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18/00894/B
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 18/00894/B Applicant : Mr Christopher & Mrs Sonia Kelly Proposal : Erection of a detached building to house trailers used for agricultural purposes Site Address : Field 124163 Adjacent to Cronk Breck Bernahara Road Andreas Isle of Man
Photo Taken : 03.10.2018 Site Visit : 03.10.2018 Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 03.04.2019
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 agricultural building, hereby approved, shall only be used for the storage of equipment or materials associated with agricultural purposes; the building shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition in the event that it is no longer used or required for agricultural purposes.
Reason: The building has been exceptionally approved solely to meet agricultural need and its subsequent retention would result in an unwarranted intrusion in the countryside.
C 3. Prior to the occupation of the agricultural building, hereby approved, the embankment as shown on the submitted drawing No.CK20H18/A - Proposed Plans and Elevation, date-stamped as having been received 06 March 2019, shall be constructed. The gorse planting shall thereafter be undertaken in accordance with these details and introduced in the first planting season following the completion of the agricultural building. Any retained planting which within five years of the approved development being occupied or completed (whichever is the later) dies, is removed or becomes seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced by a similar species during the next planting season.
Reason: In the interests of the visual amenities of the countryside surrounding the site.
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18/00894/B
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties 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 owner/occupier of Ballachurry Farm Cottage, Bernahara, Andreas, IM7 3HH as they do not own or occupy property that is within 20m of the application site and the development is not automatically required to be the subject of an EIA by Appendix 5 of the Strategic Plan, in accordance with paragraph 2B of the Policy and they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use 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 Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status July 2018.
Officer’s Report
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE DUE TO THE PROPOSAL BEING; SUBJECT TO AN OBJECTION FROM AN EMPLOYEE OF THE PLANNING AND BUILDING CONTROL DIRECTORATE, AS SET OUT IN PART 3(i) OF DEFA STANDING ORDER NO. 2018/01
THE SITE 1.1 The site is situated in open countryside to the north east of St. Jude's and south of Andreas village. There are two other properties in the vicinity; Ballachurry Farm and Birds Croft. The application site is an agricultural field (124163) adjacent to the residential curtilage of the dwelling, Cronk Breck, which was approved as a replacement for a former dwelling.
1.2 The property has a range of outbuildings to the east which provide accommodation for the applicants' car collection, a former helicopter hangar which is now used for the storage of equipment and a new helicopter hangar. The curtilage of this property includes the outbuildings, the immediate landscaped area in front of the property and the driveway, but excludes the land to the south of the driveway and the pond.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The proposal is for the erection of a detached building to house trailers used for agricultural purposes, which are understood to include the maintenance of the land included within the red line boundary, the wider site and another site in Jurby.
PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area not designated for a particular purpose on 1982 Development Plan. As such, there is a presumption against development as set out in General Policy 3 and Environment Policy 1 of the Strategic Plan.
3.2 General Policy 3 states that 'Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of:
(f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry'
3.3 Environment Policy 1 states that 'The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake...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'.
3.4 Environment Policy 15 is also relevant where the Department is satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building in accordance with General Policy 3. Where the
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need is sufficient to outweigh the presumption against development in the countryside, the impact of this development is assessed, including buildings, accesses, servicing etc.; such development 'must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they will form a part'.
3.5 This policy continues by stating 'Only in exceptional circumstances will buildings be permitted in exposed or isolated areas or close to public highways and in all such cases will be subject to appropriate landscaping. The nature and materials of construction must also be appropriate to the purposes for which it is intended. Where new agricultural buildings are proposed next to or close to existing residential properties, care must be taken to ensure that there is no unacceptable adverse impact through any activity, although it must be borne in mind that many farming activities require buildings which are best sited, in landscape terms, close to existing building groups in the rural landscape'.
PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The replacement dwelling was approved under 09/01011/B and 10/00216/B and further alterations and extensions approved under 12/01362/B, 12/01363/B, 13/00311/B, 14/01002/B and 15/00820/B and car ports and storage buildings approved under 13/00306/B, and 14/00638/B. An application for a temporary access track and building were refused under PA 12/00582/B.
4.2 The previous planning application 16/00963/B for the Erection of a replacement helicopter hangar, conversion of existing hangar in to an equipment store and extension to residential curtilage, is considered to be specifically material in the assessment of the current application.
4.3 The most recent planning permission 18/00882/B for the Conversion and extension of existing single garage to provide additional living accommodation ancillary to existing property, was approved 29 October 2018.
REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the government's website. This report contains summaries only.
5.1 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division confirms that they do not oppose in the letter dated 10 October 2018. The comments continue: -
'The proposal should not affect the existing site access and parking arrangements so no new highway issues should arise. Highway Services does not oppose the application'.
5.2 Andreas Parish Commissioners have commented on the original submission for this application and the subsequent amendment and have stated that they do not object, in the letters dated 13 September 2018 and 18 March 2019.
5.3 An objection has been raised by a neighbouring resident in the representations dated 25 September 2018 and 04 March 2019; the key planning points are as follows: -
o The applicants are retired with a lot of classic cars; o They are not farmers and do not have sufficient acreage to justify agricultural storage shed of this size; o Will be sited adjacent 'existing industrial buildings', which is what the site now resembles; o Area is currently cluttered with non-agricultural 'furniture' which resembles a builders yard; o There is no policy justification for storage of the non-agricultural 'furniture' and storage should be housed in the existing storage units; o There is a concern that if the site were to be sold that there is a potential for industrial/commercial activity; o There is a discrepancy in the acreage referenced in the application;
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o Other land in the applicant's control can house equipment used for that site rather than exacerbating the impact of the industrial appearance of this rural site; o The equipment described is not agricultural; o There is other accommodation available on the site or on other sites controlled by the applicant that can house the equipment;
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The key issues for this proposal are principle of development, whether the proposed building/engineering operation is essential for the conduct of agriculture; the impact to the rural character of the site and the wider countryside; and the impact to neighbouring properties.
