147984

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                                                 17/00061/B
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 17/00061/B Applicant : Paul & Margaret Allinson Proposal : Creation of new door and external staircase Site Address : Reayrt Aalin Glen Road Colby Isle Of Man IM9 4HW

Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling, Reayrt Aalin, situated on the eastern side of the Colby Glen Road. The dwelling is a relatively modern one with hipped, slated roofs, painted, rendered walling.

1.2 The property sits in a plot which has a frontage of 53m to Colby Glen Road and is 27m wide.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the erection of an external staircase on the northern elevation of the property. This will provide access from one of the bedrooms above the garage through a new pedestrian door. The staircase will be made of galvanised metal with non-slip treads and will be 1m wide with a small platform at the top.

2.2 The application form makes reference to a future potential granny flat within the space above the garage. This could be achievable without a material change of use occurring if the granny flat and the main house are still used as a single planning unit. The single access and shared amenity space would render this possible without breaching any planning control. A note to advise that no approval is granted to the subdivision of the site into two planning units may be useful.

2.3 The submitted drawings are not clear about whether the accommodation above the garage would be accessible from the main house and the applicant has provided a further drawing which illustrates that there is no change to the layout and that access is still possible through the bedrooms from the house to the proposed external staircase and as such, the house is still just a single planning unit.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The application site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South adopted in 2013 as Residential, along with Arbory House to the north and Nhee Aalin across the road to the west. The site is not within a Conservation Area or subject to particular protection.

3.2 As such, the general principles of development as set out in General Policy 2 are applicable as follows:

Paragraph 8.12.1 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

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existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general".

General Policy 2 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 space 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."

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The site has been subject to a number of previous applications, none of which is considered relevant to the determination of the current application.

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Highway Services indicate that they have no highway interest in the application (16.02.16).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The issue here is whether the proposed development will result in any adverse visual impact on the character and appearance of the existing property or the surrounding area and whether there would be any adverse impact on the living conditions of those in adjacent property, particularly Arbory House to the north.

6.2 Most of the house is well screened from the road by existing bushes and trees and there are bushes within the applicant's own site - cotoneaster and evergreens - between the gable and the boundary with Arbory House. This property has recently received planning approval for the creation of a new garage and access onto the road which involved the removal of a number of trees, some of which are close to the boundary with the application property and which may increase inter- visibility between the properties. However, if they are removed to facilitate the erection of the garage, the garage itself will screen any view from the top of the new staircase into the more open parts of the Arbory House garden. It is not considered that the development will result in any adverse impact on the living conditions of those in Arbory House.

6.3 The property is screened from the road and any view of the staircase is likely to be generally hidden from public view although even if seen, it is not considered objectionable.

6.4 The proposal is considered to accord with the principles of GP2 and is recommended for approval.

PARTY STATUS 7.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested; (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless otherwise directed by that Order.

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                                                 17/00061/B
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Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.02.2017

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.

N 1. It should be noted that no approval is granted or implied in this decision to the subdivision of the site into two residential units.

This approval relates to drawings 1, 2 and 3 all received on 19th January, 2017.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted

Date: 13.03.2017

Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer

Senior Planning Officer

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 online services/customers and archive records.