180496

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                                      19/00748/C                                     Page  1  of  5

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 19/00748/C Applicant : Mr Peter Pearce Proposal : Change of use from a church hall to a residential dwelling Site Address : Andreas Church Hall Andreas Village Isle Of Man IM7 4EZ

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 12.08.2019 __

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. Prior to the undertaking of any works on the conversion of the building, a survey for bats, which are protected under the Wildlife Act 1990, must be undertaken and approved by the Department and if any bats or their roosts are found, appropriate mitigation must be undertaken in accordance with a scheme to be approved by the Department and the development must be undertaken in accordance with these details.

Reason: in order to comply with Environment Policy 4 of the Strategic Plan.

Note: the advice of DEFA Ecosystems Policy Office is recommended in this respect.

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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

It is recommended that the following parties 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 Article 6(4):

the owners of Gladwyn whose address is given as Ballaghaue Farm, and the Isle of Man Victorian Society as they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use

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of land owned or occupied by them and in relation to the relevant issues identified in paragraph 2C of the Policy, as is required by paragraph 2D of the Policy. __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the curtilage of a church hall situated in Andreas village close to the village shop and the entrance to Kirk Andreas Church. The property has two dwellings very close to it - Mona Cottage to the north and Gladwyn to the east. The building is a modest, single storey structure built in stone. Mona Cottage and Gladwyn are vernacular properties which sit close to the road. Between them is the entrance to the site, formed by distinctive stone walls with the top half built of red brick. The hall is visible but not prominent from the road. Andreas Rectory lies to the south: this is a Registered Building (RB 255).

1.2 The site and existing building abut the rear wall of Gladwyn which appears to be currently unoccupied. A stream runs along the western boundary of the site which is a designated Main River. A small thie veg (outside toilet) sits in the south western corner of the site. Trees overhang the site. A right of way for Manx Utilities to gain access to the watercourse, runs through the site.

1.3 The access to the site presently affords no visibility in either direction from a point 2.4m back into the site. Added to this, there is no footway in front of the site which means passing traffic is very close to the front of any vehicle emerging from the site. The present access is so narrow that vehicles emerging have to cross onto the other side of the carriageway to turn in either direction.

1.4 The site was cleared in 2015, leaving only vegetation on the boundary with Mona Cottage which is on the neighbour's side of the boundary. This is a single storey property whose rear elevation faces south west, roughly parallel with the boundary wall abutting the application site.

1.5 The site was the subject of an application for the principle of the demolition of the building and the erection of three dwellings (15/00145/A). This was approved by the Planning Committee but at appeal the inspector queried whether an application in principle could deal with the demolition of a building. It was concluded that it cannot and as such the approval was overturned. The inspector made a number of comments about the intention of the application, raising no specific objection to the demolition of the building.

1.6 A subsequent application was submitted solely for the demolition of the church hall - 17/01170/B. This application was considered by the Planning Committee but between the officer completing her recommendation and the consideration of the application by the Committee, the Department was advised that a viable offer for the building had been made with a view to converting, not replacing, the hall. Determination of that application was deferred for three months for the viability of that project to be tested through the completion of the sale.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the change of use of the church hall to a dwelling. No physical changes are proposed to the building.

2.2 The plan submitted shows the conversion of the existing kitchen to an en-suite bedroom, the hall to two other bedrooms with a dining room, living room and kitchen; the store remaining as such and the main entrance also remaining as such with the existing toilet converted to a utility room and the toilet changing to a bathroom.

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PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982 as Existing Residential. As such, there is a presumption in favour of development as set out in General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan which states:

"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 space around them; c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; d) does not adversely affect the protected wildlife or locally important habitats on the site or adjacent land, including water courses; 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 adverse effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways and k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan."

3.2 There is also a policy which protects community facilities:

Community Policy 3: "Development (including the change of use of existing premises) which results in the loss of a local community facilities (other than shops and public houses) will only be permitted if it can be demonstrated that it is no longer practical or desirable to use the facility for its existing use or another use likely to benefit the local community."

3.3 The application building is not identified in any published document as being of sufficient interest to Register but the most recent application for the building generated the submission of information which describes the history of the building and its association with the evolution of the village and its educational facilities. The draft Sector Plan for the north east, prepared by the Department of Local Government and Environment in 1990 identified a number of buildings to be considered for Registration, none of which was the application building: the Rectory was identified and is now Registered. The only Conservation Area proposed as part of that document was in Maughold.

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The most recent applications for the building are referred to above. In addition, planning approval was granted for the change of use of the building to include day care for children 08/01601/C. This has since expired and it is not understood that it was ever taken up.

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Andreas Parish Commissioners have not commented.

5.2 Highway Services have not commented.

5.3 The Isle of Man Victorian Society give their full support to the application and congratulate the applicants on their foresight and brave attempt to ensure that part of the Island's architectural heritage is saved. They suggest that the internal layout could be improved to better utilise the views and sunlight pattern and would be happy to offer their advice if asked. They recommend the removal of the brick porch and the re-opening ot a window on the front elevation (20.07.19).

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5.4 The owners of the adjacent property, whose address is given as Ballaghaue Farm, Andreas Road support the application and feel that the conversion of the property to a home is the best possible outcome for the old Victorian school (23.07.19).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The retention of the building is commendable and the conversion does not result in any external changes to the building as shown in the application. The lawful use of the building would have resulted in some disturbance to the occupants of the adjoining dwelling, however, this would have been likely to involve greater numbers of people, albeit not all through the day and night as would be the case if the property were permanently occupied. The implications on car parking and vehicular access are reduced through the proposed use and the likely impact on trees also reduced.

6.2 There has been reference in previous applications to the possibility of bats occupying the building and it would be appropriate to attach a condition to any approval to require a survey for this species which is protected under the Wildlife Act 1990, prior to the undertaking of any works and appropriate mitigation if any bats or their roosts, are found. The advice of DEFA Ecosystems Policy Office is recommended in this respect.

6.3 The loss of the community use of the building is regrettable but the building has not been actively used for this purpose for some time and the evidence provided in previous applications indicates that such a use is unlikely to result in income sufficient to ensure continued maintenance of the building. In this case, therefore, it is not considered objectionable that the development would result in the loss of a community facility. It is also relevant that the Planning Committee approved a previous application which would have resulted in the demolition of the building and its replacement with three dwellings, which would also have resulted in the loss of the community facility.

CONCLUSION 7.1 It is considered that the proposal is not contrary to the Development Plan and the application 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:

• whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• 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 the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 12.08.2019

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

Customer note

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