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                                      19/01366/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/01366/B Applicant : Mr Richard & Mrs Penelope Higgins Proposal : Extension of existing driveway and vehicular access sufficient to provide space for wheelchair access Site Address : 25 Close Famman Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6BL

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.01.2020 __

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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the plans and information all received on 4th December, 2019. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling situated on the southern side of Close Famman, a residential cul de sac of properties which abuts the Cherry Orchard in the west and Ballafesson Road in the east. The property sits almost at the western conclusion of the cul de sac.

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1.2 The property has an existing paviored driveway which is currently 4m - around one third of the frontage. The remainder of the frontage is lawned with two small trees.

1.3 The streetscene is characterised by varying forms of boundary treatment and front gardens, some having substantial planted boundaries which screen the property within - such as those properties directly opposite the site, others having simple lawned and planted front gardens covering at least half of the frontage, such as the application site and those close by and others have hard surfaced front gardens but where the access is limited to one or two vehicle widths. However, the property immediately alongside to the west has no planting or lawn in the front garden, despite its approved details showing half garden, half paved surface. This is currently being investigated.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the extension of the paving to reach the far side of the porch which is central to the frontage. This will increase the paved area to 7.3m - 50% of the frontage and would comfortably accommodate two vehicles.

2.2 This follows an earlier application for a more substantial increase in the width of the driveway and access which was refused (19/00743/B).

2.3 The applicants wish to have greater accessibility for manoeuvring around the car for wheelchair users.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Residential. As such, the following parts of the Strategic Plan are relevant:

General Policy 2: "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; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways".

3.2 The Department has recently published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing property as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential property. The guidance also includes the provision of parking spaces and the following advice is provided:

"2.4.2 Consideration should be given to imaginative ways to provide adequate levels of car parking without it dominating the streetscape. The use of the most appropriate type of parking (within the curtilage, shared parking areas and/or on-street) and both hard and soft landscaping can help to ensure that the visual impact of car parking is minimised."

"6.3.4 Proposals which result in the loss of more than 50% of the existing front lawned/landscaped garden will not normally be supported, to ensure the character of the street scape is retained and avoid frontages of properties appearing as one large car parking area, detrimental to the appearance of the street scene and to the outlook of residents. It is important that the design of a driveway maintains a balance between hard and soft

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                                      19/01366/B                                     Page  3  of  4

landscaping and contributes positively to the street scene. Proposals are unlikely to be supported where they do not meet the following guidelines:

o the area intended for the driveway should be the minimum space necessary (see the Manual for Manx Roads); o where possible, the impact of the driveway is lessened by retaining mature trees and shrubs and/or creating areas of new planting (for example, a planted strip or hedge between the vehicular and pedestrian access can help to break-up the appearance of the hardstanding whilst planting around the fringes of the driveway can also be used to good effect and may be used to help screen the vehicle); o if an opening is made in an existing wall, fence or other boundary feature, the ends should be made good with matching or sympathetic materials (i.e. pillars); o where possible, separate pedestrian access should be retained/provided (existing gates should normally be retained and any new gates should not open out over the highway); o any new gates, walls, fences or other boundary features should reflect the traditional style of the local area; o consideration should be given to a strip of grass or gravel placed in the centre of the hardstanding can hide leaked oil and maintain the look of a front garden; and o parking spaces should be avoided directly in front of any Primary Window as the resulting outlook can be undermined by the presence of parked cars."

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The dwelling was approved under 11/00770/B and 13/91177/B. The dwelling alongside was approved under 14/00633 and subsequent applications proposed the additional use as tourist accommodation and the installation of a flue (16/00666/C and 16/00832/B). Both 14/00633/B and 16/00832/B show the frontage being half lawned half hard surfaced. The most relevant recent application is referred to in 2.2 above.

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Port Erin Commissioners had no objection in the case of the previous application and seek a deferral until after 14th January in this current case.

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The recently approved Residential Design Guidance makes it clear that hard surfaced car parking should not dominate the plot or the streetscene and the general guidance is that this should occupy up to a maximum of 50% of the frontage. In this case the proposal would increase the hard surfacing to no more than 50% of the frontage so complies with this guidance.

CONCLUSION 7.1 The proposed works would have an acceptable impact on the character of the site and surrounding area, in accordance with General Policy 2b, c and g and the RDG.

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:

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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 the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 16.01.2020

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.