174003

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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/00248/C Applicant : Manx Agri Plant Services Ltd Proposal : Additional use of agricultural building to include plant repair business (retrospective) Site Address : Ballachrink Farm Ballanicholas Garth Crosby Isle Of Man IM4 2HD

Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.07.2019 __

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.

C 2. The plant repair use hereby approved shall be limited only to within the area outlined in red on drawing number 01 Rev A date stamped as received on 4th March 2019.

Reason: The application has been assessed on an exceptional basis and any use outside of this area would need to be assessed as part of a separate application.

C 3. The additional use hereby approved shall remain connected with the main farm in that it shall only be owned and operated alongside the wider farm.

Reason: To ensure that segregation of the commercial site from the wider farm does not occur.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to drawing number 01 rev A and Supporting Information Statement both date stamped and received 04/03/2019.

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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

None __

Officer’s Report

THE APPLICATION IS BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED A DEPARTURE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL

THE SITE

1.1 The site represents the curtilage of Ballachrink Farm, Ballanicholas, Garth, Crosby an existing farm holding comprising a traditional two storey Manx Farm house and several large agricultural farm buildings all clustered around the existing farm lane which runs approximately 350 metres west from the B35 Garth Road which runs between the Foxdale Road and Tosaby Road.

1.2 The existing agricultural building which is the subject of this application sits around 300m from the B35 and is the first building you pass when heading into the centre of the farm holding. The cluster of farm buildings including the application building cannot readily be seen from the B35 public highway due to the existing roadside boundary treatment and the mix of vegetation and trees that line the winding farm lane and surrounding farmhouse and cluster of buildings.

THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the additional use of the above agricultural building as a workshop for the carrying out of repairs to agricultural and plant machinery.

2.2 The application is supported by a statement from the applicant setting out the history of the dairy farming site and the present use of the application building for the servicing of machinery since 2002 although no evidence has been provided to support this other than that written information included within the statement. "Various classes of machinery are serviced and repaired within the building from agricultural tractors and machinery, telehandlers, plant equipment, farm quads etc. A lot of service and repairs are done at customer premises, but larger jobs, rebuilds and overhauls are done in the workshop where specialist tools and equipment are at hand. The workshop building provides a cleaner, safer and more pleasant environment than many customers farmyards to carry out work on machines that are ever more complex to repair due to the increasing sophistication and use of electronics in their make up."

2.3 There are currently 2 full time mechanics and an apprentice employed, although the nature of the business means that not all are always on site at the same time due to call outs to various sites across the Island.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The site has been subject to five previous planning application, two recently for the alteration and extension to the existing house and the conversion of a redundant stone barn to tourist accommodation, and prior to that three applications for the original development of the agricultural buildings associated with the dairy farm business. o 14/00406/B Conversion of existing redundant stone barn into tourist accommodation - APPROVED o 13/00811/B Alterations, erection of an extension, creation of vehicle entrance, driveway and parking provision - APPROVED

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o 99/00320/B Erection of agricultural building and extension to cow shed - APPROVED o 93/00516/B Construction of cowshed - APPROVED o 89/01582/B Erection of 2 agricultural storage buildings - APPROVED

PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site lies within an area designated as open space, not zoned for development under the Isle of Man Development Order 1982. The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 sets out the Island's strategic and spatial objectives and contains the following policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of the current application;

4.2 Spatial Policy 5 states:

"New development will be located within the defined settlements. Development will only be permitted in the countryside in accordance with General Policy 3."

4.3 General Policy 3 states (in part):

"Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of: (c) previously developed land(1) which contains a significant amount of building; where the continued use is redundant; where redevelopment would reduce the impact of the current situation on the landscape or the wider environment; and where the development proposed would result in improvements to the landscape or wider environment; (e) location-dependent development in connection with the working of minerals or the provision of necessary services (f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry; (h) buildings or works required for interpretation of the countryside, its wildlife or heritage."

4.4 Environment Policy 1 states:

"The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix 3 at A.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an over- riding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative".

