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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 17/00832/A Applicant : Mr Edwin Davies OBE Proposal : Approval in principle for the erection of three detached dwellings Site Address : Fields 432533, 432534 & 432535 Phildraw Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man
Case Officer : Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 11.09.2017 __
Conditions and Notes for Approval
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The development hereby approved shall be begun either before the expiration of four years from the date of this approval or before the expiration of two years from the date of approval of the last of the reserved matters.
Reason: To comply with article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013.
C 2. Application for approval of the remainder of the reserved matters shall be made to the Department before the expiration of two years from the date of this approval and thereafter the development shall only be carried out in accordance with the details as approved.
Reason: To avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
C 3. No development of any of the dwellings may commence until such times as the details of the siting, design, internal layout, means of drainage of the dwellings and landscaping of the plots have been approved.
Reason: to control the development of the site in accordance with the approval in principle.
C 4. Each dwelling must be individually designed in response to the topography of each plot and to a high quality, standing within at least one acre of its own landscaped grounds, in accordance with the provisions of Planning Circular 8/89.
Reason: to accord with the requirements of the Area Plan and in the interests of the visual amenities of the area.
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Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval refers to plans reference 1, 2, 3 and 11TS029-02 all received on 3rd August, 2017.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following persons should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
The Manx Wildlife Trust, who, in this case have not raised matters which would justify being awarded interested person status.
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Officer’s Report
THE SITE 1.1 The site is three fields which lie on the western side of Phildraw Road towards its southern end. The site has an area of just over 3 hectares and there are two existing field gate accesses into it and a small stone building facing onto the highway. The field sits higher than the road and is separated from it by a stone wall of consistent height but which is largely overgrown with ivy. A post and wire fence runs behind this in the field and vegetation grows above the wall.
1.2 The existing buildings in the area are a mix of very large houses in commensurately large grounds with other, more modest properties closer to the road with smaller gardens. There are also a small number of outbuildings, many, right alongside the highway. The boundaries with the road are generally hedging with self-set trees growing within them.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the principle of the use of the site to develop three dwellings along with the details of the proposed access to the development. This differs from earlier applications (see Planning History) in that the access is now further north to take account of a recent decision by the applicant to redevelop the existing property known as Walden (17/00566/A) which involved a new access which would have been opposite the approved access to serve these three fields.
2.2 The layout of the site in respect of the houses is the same as previously approved, all that differs is the position and layout of the access which is not opposite the existing access to Walden and with a grander entrance which spreads over a wider area in a semi-circulate shape with a single point of access from Phildraw Road but branching off into three separate accesses to serve each individual dwelling. The shape of the internal accesses will be formed by a stone wall up to 2m high with 2.4m high pillars in architectural stone. Specimen trees will be introduced between each access.
2.3 The creation of the access will involve the re-alignment of the boundary hedge and wall up to 4m into the site to provide visibility splays of 70m in both directions. The new hedge will be constructed in accordance with the guidance on such structures, Planning Circular 1/92 and will have dimensions of 1.8m high by 1.8m at the base, tapering to 910mm at the top finished in sods.
PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site is identified in the Area Plan for the South as "Proposed Low Density Housing in Parkland". This refers to a designation in The Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan)
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Order 1982 and a definition provided in Planning Circular 8/89 which describes the provision of land for the development of large houses set in their own landscaped grounds of at least one acre in area. This site, and additional land on both sides of Phildraw Road were so designated in The Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982 and the Southern Area Plan confirms this designation which had led to three relatively recent successful applications for development of this type - two plots to the north of Thrang End and a new dwelling on the opposite of the road.
PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The most recent application, 16/00867/A proposed the principle of the development of the site for three dwellings and was approved with all matters reserved.
4.2 Planning permission has been granted for the principle of three dwellings on this site under PAs 03/01902/A, 08/00913/A and 12/00525/A: PA 13/91126/REM proposed the discharge of the matter of the access, with a number of matters remained for discharge within the appointed time - ie prior to 17th May, 2014 - the design and siting of the proposed dwellings and landscaping must be submitted prior to 17th May, 2014 and the development commenced within 2 years of the approval of the last of the reserved matters or by 17th May, 2016 whichever is the later. PA 14/00401/A proposed the variation of one of the condition attached to PA 12/00525/A for the approval in principle of the creation of three dwellings on the site and which was approved. 13/01377/B proposed the details of the access shown in the earlier applications and was approved.
4.3 These are all essentially the same scheme and none has been implemented. Applications for a greater number of dwellings were previously refused - PAs 97/01384, 98/00363 and 99/01175.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The Manx Wildlife Trust express concern at the loss of any trees which could benefit wildlife and seek clarification of whether trees would be removed as part of the creation of the new access (01.09.17).
5.2 Malew Parish Commissioners indicate that they do not object to the application (06.09.17).
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The development accords generally with what was shown in previous applications and is in accordance with the provisions of the Area Plan, other than the proposals for the access which, whilst grander than what was previously approved, is still acceptable given the context of the dwellings in the vicinity and the designation of the land as for large houses in their own grounds. It is somewhat disappointing that for whatever reason the approvals which have been in place since 2003 have not been taken up, particularly as there is an apparent demand for larger houses on the Island. Whilst concern has been expressed by the Manx Wildlife Trust about the potential loss of habitat, unlike most of the rest of Phildraw Road, this section has few trees and those that are there are small and unlikely to provide useful habitat. Indeed, there are no objections from DEFA in this respect. The introduction of new trees, albeit in a domestic environment and more manicured than self-set specimens, will provide a greater opportunity for feeding and roosts than is there at present.
CONCLUSION 7.1 As such the application is recommended for approval in accordance with the previous decisions.
7.2 In the case of approvals in principle it is customary to attach three standard conditions to any approval - one which requires that the development commences within a certain time - usually two years from the approval of the last of the reserved matters or four years from the date of the approval in principle; a second which defines what the remaining reserved matters are and that development may not commence until they have been approved and thirdly, that
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the application for the reserved matters has to be submitted within two years of the granting of the approval in principle. In this case, the application in principle includes the details of the access so this need not be a matter reserved for further approval. Also, the appropriate method of development of the site should entail the new access, complete with visibility splays being created before any other part development. If all of the reserved matters were approved and development commenced with the construction of the access as approved, there would be no compulsion for the applicant to continue with the development immediately, or indeed in the longer term as planning approvals cannot reasonably require completion of an approved development. As such, the usual condition which requires that no development may commence until all of the reserved matters are approved, is not appropriate in this case. What is appropriate here is a condition which requires that no development of any of the dwellings may commence until such times as the details of the siting, design, internal layout, means of drainage and landscaping have been approved.
INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), 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.
8.2 The Planning Committee must determine:
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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 : 14.09.2017 Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER
Stephen Butler
Head of Development Management
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