DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 20/00139/B Applicant: Mrs Sharon Ann Bruce Proposal: Installation of flue Site Address: 3 Greenlands View Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 2PB Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 16.03.2020 _________________________________________________________________

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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. The flue hereby approved must be installed with a matt black or dark colour finish. Reason: In the interest of visual amenity.

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

The proposed development works are considered to have an acceptable visual and amenity impact and to accords with both General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 22 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and to comply with the general principles of the Residential Design Guide.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 4th February 2020:

• o Site Plan
• o Location Plan
• o Drawing No. 1 - Lounge Floor Plan
• o Drawing No. 2 - Detail of Construction
• o Drawing No. 3 - Detail of Construction and flue route
• o Drawing No. 3 - Existing Elevation Views
• o Drawing No. 3 - Product Information
• o Drawing No. 3 - Proposed Elevation Views
• o Drawing No. 3 - Photos of front, rear and side elevations

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 3 Greenlands View, Ramsey which is situated to the north east Cul de Sac along Greenlands View. - 1.2 The property itself is a two storey semi-detached dwelling with painted mock tudor to the front first floor level and brickwork to the rest of the property. The property has a covered porch to the front elevation and a side porch to the southern elevation. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval to install a flue to north of the roofline. The flue will be 600mm above the roofline and situated to the rear roof elevation. The flue is being installed in conjunction with the installation of a Multifuel stove. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The previous planning application is not considered to be specifically material in the assessment of the current application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Ramsey Local Plan 1998, Map 2.

4.2 When looking at strategic plan policy the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains two policies that are considered of specific relevance to the assessment to this application is General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 22. - 4.3 General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 which states "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."

• n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption."

4.4 Environment Policy 22 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan which states, "Development will not be permitted where it would unacceptably harm the environment and/or the amenity of nearby properties in terms of:

• i) pollution of sea, surface water or groundwater;
• ii) emissions of airborne pollutants; and
• iii) vibration, odour, noise or light pollution."

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Highway Services have No Highways Interest in this application (10.03.2020).

5.2 No comments have been received from Ramsey Town Commissioners at the time of writing this report. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The key considerations in the assessment of this application are the potential impacts of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site dwelling and wider street scene, and the amenity of the neighbours.

6.2 Character and Appearance

• 6.2.1 The Department has recently published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which addresses the issue of flues within a residential property and states that "In recent years the Department has seen a number of planning applications for flues serving wood burning stoves, and is broadly supportive of these. Consideration should be given to their placement, height, size and finish, as the main issue is likely to be the visual appearance of them and whether they would fit within the existing property and streetscene as a while."
• 6.2.2 Whilst the flue would be viewable from a public vantage point when entering the cul-desac it should be noted that the neighbouring property No.4 Greenlands View, Ramsey have installed a flue as per PA17/00052/B which is to the north of the proposed flue on No.3 Greenlands View, Ramsey as such any possible adverse visual impact will be mitigated by the already installed flue.
• 6.2.3 It should also be noted that due to the property being at the middle of the cul-de-sac that any visual impact will be mitigated by the fact that it will only be the owners and visitors of the cul-de-sac and not a passing visual impact.

6.3 Neighbour Amenity

• 6.3.1 There was recently an application which was approved initially but refused on appeal following an adverse recommendation from the inspection. The application, PA18/01125/B was refused for reasons relating to the appearance of the flue and the effect of its use in terms of smell and smoke nuisance, to the immediate neighbour. The inspector accepted that that flue would only be seen by those living around the site but still considered that an adverse visual impact experienced by them would breach GP2 and the RDG. He was also concerned about the emissions from the flue, regardless of the fact that it appeared to have been installed by a registered installer and that Environmental Health had visited the site and had not experienced any smoke or smell.
• 6.3.2 The flue proposed here whilst it is on the boundary line is just short of the main ridge of the property to the west of the roofline, and the flue itself will be around 600mm over the main ridge line which will be in line with the neighbouring properties flue. Whereas the flue in PA18/01125/B was within a rear extension and much lower than the main ridge of the property.
• 6.3.3 Discussions were held with the Head of Building Control and Standards within the Department indicate that in his view, the issue at Close Cowley was not with the location and installation of the flue which would appear to accord with the guidelines in the Building Regulations, but with the operation and it is possible that incorrect fuel was being used. There are procedures for this which would normally involve the installer returning to check the installation. Whilst in the Close Cowley case, the EHI visited the site it is clear that on their visit there was no smoke or smell nuisance. It would appear from the discussions with Building Control that there are both standards for flues and measures which can be taken through Building Control and Environmental Protection which can address issues should they arise. 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.

7.2 In the interest of visual amenity a condition requiring the flue being installed in black or a dark colour is appropriate to avoid reflection and glare from a shiny/steel material.

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.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 18.03.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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