DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 20/01032/B Applicant: Wendy Jean Cull Proposal: Installation of replacement windows and door to front elevation Site Address: 68 Patrick Street Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1BS Technical Officer: Mr Thomas Sinden Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.10.2020 _________________________________________________________________

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 proposals meet the tests of General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, Planning Policy Statement 1/01 and Planning Circular 1/98 as they will enhance the character of the Conservation Area, and are therefore considered acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the information received on 9th September 2020. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is an end terrace property on the west side of Patrick Street in Peel, within the town's Conservation Area. The terrace is generally two storeys in height, although there are a number of three storey properties as the ground level reduces to the north. The terrace has slate pitched roofs with centrally located chimney breasts on each party wall. Many of the properties have single roof lights on the front facing roof pitch. The Patrick Street elevation has a painted stippled render wall finish with smooth render window surrounds. Windows are a mixture of casement and sliding sash, in either painted timber or uPVC. Doors are generally painted timber, although some uPVC

• composite doors are present. Front door styles also vary, with 1930s sunburst, solid panelled, and single glazed upper panel styles in evidence. The section of the terrace that includes number 68 is sited directly on to the highway, with a narrow pavement in front of the roadway itself.
• 1.2 The property itself is the most southerly of a row of terraced properties with their front walls directly on the street. The property has two storeys, a natural slate pitched roof with chimney breasts on the gable and party walls, a painted stippled render front wall, painted smooth render gable wall, black painted timber casement windows and a black painted timber front door that features sunburst glazing within the door and a fixed glazed light above.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal is to replace the existing casement timber windows on the front elevation with sliding sash uPVC windows. The existing black painted timber door is proposed to be replaced with a red uPVC composite door with four panels, the two upper panels being glazed.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Peel Local Plan of 1989 as Mixed Use and within the town's Conservation Area where Environment Policy 35 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 require development to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the area and to take into account in any decision, the special character of the area. - 3.2 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; and (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality.

3.3 Environment Policy 34 expresses a preference for the use of traditional materials in the maintenance, extension or alteration of pre-1920 buildings. - 3.4 Planning Circular 1/98 provides advice on the replacement of windows and suggests in Conservation Areas the method of opening is more important than the frame material but the original method of opening should be replicated where the originals are in place.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The only planning history on the site, application 93/01661/B, approved the erection of a rear extension, which is not thought relevant to the current application.

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Peel Town Commissioners have stated that they do not oppose the application (25.9.2020). - 5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division have stated that they do not oppose the application (30.9.2020).

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The issue here is whether the proposed windows and door preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Conservation Area in which the property sits taking into account the special character of the area. - 6.2 The proposed windows will be a different style to those currently in situ. Given window styles in buildings of similar age elsewhere in the Conservation Area, the original windows were probably sliding sash rather than those currently in place. Planning Circular 1/98 advises that the method of opening should be the same as originally in place. The proposed alteration in style to sliding sash is therefore judged to be positive. The replacement windows will be uPVC rather than painted timber, and whilst Environment Policy 34 expresses a preference for traditional materials, Planning

• Circular 1/98 suggests that the method of opening is more important than the frame material. The proposed replacement windows are therefore judged to enhance the appearance of the Conservation Area.
• 6.3 The replacement front door will be a uPVC composite material, in a four panel design with patterned glazing in the upper two panels, replacing a painted timber door in a 1930s sunburst style. The existing door is not in a style that would have been originally installed on the property. Whilst the proposed replacement door will be in a non-traditional material, the four panelled style is more appropriate for the terrace, and although the upper panels will be glazed, the change is judged to be acceptable.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 It is judged that the proposals meet the tests of General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 as they will enhance the character of the Conservation Area, and therefore recommended to be approved.

8.0 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: 20.10.2020 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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