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Application No.: 15/01132/B Applicant: Dr & Mrs Kewley Proposal: Alterations to existing patio deck area Site Address: Pier House Stanley Mount East Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 1NP Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken: 21.10.2015 Site Visit: 21.10.2015 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation
1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is Pier House, Stanley Mount East, Ramsey. It is detached dwelling, which is single storey on its Stanley Mount East side. The site forms part of the built frontage of the east side of the highway and is surrounded by dwellings on either side and across to the road to the west. To the east, the site faces towards the sea and beach, from where views of the rear of the dwelling and its associated conservatories and multi-level decking areas are readily available. - 1.2 Although Pier House does sit between two dwellings, the boundary treatment is very robust in the form of fencing, trees and other elements of built environment such as sheds and garages. The nearest dwelling to the location of the proposed works, 'East Cliff', is situated some 40m from the common boundary between the properties.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for alterations to the existing decking area, which would result in the lower decking being raised to the height of the upper decking. It is not clear from the drawings what material would be used to facilitate this but the resulting decked area would be finished with a mixture of non-slip stone and artificial grass. A small area of glazed floor tiles would be installed adjacent to the dwelling to enable some light to penetrate to a window that would otherwise be covered over by the new patio. The drawings do not show what room this window serves. The resulting retaining wall would partly be (roughcast) rendered and painted yellow to match the existing dwelling, but with the predominant finishing of Manx stone. This latter addition was sought via an amended plan, which was received and circulated for information only in view of the lack of objection to the proposal received to date. - 2.2 One of the applicants confirmed that the alterations proposed would enable the other applicant, her husband and a wheelchair user, to access the fullest extent of the patio area, which, at present, is impossible due to the changes in levels.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The application site has been the subject of a number of applications for the erection of extensions (including conservatories) over a period of a number of years, which has related to the need to modify the dwelling for a wheelchair user and also to enable other family members of the applicants to live in the house. None of these is considered specifically material to the assessment of this application, however.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site is within an area zoned as 'predominantly residential' by Ramsey Local Plan 1998. In view of this and the nature and scale of the proposal, it is considered that General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan is the most relevant to assess the proposal against.
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services of the Department of Infrastructure offered no objection to the proposal on 19.10.2015, while Ramsey Town Commissioners similarly offered no objection in comments received 11th November 2015.
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 Although the proposal would result in quite a major physical change to the exterior of the dwelling in terms of height changes and mass proportional to the existing situation, the overall impact would be noticeable but satisfactorily so, particularly with the addition of Manx stone, which would much better suit the seaward-facing side of the site, more or less surrounded as it is by other natural and subdued materials and colours. - 6.2 The existing decking is well-maintained and offers a positive visual impression from the beach below, steeplechasing in a way that ties in with the dwelling's pair of conservatories. The expanse of wall that would replace it would be somewhat stark in appearance and would remove this complementarity between the decking and conservatories, which helps to soften the appearance of the dwelling overall. However, the wall would be set back from the rearwardmost elevation of the dwelling and so would still sit somewhat subservient to the main body of Pier House, especially so with the Manx stone, which would be darker than the main dwelling and help retain a certain subordination between the proposed extension and the existing dwelling's massing. The proposal is therefore concluded to be acceptable in design terms. - 6.3 The proposal would not allow for any additional overlooking of neighbouring properties given the robust boundary treatment here but, even with that removed, the distances between the neighbouring properties are more than sufficient to conclude there would be no harmful impact on neighbouring living conditions.
7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 The application is considered to comply with the relevant policies of the Development Plan and is recommended for approval accordingly.
8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
Date of Recommendation: 09.11.2015 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.
The development hereby approved relates to the drawings 15 1134 1 and 15 1134 2, both datestamped as having been received 12th October 2015, as well as drawing 15 1134 3 Rev A, datestamped as having been received 2nd February 2016.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Director of Planning and Building Control in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 05.02.2016 Determining officer
Signed : M GALLAGHER Michael Gallagher Director of Planning and Building Control
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