The principle of the development 6.2 The applicants' agent has provided a statement which includes a description of the equipment to be housed in the proposed shelter and some further details of the use of these.
6.3 The equipment includes a Claas telehandler, a 'Hedge-Cutter Man-Lift' and two open trailers. The above equipment is described as being required for hedge maintenance around site, field clearance required around the helicopter landing and take-off areas and 'general work on site, including ditch clearance and grass/hedge cuttings collection'. The applicants' agent has also stated 'In addition to the 30 acres at Cronk Breck, the trailers are used to transport the above equipment to other land in Jurby (5 acres) and in Sulby, owned by the applicant, where there are no storage facilities for the equipment, so they are returned to Cronk Breck'.
6.4 The original submission included equipment described as a horse trailer and two special flat-bed trailers, which the applicants' agent has stated, in reference to the horse trailer, is 'used mainly for dogs (4) to vet and shows' and, in reference to the special flat-bed trailers, 'are used occasionally to transport classic cars to and from Jurby Motor Museum'. None of these activities is agricultural.
6.5 Further details have been provided and the applicants' agent has confirmed that the amended building will only house the equipment stated above in para 6.3 and not the equipment included above in para 6.4, which will be stored elsewhere.
6.6 There are a number of large industrial style buildings on the site which provide accommodation for the applicants' car collection, a former helicopter hangar which is now used for the storage of equipment and a new helicopter hangar. These buildings, along with the increase of the curtilage of the applicants' dwelling to include the buildings, the immediate landscaped area in front of the property and the driveway, all appear to have been approved by the Department for their respective uses.
6.7 Under the previous planning approval 16/00963/B it stated 'it is proposed that the existing hangar be utilised for incidental general storage and garden machinery which will allow the applicant to remove from site two 40 foot storage containers currently located within the field'. This is believed to consist of a 'ride-on' lawn mower and a quad bike, which will continue to be housed in this building.
6.8 In previous instances the Department has accepted the maintenance of significant parcels of agricultural land, as opposed to actually farming the land, and the maintenance of land associated with substantial dwellings, as agricultural need. Therefore considering that the proposed building will only house equipment required for such activities and the Department has accepted the uses of other buildings in the curtilage of the dwelling for other uses, the principle is considered to be acceptable, subject to the considerations below.
Character and appearance 6.9 Whilst the site is not designated for development, there is a clear acceptance of additional buildings on this site in association with the applicant's vehicles and site maintenance, demonstrated by the previous decisions taken. The key consideration in the past has been whether such additional
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buildings would have any adverse visual or other impact on the environment and generally it has been found that there would be no such impact.
6.10 The existing buildings are not clearly visible from the surrounding area: whilst the upper parts of the dwelling can be seen from the B7 Regaby Road along with parts of some of the outbuildings, these are fleeting views. The views of the outbuildings are such that the lighter green of the existing domed helicopter shed are much more visible than the darker colours of the other outbuildings.
6.11 The applicant has amended the scheme to reduce the size of the building and re-orientate it through 90 degrees; the original submission was 5m tall at the highest part and 30m long by 10m wide, whereas the amended design is 3m tall at the highest point and 11.25m long by 6m wide. It will be finished in dark green and there will also be the introduction of a new embankment and planting along the eastern boundary of the building that will result in much less of the existing buildings being visible, which will decrease the visual impact of the overall development. This should be controlled by condition.
6.11 The benefit will also include the equipment being housed in one area, tidying the site as a whole. It is therefore considered that the proposal would not unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building or the character of its surroundings.
Impact on neighbours 6.12 Due to the distance of the application site to the closest adjacent properties, the proposed development is unlikely to result in a significant adverse impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring residents.
CONCLUSION 7.1 The proposal would not unacceptably harm the characteristics of the existing building or the character of its surroundings. The proposed development would not result in a significant adverse impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring residents. The proposal therefore complies with General Policy 3.
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 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 : Refused Committee Meeting Date: 15.04.2019
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Signed : Mr O Gore Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report and reasons for refusal were required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
PLANNING COMMITTEE DECISION 15.04.2019
Application No. :
18/00894/B Applicant : Mr Christopher & Mrs Sonia Kelly Proposal : Erection of a detached building to house trailers used for agricultural purposes Site Address : Field 124163 Adjacent to Cronk Breck Bernahara Road Andreas Isle of Man
Planning Officer Mr Owen Gore Reporting Officer As above
Addendum to the Officer’s Report
The committee considered the application at the 15/04/2019 meeting. The members did not agree with the officer's recommendation and instead refused the application.
Reason for Refusal
R 1. The applicant has not provided adequate justification to demonstrate that the agricultural need for a new building is sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside proposal. The proposal therefore conflicts with General Policy 3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
R 2.The proposed building, due to its locations and the additional existing buildings in close proximity, will result in the proliferation of built development within the open countryside. Whilst the proposed building has been located as close as is practically possible to existing building group, as per Environmental Policy 15, it will be viewed as an extension to the applicants' extensive warehousing located within the curtilage of Cronk Breck, which will be unsympathetic to the character of the countryside and the landscape of which will form a part. In addition, the proposal will necessitate the removal of existing hedging and would physically and visually extend the curtilage of the built structures further into the open countryside. The proposal therefore conflicts with Environmental Policy 1 and Environment Policy 15 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
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