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                                      18/01195/B                                     Page  1  of  3

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 18/01195/B Applicant : Mr Michael Johnson Proposal : Installation of a window to rear elevation of detached garage (retrospective) Site Address : 39 Vicarage Park Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 2QE

Planning Officer: Mr Nick Salt Photo Taken : 30.11.2018 Site Visit : 30.11.2018 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 17.12.2018 __

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This permission relates to the following plans, drawings and photographs - date stamped as received on 13th November 2018:

o Location Plan o Site Plan o Photographs of site (x8) o Garage elevations and floor plan

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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 not mentioned in Article 6(4):

41 Vicarage Park, Douglas, as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018). __

Officer’s Report

1.0 SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 39 Vicarage Park, Douglas. The site is within a cul-de- sac of Vicarage Park, defined by a series of modern detached 1.5 and 2 storey dwellings. The site dwelling is bounded by hedging at the sides and a 2 metre timber fence to the rear.

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1.2 There is a detached single storey detached garage at the rear of the site, with a tiled pitched roof and patio area in front of two garage doors on the east facing elevation. There are two windows on the north facing elevation which were installed at the time the garage was constructed.

1.3 There is a single pane window of 1.2mx0.9m on the rear (west) elevation of the garage which was added subsequently.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The proposal is in retrospect for the window on the west elevation of the garage, following Enforcement case 18/00149/DUD.

2.2 The window is 1.2m wide by 0.9m tall, single pane and clear glazed and faces the corner of the site where the boundary meets that of Nos. 41 and 42 Vicarage Park.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 As noted, planning enforcement proceedings have been taken in regard to the garage window (18/00149/DUD).

3.2 There are a number of past application in the area and on the site for garages, extensions and access alterations - all of which have been permitted and none of which are materially relevant to this application.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The application site is within an area designated as 'Predominantly Residential' as zoned in the Douglas Local Plan 1998.

4.2 Therefore, in terms of policy it is important to consider General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 in the assessment of this application.

General Policy 2 states (in part);

"Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:

b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them; c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Douglas Borough Council have no objection to the application (23.11.18).

5.2 The resident of 41 Vicarage Park - directly adjoining the rear of the site, objects to the installation of a window to the rear elevation of the garage at no.39 as "the window overlooks my back garden."

6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 The key consideration in the determination of this application is its impact on neighbour amenity., it is regarded that any impact on the character or appearance of the site is negligible as it would not be visible from public vantage points such as Vicarage Park.

6.2 It must be noted that the retrospective planning applications are considered in the same manner as normal planning applications, in that they are assessed as though no unlawful works have been carried out. The fact that the window is currently installed is neither an advantage or disadvantage in terms of planning acceptability.

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                                      18/01195/B                                     Page  3  of  3

6.3 With that in mind, the key issue of consideration is the impact on the neighbours at 41 and 42 Vicarage Park - as they are sited adjacent to the application site. Given the nature of the proposal, for a rear garage window, the risk of overlooking into neighbouring properties must be assessed. Generally. Overlooking is considered a potential issue where the distance between the window and habitable rooms in neighbouring properties, or neighbouring gardens, is 20 metres or less.

6.4 Due to the height of the eaves of No.42, the 22m distance between the rear elevation of the garage and the rear elevation of that dwelling, and the 2m boundary fence and tall hedging between the two properties, overlooking into the garden of no.42 would not significant, if at all.

6.5 With regard to No.41, the owner/occupiers objection on overlooking grounds is noted. Overlooking into the rear garden from the garage window would not be an issue due to the low height of the window and the 2 metre boundary fence. Regardless, the main area of garden sits to the south west of the site out of direct view. There is one first floor window on the rear elevation of No.41, which appears to be a bedroom, which is visible from the garage window. Again, the distance between the windows is around 30 metres. Furthermore, the first floor window is significantly higher than the garage window. Overlooking is therefore not considered to be an issue which would make the garage window unacceptable.

7.0 CONCLUSION 7.1 For the above reasons the proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and is therefore acceptable.

8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested; (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

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 in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

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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.

Decision Made : Permitted

Date: 17.12.2018

Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett

Principal Planner

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