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Application No.: 17/00972/B Applicant: Mr Gareth Moore Proposal: Conversion of detached garage into music room for teaching purposes Site Address: 16 Stanley Road Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1NX Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken: 22.09.2017 Site Visit: 22.09.2017 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 23.10.2017 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
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.
Reason: To ensure the application site is adequately catered for in terms of off-street parking for both the uses operating therefrom.
Reason: To ensure the application site is adequately catered for in terms of off-street parking for both the uses operating therefrom.
Reason: In the interest of protecting neighbouring residential living conditions and also protecting public amenity in terms of highway safety.
The development hereby approved relates the Planning and Design Statement (v4) and to Drawings 100 Rev A and 200 Rev H, all date-stamped as having been received 12th September 2017.
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
It is recommended that the following persons should be given Interested Person Status as they are 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):
THIS APPLICATION IS BROUGHT BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR DETERMINATION AS THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE OBJECTED TO THE APPLICATION, WHICH DOES NOT RELATE TO HOUSEHOLDER DEVELOPMENT, BUT THE APPLICATION CARRIES A RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE.
1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is defined by two distinct parcels of land, both within the ownership of the applicant: the residential curtilage of 16 Stanley Road, Peel, and an almost triangular parcel of land to the rear (north) sited on the other side of Gib Lane, which is an adopted highway bifurcating the two parcels of land. - 1.2 16 Stanley Road is a two-storey, mid-terraced dwelling sited within Peel's Conservation Area. To the rear is a 30m-long garden. Within this garden is a single-width garage some 47m in length, its access door facing onto Gib Lane, albeit set back from the lane by a short driveway. The garage is currently used for storage. It has a single garage door facing Gib Lane and a pair of shallow windows within the corresponding gable wall. - 1.3 The ridgeline of the garage is 1.9m higher than the garden and 3.6m higher than Gib Lane: the garage is therefore set significantly into the topography of the garden such that in some parts of the garden ground level is the same as the eaves' height. Stanley Road is on a
2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for a change to the use and appearance of the garage, along with some excavation works in the garden. Some of the comments in the architect's supporting statement seem to indicate that the use is being undertaken at present, but there is no enforcement case in respect of such a use at this site. Use - 2.2 The applicant is a music teacher who wishes to work from home; no one else is to be employed. The garage is proposed to be separated internally into three separate elements, all three coming together to provide a music studio for the teaching of piano. There would be a study and waiting area/WC at either end of the building, each taking roughly 25% of the internal floorspace, with the remaining 50% located centrally and providing for the piano room itself. The applicant's preference is for students to enter through the Gib Lane entrance rather than through the house itself. - 2.3 The architect explains that:
2.4 The agent explains that Highway Services sought for four off-street parking spaces to be provided as part of this proposal. He is of the view that such a request is unreasonable since there would need to be a specific set of circumstances that would result in a concomitant requirement for four parking spaces at the application site, namely:
2.5 The applicant wishes to access the proposed music studio from the dwelling-side of the building. In order to achieve this, excavation works are required. Appearance - 2.6 These excavation works are not detailed in terms of changes to site levels. The submitted existing and proposed site plans and elevations demonstrate that the garage, at present, is significantly dug into the site's topography such that only 0.7m of the gable wall (to the eaves) sits above the garden. It is proposed that this be dug away to provide a terrace
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The site was the subject of a similar application earlier in the year (PA 17/00640/B), which proposed larger-scale physical alterations to the existing garage. This was withdrawn before an assessment could be made, and the architect explains that the current application is more modest in terms of the physical alterations now proposed to reflect concern raised locally to the previous application, and also to help ensure views across to Peel Castle and Peel Bay from the gardens of nos.12 and 14 Stanley Road will be maintained. - 3.2 There have been, elsewhere on the Island, other applications submitted seeking approval for the use of part of a dwelling for the teaching of music. The acceptability of these applications has tended to turn on the site-specific impacts that the playing of music and the arrival / departure of students has on neighbouring residential amenity. Examples of such applications include one in Douglas (PA 09/00733/R), which was refused on grounds of the impact of vehicular traffic on residential amenity, and another in St. John's (PA 13/00401/C), which was approved subject to the following conditions:
