171055

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                                      19/01218/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/01218/B Applicant : Miss Lara Elliott Proposal : Installation of a replacement front door and surrounding frame (retrospective) Site Address : Fairholme Athol Park Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6EX

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken : 02.12.2019 Site Visit : 02.12.2019 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 09.12.2019 __

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the photographs and plan received on 4th November, 2019. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the curtilage of an existing terraced building - Fairholme - which sits on the southern side of Athol Park facing the glen.

1.2 The building is a three storey Victorian building with a projecting three storey bay, the same as its neighbours.

1.3 The building has plastic framed casement windows throughout, like all of the windows in the terrace and has recently had the front door and surrounding panelling replaced in plastic. Kentraugh, the property at the northern end of the terrace has a similar frame and door where the plastic frames have a flat profile and the door is solid plastic with a round headed glazed feature in the upper part. The property next to this, Greenfold, has its originaldoor frame but with a plastic door with two vertical glazed lights in the upper part. To the immediate south of

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the application property, Norwood has a flat, plastic framed and a similar door to that in Greenfold. To the south of this all of the properties have retained their original door frames, some having more modern doors but all in timber. The newer frames are flatter and do not have the decorative details or profile of the originals.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the replacement of the door and surround with one made of plastic. This work has already been done. The arrangement of the panes is the same as the existing although the depth and profile of the transoms and mullions are different and the brackets which appear on the originals are absent.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site is within a wider area of residential use on the Area Plan for the South adopted in 2013 and within the village's proposed Conservation Area. As such, General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan is applicable as follows:

"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; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality".

3.2 The recently published Residential Design Guidance (July 2019) paragraph 5.2.7 advises that the original style of glazing should be replicated in any door replacement. Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - CA/2 advises that consideration should be had to the special character of Conservation Areas in the consideration of development proposals.

3.3 Paragraph 5.2.7 states in full: "Where doors or windows are not the originals or are of an inappropriate style, any new doors or windows should generally match the original door style, design and size. This can generally be ascertained by neighbouring properties that may still have their original doors in place. Furthermore, applicants are encouraged to reinstall windows and/or doors that reflect the original style/design. Where the original door surround detail exists, this should be retained where possible."

3.4 Environment Policy 34 states: "In the maintenance, alteration or extension of pre-1920 buildings, the use of traditional materials will be preferred."

3.5 The draft Conservation Area Appraisal for this CA includes the following comments which are considered relevant to the determination of the current application:

"Positive buildings in the area should be used as exemplars for future design in the area, and any planning applications for their demolition should be carefully considered whilst being mindful of the current Planning Policy toward the retention of buildings of merit within a conservation area. Positive buildings identified within the Conservation Area Appraisal are...Athol Park and Glen View Terrace"

"Although the above details the removal of a number of early 1900s buildings from the conservation area, those in the western end of Athol Park and in Glen View Terrace have been retained. This is due to the fact that these buildings form continuous lines of buildings erected in the same period."

"Boarding houses

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This area consists of Athol Park, Glen View Terrace and Athol Park Glen and incorporates boarding houses built in the 1890s and early 1900s. Athol Park Glen was landscaped as a public amenity by internees in circa 1942 This area is of importance in the conservation area because although less impressive architecturally than the seafront hotels, these buildings also demonstrate an important part of the history of tourism in the area. In addition, nearly the whole of the area is made up of boarding houses and as such there is a consistency of style. Furthermore, it is particularly fortunate that, despite minor alterations (particularly the introduction of pvc windows), the majority of the buildings in the area remain largely unaltered externally."

"2.4.3. Qualities of the buildings and their contribution to the area There are two key areas in the conservation area with dominant architectural styles; the buildings along the Promenade, and the boarding houses in Athol Park and Glen View Terrace."

"Athol Park and Glen View Terrace The boarding houses included in the conservation area in Athol Park are nearly all of an identical design; terraced, with three storeys and a semi-hexagonal bay running the whole height of the building (the exceptions are Erin House which was built about 10 years later, which is crenulated and has a tower, and 1-3 Park Court which although relatively modern, was designed in a manner which is fairly sympathetic with the boarding houses of Athol Park). In Glen View Terrace the buildings are also nearly all the same (these are terraced, with 3 storeys and a semi-hexagonal bay on the ground and first floors), although there are also 2 houses which are semi-detached with mock timber frame detail on second floor at the front."

"Athol Park and Glen View Terrace - As detailed in the section above 'Qualities of the buildings and their contribution to the area' there are eight terraced buildings in each of Athol Park and Glen View Terrace of the same style. These buildings should all be seen as positive buildings in the conservation area as they demonstrate the historic style of the area which should be emulated when designing new buildings."

"Buildings within the conservation area have suffered in recent years from the universal problem of the addition of upvc windows and doors. Not only are these unattractive and cause the loss of much historic fabric, they are completely sealed and can cause real problems with condensation and damp. Such windows are also likely to have a very short life span and once the (often non renewable) paint has worn off there will be problems with rust and metal decay. None of the modern windows appear to have been designed to fit harmoniously with the historic buildings apart from the most basic, and unconvincing false glazing bars."

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 There are no previous applications for this property which are relevant to the current proposal. However, a similar application was submitted (not retrospectively) for the replacement of a door at 2, Victoria Road in Port St. Mary. This was refused at appeal for the reason that the replacement frame would not replicate the detailing of the existing and would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the area which is a proposed Conservation Area (18/00790/B).

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Highway Services have no objection to the application (18.11.19).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The issue is whether the proposed replacement door and frame have a detrimental impact on the area having particular regard to the fact that the site is proposed for Conservation Area status.

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6.2 The terrace has a certain uniformity to it, including the windows which are all unfortunately plastic casements, but this uniformity does not extend to the treatment of the doors which as described above vary in material and appearance. In this case, as with the other plastic frames, the lack of detailing and flat profile are significantly less interesting and attractive than the originals and the terrace is the worse for these modern changes. The frame which existed previously lacked the ornamentation of some of the others and did not have decorative brackets like its neighbour. The proportions of the glazing above the door differs between the properties also and there is not the same level of decoration or continuity as is found in some other cases, such as Victoria Road in Port St. Mary (see above). However, given the prevalence of plastic casement windows and in the northern half of the terrace, the predominance of flat, plastic door frames it is considered here that the works which have been undertaken, whilst not positively enhancing the character and appearance of the terrace or the property, do not have a significant impact. The main elements of the terrace - the profile, regularity of bays, string courses and mouldings will continue to draw the terrace together and present a pleasant group of buildings to the glen and in this respect would continue to contribute positively to the area.

CONCLUSION 7.1 The proposal is considered to accord with the relevant development plan policies and is supported.

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 decision maker must determine: o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and o whether there are other persons to those listed in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status. __

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

Decision Made : Permitted

Date: 12.12.2019

Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer

Principal Planner

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