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23/00923/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 23/00923/B Applicant : Mrs Chevrel Ann Traher Proposal : Convert existing yard fence and gate to three inward-opening gates to allow for off-road parking (retrospective) Site Address : 60 Waterloo Road Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1EG
Planning Officer: Mr Hamish Laird Photo Taken : 06.09.2023 Site Visit : 06.09.2023 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 12.10.2023 __
Conditions and Notes for Approval
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. Condition: The gates erected across the access to the rear of the property at 60 Waterloo Road, Ramsey, hereby permitted shall not open out across any part of the public highway at any time.
Reason: In the interests of highway and pedestrian safety
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and Residential Design Guide July 2021. An approval is recommended.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
The development as carried out shall be maintained as per the plans, drawings, documents and photographs stamped received and dated 21 August, 2023.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are mentioned in Article 6(4):
57 Waterloo Road, Ramsey, IM8 1EG,
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as they satisfy the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018), in that they have made comments relevant to planning and are located within 20 metres of the application site. __
Officer’s Report
1.0 THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 60 Waterloo Road Ramsey Isle, a three-storey mid-terrace dwelling located on the south-west side of Waterloo Road, located opposite the Cooil Ny Marrey flats, and Trinity United Reformed Church. It has a rear access road which is a public highway, which serves the rear aspects of other dwellings in the terrace, and garages/workshops on this side of the road. The house has an enclosed rear yard accessed from this access road to the rear of the property. The property is located within the built-up area of Ramsey.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The current planning application seeks retrospective planning approval for the conversion of the yard to off-road parking following the removal of the existing yard fence and gate, and the installation of three inward-opening gates. Two for vehicular access and one for pedestrian access to the rear yard serving the property.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 06/00395/B - Installation of uPVC door and sliding sash windows to front elevation and uPVC casement windows to rear elevation to replace existing - Permitted - 07.06.2006.
3.2 90/01502/B - Extension to existing cycle repair workshop. Rear of 60 Waterloo Road, Ramsey - Permitted - 01.01.1994.
3.3 Previous permission Refs: 87/00362/B; 88/01650/C; 89/01157/D; and 90/01502/B; respectively for: The demolition of existing and erection of new garage at rear; change of use to a cycle workshop; erection of advertising sign; and, the extension to existing cycle repair workshop - all relevant to the garage/workshop at the rear of the property, were all permitted.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Predominantly Residential in the Ramsey local plan.
Strategic Policy 4.2 The site lies within the settlement boundary for Ramsey and is shown as being located within a 'Predominantly Residential' area as shown in the Island Development Plan - Draft Area Plan for the North and West (24 June, 2020). It is not a Registered Building and is not located within any Conservation Area, and there are no Tree Protection Orders relating to the site. The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: o Strategic Policy 3, 5 o General Policy 2 (b), (c), (g), (m), (n) o Paragraph 8.12.1 o Community Policy 7 and 10
PPS and NPD 4.3 There is no Planning Policy Statement or National Policy Directive relate to this application.
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5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Strategy and Guidance 5.1 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) contains the following guidance that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: o Section 4.0 Householder extensions - general considerations:
"4.1.5 The main design elements that should be considered include: o the relationship to the original part of the building including materials, design and detailing (such as window materials and proportions); o the relationship with adjoining properties-including the building line, roof line, orientation, and the slope of the site; o the pitch, shape and materials of the original roof including the presence of original dormers and chimneys; and o the impact of the alterations on the living conditions of future occupiers-consideration of loss of private amenity, external space, and impact on issues such as bin storage. For example, an extension should not lead to a situation where there is no amenity or where bins are left on roads/lanes as a result.
4.1.6 All extensions and alterations, particularly those incorporating modern design approaches, should be considered holistically with the original/main building and its setting in the landscape/townscape to avoid an awkward jarring of materials and forms. However, well judged modern designs using contemporary and sustainable materials will be welcomed, as the Department does not wish to restrict creative designs where they can be integrated successfully into their context. Such approaches, where well designed, can serve to both improve the sustainability of buildings and significantly improve the appearance of buildings to the general benefit of the streetscene."
