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19/00401/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 19/00401/B Applicant : Mr Adam & Mrs Helen Williams Proposal : Alterations to rear garden and creation of off road parking and vehicular access Site Address : 13 Western Avenue Douglas Isle of Man IM1 4EP
Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken : 14.05.2019 Site Visit : 14.05.2019 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 21.05.2019 __
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.
Plans/Drawings/Information:
This approval relates to the Location plan, drawing numbers 1489.1, 1489.3 date stamped and received 3 April 2019, and 1489.2 (A) date stamped and received 21 May 2019.
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
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Officer’s Report
THE SITE 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of a semi-detached property located along Western Avenue, Douglas which ends in a cul-de-sac. The front garden is defined by low cement rendered boundary walls.
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1.2 The house is setback from the highway by 5.77m (from the pedestrian footpath by the highway to the building line). There is a low stone wall on each side of the pedestrian entrance to the dwelling which is about 0.7m high.
1.3 The rear of the property is formed by three garden terraces which rise to about 0.70m. This garden area is bounded by a 1m fence and 2m hedge on the south elevation, a 1m wooden fence on the rear elevation, and a wire mesh wooden framed fence on the north elevation.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the alteration to the rear garden and creation of off road parking and vehicular access.
2.2 A new vehicular access onto Western Avenue is proposed. This will comprise the removal of the front wall to the left of the pedestrian access, and the paving of part of the front garden to provide vehicular parking. The frontage would be levelled and the hard surfacing created for a single parking space. This hard standing would be sloped towards the highway so that there is a relatively level access onto the highway. Paviour sets would be used to finish the surfacing of the parking area.
2.3 The works will involve creating a drop kerb to suit the driveway in accordance with Highways and Traffic division directions.
2.4 Other works will include landscaping of the rear garden. The works will involve the re- profiling of the existing sloping terraced garden to create a lowered flat garden with an elevated patio raised 1m above the new garden level, as well as creating retaining walls to support raised areas of the garden. The existing steep garden staircase leading to the rear garden will be replaced with three more gradual staircases. The works also involves the creation of a lower level patio area on the northern section and rear of the property.
2.5 A garden retaining wall will be built to support and hold a timber fence 2m high over existing ground level on the rear boundary with No. 32 and 34 Westminster Drive. The shed and the oil tank situated by the kitchen will be relocated to the north-eastern end of the raised patio at the end of the garden.
PLANNING POLICY 4.1 In terms of land use designation the application site is designated as 'Predominantly Residential' on the Douglas Local Plan Oder 1998.
4.2 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains one policy that is considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application: General Policy 2 states that: 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; (f) incorporates where possible existing topography and landscape features, particularly trees and sod banks; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways;
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4.3 The Residential Design Guide 2019 also provides guidance for assessing this application. Section 6.3.4 states that: "Proposals which result in the loss of more than 50% of the existing front lawned/landscaped garden will not normally be supported, to ensure the character of the street scape is retained and avoid frontages of properties appearing as one large car parking area, detrimental to the appearance of the street scene and to the outlook of residents. It is important that the design of a driveway maintains a balance between hard and soft landscaping and contributes positively to the street scene". Therefore, "Proposals are unlikely to be supported where they do not meet the following guidelines": a. the area intended for the driveway should be the minimum space necessary; d. where possible, separate pedestrian access should be retained/provided (existing gates should normally be retained and any new gates should not open out over the highway);
f. consideration should be given to a strip of grass or gravel placed in the centre of the hard standing can hide leaked oil and maintain the look of a front garden; and
g. parking spaces should be avoided directly in front of any Primary Window as the resulting outlook can be undermined by the presence of parked cars.
4.4 The Manual for Manx Roads will also provide valuable insights in the decision making for this application. Section 11.6.2 states that: "The minimum recommended distance between the front of a garage and entrance gates is 7.0 m. Where entrance gates are not to be erected this distance can be reduced to 6.0 m. The minimum recommended length of any parking space within the curtilage is 5.5 m. These requirements should be regarded as essential on primary routes and classified roads, as these routes tend to be busier and, on occasion, high speed, meaning that any vehicle parking in the carriageway whilst gates or garage doors are opened would potentially conflict with moving traffic. Where a development is located on the unclassified road network, lower distances will be considered".
PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The site has not been the subject of any planning application that is considered material to the assessment and determination of this application.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division do not oppose the planning application in letter dated 10 May 2019. However, DOI made the following comments: The proposed site parking layout could accomodate up to 2 parked cars and should be no steeper than 1:12 to facilitate suitable pedestrian and vehicular access. A S109A Agreement will be required for the proposed vehicular crossing and dropped kerbs. The applicant would need to fund appropriate measures to prevent the site from illegally draining onto the adjacent adopted highway as part of the S109A agreement.
The highway visibility splays shown are unacceptable as they slightly encroach onto third party neighbouring land either side of the site which is outside the applicant's control, and 36m is inadequate for the 30mph speed limit as 43m is needed. However, an 'x' distance of 2m is deemed acceptable for the location of the site on a quiet residential road and this would enable splays of 2m x 43m to be achieved which would be sufficient.
5.2 Douglas Borough Council indicates that they do not oppose the application in the letter dated 26 April 2019.
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5.3 The Arboricultural Officer has not commented on this application at the time of drafting this report, and so it is assumed that there are no objections to the application.
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main site specific issues to be assessed in the determination of this application are the impact of the proposed development on private amenity, public amenity and highway safety.
6.2 In respect of the impact of the proposed development on private amenity, it can be seen that the nearest point of the proposed garden remodelling to the dwelling at No. 34 Westminster Drive is 7.72m and approximately 9.96m to the dwelling at No. 32 Westminster Drive. A two meter fence will be created from the local ground level and as such will serve as a screen between the proposed development and the neighbouring sites. Hence, the proposal would not harm private amenity to an extent that would warrant refusal of the planning application.
6.3 It is considered that the remodelling of the garden will enhance the quality of the garden space and as such improve the feature of the rest of the property, as well as improving the functionality of the space.
6.4 As can be seen, the proposed development includes a new vehicular access onto Western Avenue, which ends in a cul-de-sac. The impact of this proposed vehicular access onto Western Avenue will not create highway safety concerns since the road ends in a cul de sac. Moreover, the road will not be used as a thoroughfare which will consequently reduce the volume of vehicular traffic on the highway.
6.5 With regard to the provision of off-street parking, the site will comfortable accommodate a parking space and pedestrian access to cover a combined width of 3.4m. This leaves off a width of 5.0m to constitute the existing front lawned/landscaped garden. Since the frontage leaves a setback of about 5.5m from the building line, there will be sufficient room to keep a front lawn to cover 59.5% of the frontage, which falls within acceptable limits stipulated in Section 6.3 of the Residential Design Guide 2019.
RECOMMENDATION 7.1 It is recommended that the planning application be 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 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.
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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: 30.05.2019
Determining officer
Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett
Principal Planner
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