommodation on a new first floor level. - 2.3 The proposal will also include the alteration to the exterior to the property, to where the proposed pitched two storey extension will be situated, to install grey eternity cedar or similar replica cladding. - 2.4 To the east elevation on the first floor level there is proposed a Juliet balcony. - 2.5 To the South elevation, there is proposed to be raised decking which is to be in an L shape and is to take up the whole length of the property." PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The application site has had one previous application PA22/00279/B which was for "Alterations, erection of extension and decking" and was Permitted with one additional condition other than the time limit condition, "Obscure glazing (Grade 5) shall be installed in the South elevation of the first floor en suite bathroom window and shall be kept and maintained thereafter. Reason: To preserve the amenities of the occupants of the adjacent dwelling." PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Area Plan for the East, Map 7 - Laxey.

4.2 Given the nature of the residential property and the land designation paragraph 8.12.1 and General Policy 2 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are most relevant to its assessment which set out the general standards towards acceptable development, this is then followed by Environment Policy 22 which sets out prevention of unacceptable harm to the environment and/or amenity of neighbouring properties. - 4.3 The recently released Residential Design Guidance 2021 is also a material consideration particularly those parts in respect of good neighbourliness and overlooking. - 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. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the application and have no highways interest. (02.06.23) - 5.3 Garff Commissioners have considered the application and state "The previous related approval is noted. There were no objections to these amendments. Commissioners' Recommendation: Approval." (18.07.23) ASSESSMENT

- 6.1 PREAMBLE

• 6.1.1 It is necessary to note that the previous application PA22/00279/B, assessed the majority of the proposal within this application. With regards to the proposed roof the following is relevant, "6.2.5 Whilst this is the case, whilst the proposed raising of the roof by approximately 1.7m will be noticeable in the streetscene, due to the alterations already done to the properties in this area and taking into account that the neighbouring property has permission for the raising of the roof, the rising of the roof proposed within this application are unlikely to create harm to the overall streetscene by way of its character and appearance and will ultimately fit in with the properties already in situ.
• 6.1.2 With regards to the extensions and decking, the officer stated, "6.2.6 Turning to the proposed front and rear extensions and the proposed timber cladding, both extensions are acceptable in their appearance and whilst the extension to the East will substantially change the property from what can be seen at the moment, the proposal will add modern elements to an aged property which will not affect the overall character and/or appearance of the surrounding area due to their already being property's close by which have had modern alterations done."

• 6.1.3 With regards to neighbouring amenity it is relevant to note the following, "6.3.2 With regards to the North and South elevations, there is one window proposed within the first floor level which is for a en-suite bathroom. To assist in there being no perceived or actual overlooking from this window, a condition should be attached to make sure the window is obscure glazed" and "6.3.6 Due to the topography of the site and the surrounding area, there is already a certain amount of perceived and actual overlooking in the rear gardens of the properties, as such noting the proposed use of the rooms as bedroom and the existing situation it was deemed that the proposed windows to the East elevation within the rear would not exacerbate the existing situation enough to warrant refusal."
• 6.1.4 As such with the above in mind and the fact that the previous application was approved, the following is assessing the log burner and flue and the installation of the utility door.

- 6.2 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.2.1 When looking at the proposal as a whole, firstly the installation of a utility door is unlikely to add an impact upon the overall streetscene due to its location within the dwelling. Turning towards the proposed flue, the proposed flue is to be situated to the elevation which will sit alongside Pinfold Hill, as such it will be within a public vantage point. Whilst this is the case, it would not be a feature which would have a significant visual impact given its size and given that flues are not an unusual feature seen within residential properties.
• 6.2.2 Accordingly, it is considered that the proposed utility door and flue would be an appropriate form of development within the streetscene from a character and appearance point of view.
• 6.3 IMPACT ON NEIGHBOURS

• 6.3.1 Turning to whether the proposal would have an impact upon the amenity of the neighbouring properties. There have been flues approved and refused with the main issues arising from them are with regards to the possibility of smoke or smells being emitted. When a flue is installed it is normally in connection with an item which would need to be installed by a HETAS registered installer or with a Building Control application, as such a flue would be checked to make sure that the flue is acceptable in terms of Environmental issues which could arise in its installation.
• 6.3.2 The proposed flue is situated approximately 7m away from both the property to the North East and South West, as such 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. CONCLUSION

7.1 Overall it is concluded that the planning application accords with the provisions set out in General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 22 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and the principles of the RDG and as such the planning application is recommended for approval. 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: 28.07.2023 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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