3.3 The refused application related to piano lessons; that approved related to drumming lessons.
4.1 The site lies within a Mixed Use zoning on the Peel Local Plan, as well as within the town's Conservation Area. As such, the application falls to be assessed against General Policy 2, Transport Policies 4, 6 and 7 (and Appendix 7), and Environment Policies 22 and 35 of the Strategic Plan. - 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 Highway Services of the DoI offered no objection to the application on 29th September 2017, subject to the imposition of two conditions. In view of the nature of the proposal and the other comments received in respect of the application, it is worth noting their comments here in full:
"The proposals include a detailed statement of the operational practicalities of the site in terms of off street parking to the rear of the property. Highways would prefer 4 of street parking spaces (2 for the residents + 2 for parents dropping / picking up students). The applicant proposes 3 spaces and uses the argument that the site is sustainable with nearly half of students walking to and from the premises.
"The addition of 1 more vehicle parked on street would only be for a limited time should an overlap between parents dropping off an waiting to pick up occur. This is not considered to be detrimental to highway safety or affect the free and safe flow of traffic in the area. The proposals are therefore considered on balance to be acceptable.
"Should you be mindful to approve this application, please attach the following conditions:
'Reason: To ensure an efficient use of parking facilities and reduce the potential of parking onstreet.
5.2 Peel Town Commissioners objected to the application in an email received 12th October 2017 on grounds that "alternative parking provision to support this application on the opposite side of Gib Lane may not be owned by the applicant". It is not known what land is referred to in these comments but, on the assumption it is the almost triangular-shaped parcel of land described in paragraphs 1.1 and 1.4 of this report, the architect confirmed in an email of 18th October 2017 that "I have seen my client's deeds. The land belongs to 16 Stanley Road." - 5.3 The owner / occupier of 18 Stanley Road, which adjoins the application site to the west, instructs Pringle Law to object on his behalf. In summary, the concerns raised in an email of 9th October 2017 are as follows:
6.1 Such applications as this need to be treated sensitively. The teaching of music may be wholly welcomed by some people but be considered something of a nuisance by others. Moreover, the kind of music and / or instrument being taught may be particularly offensive to some people but enjoyed by others. This is borne out in the single strong objection received to this application.
6.2 There are three issues here: (1) is the use acceptable in terms of its impact on highway safety; (2) is the use acceptable in terms of its impact on neighbouring living conditions, and
(3) are the physical changes proposed acceptable in the context of the Conservation Area? Is the use acceptable in terms of its impact on highway safety?