4.5 Environment Policy 16 states:

"The use of existing rural buildings for new purposes such as tourist, or small-scale industrial/commercial use may be permitted where: a) it is demonstrated that the building is no longer required for its original purpose and where the building is substantially intact and structurally capable of renovation; b) the reuse of the building will result in the preservation of fabric which is of historic, architectural, or social interest or is otherwise of visual attraction; c) it is demonstrated that the building could accommodate the new use without requiring extension or adverse change to appearance or character; d) there would not be unacceptable implications in terms of traffic generation; e) conversion does not lead to dispersal of activity on such a scale as to prejudice the vitality and viability of existing town and village services; and f) the use of existing buildings involves significant levels of redevelopment to accommodate the new use, the benefits secured by the proposal in terms of impact on the environment and the rural economy shall outweigh the continued impact of retaining the existing buildings on site."

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REPRESENTATIONS

Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Marown Parish Commissioners - no objection (22/05/2019).

5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services - no comments received as of 29/07/2019.

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The key considerations in the assessment of this application are i) the principle of the development (GP3), ii) impact on the countryside (EP16 and EP1), and iii) the highway safety impact (EP16(d)).

i) Principle of the development

6.2 As with any rural area which is not zoned for development, there is a general policy presumption against development. General Policy 3 for example, as set out in section 4.0 of this report, allows for development in the countryside in only the specific circumstances and exceptions cited. In the case of this application the proposal does not readily fit into a single exemptions but rather a mix of those exemptions stated. The site contains a number of existing agricultural buildings within one of which the proposed use will be undertaken, although not a building of any historic or architectural interest the proposal will make best use of existing redundant farm building especially since the cessation of the diary business in 2002. The proposed business is to service and repair a mix of agricultural and plant machinery, most of which is essential to the conduct of agricultural operations across the entire Island. The location is perhaps not within what would be considered a sustainable location (ie within a town or village) but is appropriate given the agricultural nature of the business in its own right. The application in principle is considered to meet the tests of General Policy 3

ii) Impact on the Countryside

6.3 Environment Policy 16 deals specifically with the reuse of agricultural buildings for alternative purposes. Use for small scale industrial or commercial purposes such as that proposed may be acceptable provided the tests of that policy are met. With regard to EP16 the applicant has stated that the building is no longer required for farming purposes (a) and in its own right is not of any historic or visual value as per (b), the proposal does not require extension or alteration of the building to accommodate the new use (c) and while traffic may increase its not to such an unacceptable level as to result in any implications on the highways or traffic in the area (d), given the agricultural nature of the business and perhaps best suited in such a location that the proposal is not considered to be harmful to the vitality of any nearby settlement centres (e) and it's likely that the agricultural benefits expected in servicing and maintaining farming equipment for the local farming community would be sufficient enough in any case to outweigh any potential environmental impacts beyond the building being left in a redundant state (f).

6.4 The proposal is to be within an existing building and within the extents of an existing farm holding and within the cluster of existing buildings. The site is set back and accessed via a farm lane some 300m from the main road. This contained nature of the proposal within the site will limit any spread of development to the surroundings and thus seeking to ensure no impacts on the wider countryside or on the wider rural landscape.

iii) Highway Safety Impact

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6.5 The applicant has advised that the nature of the business is as such that there are vehicles coming and going form the site, whether staff, delivery vehicles or customers, although there is a large proportion of the business which requires the servicing or fixing vehicles on the site at which they are based (usually customers farms or properties) with only the larger jobs being carried out within the safe environment of the application building. The existing access is already shared with the main farm house and an approved tourist unit, its additional use by traffic associated within the proposed plant repair is not to result in such an increase in traffic as to create any new highway safety issues beyond the existing use, and there is sufficient off road parking available to accommodate several vehicles off the road.

7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The diversification of the farm in this instance to include the repair business is acceptable and could be argued that there is an agricultural need for such a business in the long term in the provision, servicing and care of local farming machinery in maintaining the viability of the Islands farming businesses and community, and perhaps a use not unusual or unacceptable in such a rural location and this and contained within the existing farm buildings.

7.2 In light of the favourable findings as set out above it is considered on balance that the proposal complies with the aforementioned policies of the Strategic Plan 2016 and is recommended for approval.

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: (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: 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 confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.

Decision Made : ...Permitted... Committee Meeting Date:...12.08.2019

Signed :... 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

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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.