DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No.: 21/00815/CON Applicant: Mr James Dean Proposal: Registered Building consent for demolition elements to PA 21/00741/B Site Address: Westend House 7 Arbory Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NA Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken: 28.09.2021 Site Visit: 28.09.2021 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 19.11.2021 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The works hereby granted registered building consent shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this consent.

Reason: To comply with paragraph 2(2)(a) of schedule 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented registered building consents.

• C 2. Prior to the commencement of the development hereby approved a tree protection plan shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. Tree protection measures shall be shown on a layout plan accompanied by descriptive text which includes but is not limited to details of;

• a) The location of the trees to be retained and their canopy spreads;
• b) The location of a 'construction exclusion zone'
• c) The position of protective fencing and/or other protective measures required to prevent damage to retained trees.
• d) An appropriate specification for the protective measures proposed. The development must be carried out in accordance with the approved details. No alterations or variations to the approved tree protection scheme or working methods shall be made without prior written consent of the Department.

Reason: required prior to commencement to ensure that all trees to be retained are adequately protected from damage to health and stability throughout the construction period to protect and enhance the appearance and character of the site and locality.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

This application is considered to comply with Environment Policies 35 and 39 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Guide to the Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to Drawing No. 3061/C/020/1 rev. A, date stamped received 14 July 2021, and Drawing Nos. 3061/C/010 rev A and 3061/C/050/1 rev A date stamped as received, 5 October 2021.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division 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 the regulations - as they do not clearly identify the land which is owned or occupied which is considered to be impacted on by the proposed development in accordance with paragraph 2A of the Policy. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 7, Arbory Road which sits on the southern side of the road. The curtilage extends to Farrants Way to the south and also around the rear of 9, 13, 15 and 17, Arbory Road. The entire rear garden of this property which is situated along Farrants Way is completely enclosed by a brick wall about 2m high with the only opening being the garage doors for the existing flat roofed garage and pitched roofed garage by the neighbouring property on the northwest boundary. There is a thick cluster of trees along the entire stretch of the boundary wall. - 1.2 The dwelling sits within the Castletown Conservation Area

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for Registered Building consent for the demolition elements relating to the application PA 21/00741/B. - 2.2 The demolition would involve the removal of the existing pitch roofed and flat roofed garage at the rear of the property with access to Farrants Ways.

- 3.0 PLANNING STATUS

3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Predominantly Residential and within the Castletown Conservation Area where Environment Policy 35 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 require development to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the area and to take into account in any decision, the special character of the area. The eastern section of the site is prone to flood risk, although the proposed site area is considered to have low likelihood of flood risk. The site is also not within a Registered Tree Area, and there are no protected trees on site. As such, the following Strategic Plan policies are relevant: - 3.2 General Policy 2: 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 spaces 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; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways;

• (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and
• (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption.

3.3 Strategic Policy 4: Proposals for development must: (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings(1), Conservation Areas(2), buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest; - 3.4 Environment Policy 35: Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development. - 3.5 Environment Policy 34 expresses a preference for the use of traditional materials in the maintenance, extension or alteration of pre-1920 buildings. - 3.6 Environment Policy 39: The general presumption will be in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area.

- 4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS - 4.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999

• 4.1.1 S16 Registered buildings: supplementary provisions Section 16(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "In considering — (a) whether to grant planning approval for development which affects a registered building or its setting, or (b) whether to grant registered building consent for any works, the relevant Department shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses".
• 4.1.2 S18 Designation of conservation areas Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act".

4.2 Planning Policy Statement 1/01

• 4.2.1 POLICY CA/2: SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application. Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected".

• 4.4.2 POLICY CA/6 DEMOLITION "Any building which is located within a conservation area and which is not an exception as provided above, may not be demolished without the consent of the Department. In practice, a planning application for consent to demolish must be lodged with the Department. When considering an application for demolition of a building in a conservation area, the general presumption will be in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the

• character or appearance of the conservation area. Similar criteria will be applied as those outlined in RB/6 above when assessing the application to demolish the building but is less clear cut cases, for example, where a building could be said to detract from the special character of the area, it will be essential for the Department to be able to consider the merits of any proposed new development when determining whether consent should be given for the demolition of an unregistered building in a conservation area. Account will be taken of the part played in the architectural or historic interest of the area by the building for which demolition is proposed, and in particular of the wider effects of demolition on the building's surroundings and on the conservation area as a whole."
• 5.0 PLANNING HISTORY

5.1 There have been applications for further development and use of the site but these are not relevant to the current proposal. - 6.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

6.1 The Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division do not oppose (18 August 2021)

6.2 Castletown Commissioners - no comments received as of 19 November 2021. - 6.3 No comments received from neighbouring properties.

- 7.0 ASSESSMENT

7.1 The building is not registered however the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 requires that registered building consent be required for demolitions in Conservation Areas to safeguard the character and appearance of the areas (minded that some demolition work is not considered to constitute development needing an application). Therefore, the fundamental issue here is whether the existing garage which fronts onto Farrants Way would be detrimental to the overall character and appearance of the street scene and wider Conservation Area.

7.2 The general presumption as stipulated by EP 39 will usually be in favour of retaining buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area. In this case, the existing garage which has both a pitch and flat roof construction and leans on the wall of the neighbouring property do not contribute much to the character of the area, beside the fact that the flat roof element has external walls that are finished in brick like the boundary wall. This structure is not of historical or architectural interest or merit and its removal would not harm the character or appearance of the Conservation Area, regardless of whether the proposed new development takes its place. - 7.3 On the balance, it is considered that the loss of this building would not have unacceptable impact on the character and appearance of the Castletown Conservation Area and its demolition may be regarded as an enhancement, in accordance with Environment Policies 35 and 39.

- 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 The proposed works are considered to have an acceptable impact on the wider Conservation Area and to accord with Environment Policies 35 and 39, and Planning Policy Statement 1/01. - 9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Registered Buildings) Regulations 2013 (As Amended), the following are automatically interested persons:

• o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;

• o Manx National Heritage, and
• o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

9.2 The Decision maker must determine whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status.

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 and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 25.11.2021 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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