6.3 Highway Services conclude that the application is acceptable (albeit apparently on balance) to them for the reasons stated. The site is fortunate to benefit from any off-street parking at all, and with three available this must be seen as a positive. The site is very sustainably located. No concern is raised with respect to the amount of parking available. - 6.4 The above conclusion is reached being mindful of the conditions sought by Highway Services, which are considered necessary to attach to any approval notice. - 6.5 Gib Lane is indeed narrow, and to many people would probably look more like an unadopted access lane than adopted highway. However, it is not considered that the limited use of it as would be likely to arise from the proposed music studio development would cause harmful impacts on traffic flow or pedestrian movements. The lane's narrowness and steepness are such as to mean it would be likely that vehicles would move very slowly, and visibility along the lane is good. Is the use acceptable in terms of its impact on neighbouring living conditions? - 6.6 The use of the main entrance to the music studio from Gib Lane would not affect privacy. These gardens are surrounded by tall walls such that anyone accessing the building the subject of this application cannot see into the rear gardens. This situation would not alter if this application were approved. Therefore, the main impact on neighbouring living conditions is likely to arise from the noise associated with the music lessons and students arriving for / leaving from them. - 6.7 For the same reasons as those outlined above, it is not considered that the additional vehicle movements associated with the proposal would cause adverse harm to residential amenity. This is being mindful of the four hours of lessons that are proposed, not the six hours as seems to be understood by the objector. It is also true that the building being separate from the main dwelling means that the (noise) impact arising from its use will be largely felt within neighbouring gardens rather than the dwellings themselves. It is generally considered that amenity should be most strongly protected within dwellings because people generally spend most of their time inside. - 6.8 In the absence of a noise assessment, or details regarding any sound-proofing that would be installed, it is difficult to be certain about the likely impacts of the development from the point of view of Environment Policy 22. The application is clear, though, that there would be some additional walling installed within the garage, and this would likely reduce the noise impact from the proposed use significantly. - 6.9 The Environmental Protection Manager noted in a telephone conversation on 23rd October 2017 that, were the resource available, he would have sought for a sample of noise that reflected piano playing to be played within the existing building to understand whether or not it would be audible in the neighbouring dwellings. He welcomed that the garage door was to be replaced, and also that the roof was pitched rather than flat: garage doors and flat roofs tend to significantly amplify sounds. He also noted that, excluding the outriggers, the rear elevations of the adjacent houses were 16m away and this was a good distance in such cases as this. - 6.10 It is not considered that the noise resulting from four hours of music lessons per weekday operating from this detached building would amount to a harmful impact on
neighbouring amenity. That the use would not operate during weekends is noted and welcomed, since people tend to spend more time in their gardens during weekends than they would do during weekdays. It is difficult to control how people behave or how they use the personal space within their homes, and it is possible that someone could play music at regular intervals or at high decibel unrelated to any business operating. It is also noted that the concern raised in respect of amenity seems to be more related to the possibility of people seeing into the objector's garden rather than as a result of any noise that may be generated. (This is reflected in the final bullet point of paragraph 5.3, above.)
7.1 Had there been significant local opposition raised to the proposed development, it is considered that there would be a more clearly defined impact on residential amenity. However, that is not the case, and it is concluded that the impact arising from the development on the basis of the statements made by the architect on behalf of his clients would not be so harmful to neighbouring living conditions as to warrant refusal of this planning application.
7.2 Conditions are also required. These reflect the requests of Highway Services and also would be needed in respect of the lesson times, pupil numbers and to tie the approval to the applicant. The proposed Condition 4 is wide-ranging, but there is good reason for this. It is possible that amendments to the specific details of the music teaching may be desired (such as an additional instrument, or additional teaching hours, or additional students) in the future, and it will be easier for all parties where such a change is proposed that only that one condition needs to be altered, rather than a host of separate conditions that split the use / number of students / hours of operation.
7.3 In view of the Environmental Protection Manager's point regarding the garage door, a condition requiring that the garage door be replaced as proposed prior to the approved use is considered necessary for the purposes of protecting neighbouring living conditions. - 8.0 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:
8.2 The decision-maker must determine:
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Signed : E RILEY Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
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.
Application No. : 17/00972/B Applicant : Mr Gareth Moore Proposal : Conversion of detached garage into music room for teaching
purposes
Site Address : 16 Stanley Road Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1NX Presenting Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Addendum to the Officer’s Report
The Planning Committee suggested an amendment to the wording of Condition 3, which was added to by the case officer, to add clarity to the approved use of the triangular parcel of land on the opposite side of Gib Lane.
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.
Reason: To ensure the application site is adequately catered for in terms of off-street parking for both the uses operating therefrom.
Reason: To ensure the application site is adequately catered for in terms of off-street parking for both the uses operating therefrom.
Reason: In the interest of protecting neighbouring residential living conditions and also protecting public amenity in terms of highway safety.
The development hereby approved relates the Planning and Design Statement (v4) and to Drawings 100 Rev A and 200 Rev H, all date-stamped as having been received 12th September 2017.
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