6.0 REPRESENTATIONS 6.1 Ramsey Town Commissioners (21.9.23) comments that it has no objection to this proposal.
6.2 DoI Highway Services application (1.9.2023) comments: "23/00923/B - After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking subject to gates swinging inwards into the yard for the lifetime of the development."
6.3 One letter of representation has been received (14.9.23) from the occupants of a neighbouring dwelling in the terrace has been received. The writer states:
"In their covering letter the applicants state that they were not aware that the rear lane was a highway when they purchased number 60. I would suggest that this is a case of caveat emptor. It would appear that the applicants did not carry out full due diligence before acquiring the property as they would have discovered the true status of the rear lane during such a process. They would also have discovered that there was already a breach of planning due to the failure of the seller to obtain the necessary permission when replacing the wall with the fence. The current application makes no reference to this situation. I am not sufficiently familiar with the planning rules, but it would appear to me that this is an attempt to normalise the planning irregularities that are already in existence.
It was well known that there is no parking for the property and also the status of the rear lane as a highway. The applicants could have obtained this information easily by asking any of the neighbours and so I do not believe that ignorance is any form of defence in this case.
In several places there are references to the gates that have been created to only swing inwards i.e. in the direction of the house rather than out into the lane. This is not the case. I
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have seen at least one of the gates swinging outwards into the lane, as have other neighbours, although I was not aware that the planning application had been submitted at the time and therefore did not obtain photographic evidence to include with this submission. This presents a hazard, especially at night, to both vehicles and pedestrians.
The application says that a vehicle can get into the rear yard of number 60 without encroaching on any other property. I would challenge this assertion. The "access passages" to which reference is made are accessed by way of a public road so this statement is not comparing like with like.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, I was unable to locate anything to demonstrate that consideration has been given to weight of vehicles that will be parked and whether the back yard of the property can take this weight. I am aware from my own property, that the foundations in the back yards are shallow with the drainage for the property sitting beneath them. There is a risk that the weight of even a small vehicle could damage the yard and the drains below it and this could have a consequential impact on other properties and the drains that run beneath the back lane."
7.0 ASSESSMENT 7.1 This application proposes the retention of the wooden gates erected across the rear boundary of 60 Waterloo Road, Ramsey which has resulted in the enclosure of the existing rear yard serving this 3 storey, mid-terraced dwelling, which would utilize the existing rear yard as a secure car parking area pedestrian access. In terms of its impact on the character of the streetscene, this would be limited to the rear access road, with no visual impacts when viewing the property from Waterloo Road itself. In terms of visual impacts from the rear access road (a public highway) the enclosure of the rear yard is in keeping with similar arrangements along the rear of the terrace. The retained gates would not look out of keeping with their surroundings.
7.2 In respect of the amenities of occupants of attached neighbouring dwellings, the retention of the gates and enclosure of the rear yard area would have no discernible impact in respect of loss of outlook from/light to neighbouring dwellings. Nor would the development appear as overbearing to neighbouring residents.
7.3 The comments received from the neighbour at No. 57 Waterloo Road are noted. Land ownership is a civil matter in this regard, and any impacts on the nature of the use of the land
7.4 Ramsey Town Commissioners has raised no objection to the development, and DoI Highway Services has similarly raised no concerns subject to the gates not being able to swing out over the public highway. Adequate pedestrian/vehicle and vehicle/vehicle visibility splays have been shown on plan as being provided. The development should not result in any changes to existing bin collection arrangements.
7.5 Considering the development would be carried out at the rear of the property, it would not adversely impact on the character of the street scene or neighbours amenities.
8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and Residential Design Guide July 2021. An approval is recommended. No time limit condition should be imposed because the application is retrospective with the gates already being in place. A condition should be added requiring that the gates do not open outwards across any part of the public highway.
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9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 9.1 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 which 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.
9.2 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.
This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and Residential Design Guide July 2021. This approval relates to the documents and plans date stamped as having been received on 23 August 2023. __
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: 12.10.2023
Determining officer
Signed : J SINGLETON
Jason Singleton
Principal Planner
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