Architect's Supporting Information

K313 – New Offices and Staff Accommodation – Arragon House

For Mr Allen & Mrs Marilyn LLoyd.

Architect'S Supporting Information

1st June 2016

• 1.01 The applicants have been residents of the Isle of Man since 1995 having relocated here from the UK, when they purchased the Arragon House estate.

• 1.02 Since coming to the IoM, the applicants either directly or through their Isle of Man companies have invested in or developed over 330 properties, both residential and commercial, which are all held within their Isle of Man companies for rental to the Isle of Man population.

• 1.03 In addition to the above, the applicants have a portfolio of over 1,000 residential and commercial properties in the UK, again held through their Isle of Man property holding companies, the income from the letting of the UK properties being routed to the IoM.

• 1.04 In addition to the property holding companies, the applicants also have their own construction company employing a range of construction disciplines to carry out the building, alteration and maintenance of their Isle of Man property portfolio.

• 1.05 The property holding companies and the property letting and management functions for both the Isle of Man and UK properties are all carried out from the Isle of Man within a portion of the former Arragon Farm House, which had previously received planning approval for residential use under PA97/01468/B. However, the applicants last year were advised by the planning enforcement officer to desist from this and vacate the premises, and the Arragon Farmhouse buildings are currently in the process of conversion to form the approved single large residence, and which is subsequently to be inhabited by the applicants' brother.

• 1.06 The applicants have no children and are of pensionable age, but currently manage their household themselves. However, as the applicants age further, they expect to need assistance with their daily living, and therefore wish to make provision for staff accommodation on site to provide the long term care and assistance they require, which will include accommodation for a housekeeper, a gardener/handyman and a nurse, as one of the applicants has a life-long illness which will be degenerative in the long term.

• 1.07 Arragon House is a substantial property and there is currently no staff accommodation either within the house or on site, two cottages within the grouping of existing buildings, which could have provided such accommodation, having been sold-off by the previous owner prior to Mr Lloyd's purchase of the estate. The estate currently has a full-time gardener/handyman who looks after the 300 acres of the overall estate land, close to 20 acres of which are formal gardens together with the existing buildings. This person is currently living on-site in a mobile home to carry out their duties and to provide security when the applicants are not in residence, but this is a short term solution and permanent residential accommodation is required as a matter of urgency.

1.08 As a result of the planning enforcement relating to the office use, and the clients requirements to make provision for staff accommodation to suit both their immediate and future needs, Kay Associates were instructed to prepare a design for on-site offices to suit the needs of the applicants property companies, with three twobedroomed residential units to provide accommodation for both their current and future staff requirements. 1.09 In choosing the site for the application proposals, Kay Associates reviewed the available space within the applicants' property which would meet the applicants need for the accommodation to be situated within close proximity to the main house, whilst minimising the potential impact of the development proposals. 1.10 Whilst it is accepted that the site of the application proposals is not necessarily zoned for development, the proposals are situated in an area of the site within 50 m of the main house, and with buildings to three sides, the fourth side being planted completely with evergreen trees. As a result, the proposals are substantially screened from views from outside the site. 1.11 The application proposals are not visible from the public highway and as such, the impact of the proposals on the surrounding area when viewed by the public is minimal. Any more distant views of the proposals would see them viewed as one building within a grouping of buildings within the estate, and as such, they would be comfortable as a grouping within a rural setting. 1.12 There are two residential dwellings within the immediate vicinity of the application proposals. However, one of these, 'Seafield House' is situated some 23 m to the South-West of the proposals and therefore the distance is such that it would guard the privacy of the occupants of Seafield House. It should be noted that the windows of this property which face on to the proposals are primarily from non-habitable rooms. The second property, Arragon Cottage, is situated some 32 m to the West-North-West of the proposals, and there are no windows in the application proposals which face in that direction. As such, the potential impact of the application proposals on the two adjacent properties are minimal and in the applicants opinion nondetrimental. 1.13 The application proposals would not contribute to any increased car usage within the vicinity, as the existing office staff, have been visiting the site on a daily basis for the last 15 years, and the accommodation within the proposals is a replacement of their current accommodation. The new staff accommodation will essentially provide residential accommodation on-site for people working on-site, and would therefore have negligible vehicle generation.