DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 20/00789/B Applicant: Barbara Lynne Cain Proposal: Replacement of existing balcony guarding with pvc framed glass enclosure. Site Address: 802 Kings Court Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1LP Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 26.08.2020 _________________________________________________________________

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.

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

The proposed window alteration respects the main building and is not considered to have an adverse impact on the surrounding area, as such the proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 23rd July 2020:

• o Site/Location Plan
• o Quotation from Spectrum Windows with window details. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Apartment 802, Kings Court Ramsey which is an apartment situated to the eighth floor on the northern end of the Kings Court. - 1.2 Kings Court is the northernmost and larger of the two large apartment blocks which dominate this part of Ramsey (Queens Court is the other). The apartment blocks were constructed following the demolition and subsequent redevelopment of south Ramsey during the 1960s and 1970s. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval to install new windows to the balcony to match the balcony directly below on level seven. The proposed windows will be half white uPVC and half black uPVC. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There are no previous planning applications for the apartment in question but there are several for the apartment block as a whole with the most relevant to this application being PA09/00238/B which allowed glazing to be installed in any of the apartments' balconies, thereby enclosing the balcony area. The style of the windows has to be the same as that permitted under the application, or a separate planning permission is required. As more than one apartment has installed such windows, that approval will remain extant. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Ramsey Local Plan 1998, Map 2.

4.2 Of specific relevance to the assessment of this application is 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;

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

4.3 Also of relevance is Paragraph 8.12.1 which states, "As a general policy, in built up areas not controlled by Conservation Area or Registered Building policies, there will be a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general." REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Highway Services have No Highways Interest in this application (4.08.20).

5.2 Ramsey Commissioners have considered the proposal and have no objection (24.08.20). ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The key issue to consider in the assessment of this planning application is the potential impacts upon the visual amenities of the street scene.

6.2 When looking at the apartment block as a whole there are a mixture of apartments which have enclosed the balconies and apartments which haven't. On the apartments which have enclosed their balconies there is a general consensus that the upper half of the balcony is white uPVC and the bottom half is black uPVC.

6.3 Due to the above the alteration from the aluminium enclosure to a mixed colour uPVC enclosure would have no impact on how the apartment is viewed and might enhance the overall building by adding harmony in the balconies by matching several within the building. 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 therefore acceptable. 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 the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 28.08.2020 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 onlineservices/customers and archive records.