Heritage Homes Planning Statement

Town and Country Planning Act 1999

Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005

Inquiry to consider PA 12/00914/C – Variation of condition 4 of approved PA 10/00544/B, residential development of 101 dwellings with associated highway and drainage works, public open space and landscaping, Field 311825 and parts of Fields 315097, 311826, 311827 & 314444, between Derby Road/Poortown Road & QEII High School and east of Reayrt ny Keylley, Peel

Statement on behalf of the Applicant, Heritage Homes Ltd

Contents

1.0 Introduction 2.0 The Site 3.0 Planning History 4.0 Planning Policy Context 5.0 The Proposal 6.0 Summary and Conclusion

Appendices

1. The decision notice for PA 10/00544/B
2. The decision notice for PA 10/01558/B
3. The decision notice for PA 11/00990/B
4. Extract from Inspector's report for PA 11/01250/B

• Introduction

1. I am David Ian Humphrey, and I am employed as a Senior Planner by the Dandara Group of Companies of which Heritage Homes Ltd is a constituent part. I am also the Director of Planning for Heritage Homes Ltd. I hold a Batchelor of Arts degree in geography and a Masters degree in Civic Design from the University of Liverpool, and I am a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. I have worked as a professional planner on the Isle of Man for more than seventeen years, the first seven of those as a Planning Officer for the Department of Local Government and the Environment.

1. In December 2011 planning approval was granted under PA 10/00544/B for a development of 101 dwellings and associated works on land between Poortown Road/Derby Road and QEII High School in Peel. The scheme involves works to an existing public highway which is vested within the Department of Infrastructure and as such the application was examined at Inquiry and determined by the Council of Ministers. This new application is in respect of the same site and will therefore be considered in the same manner.

1. Condition 4 of the above approval requires the highways within the site to be constructed to at least base course level and the parking areas made available for use prior to the occupation of any dwellings. This is to ensure that new residents can access their property and park their vehicles in a safe and convenient manner. This application simply proposes to vary the wording of the condition so that the highways within the site can be provided in a more efficient, sustainable and viable manner without altering its underlying objective in terms of access and parking for residents. The varied wording now proposed reflects that used in similar approvals for residential development.

1. This statement sets out the applicant's case in respect of the planning history of the site, planning policy context, and the details of the proposal.

• The Site

1. The site of PA 10/00544/B has a “residential” area of just over 4.7 hectares (i.e. excluding the site of the STP, boundary planting, existing highways etc) and is predominantly located within field 311825 and part of field 315097 on the eastern side of Peel, immediately south of Derby Road/Poortown Road and to the north east of the QEII High School. The site boundary has been defined so that it also encloses drainage infrastructure and landscape planting within fields 311826, 311827 and 314444, but it excludes the part of field 315097 which accommodates the first phase of development as approved under PA 09/00521 (approximately 1.6 ha). It also includes highways and verges in the vicinity of the Poortown Road/Oak Road junction where a new roundabout will be created. The development approved under PA 10/00544/B has commenced, including work on the approved roundabout, and a number of dwellings are close to completion.

• Planning History

1. Planning approval was granted under PA 09/00521/B for a first phase of 43 dwellings on part of field 315097, along with highway and drainage infrastructure. Approval was subsequently granted under PA 10/01124/B for alternative drainage arrangements to those previously approved, and to facilitate this change approval was also granted under PA 10/01123/C to remove condition 7 and vary condition 9 of the original consent. This phase of the development has been completed.

1. As stated above approval for subsequent phases of residential development has been granted under PA 10/00544/B, which will provide 101 additional dwellings and public open space along with associated highway, drainage and landscaping works¹. Approval has also been granted under PA 10/01460/B to create a temporary construction compound on land adjoining the PA 10/00544/B site, and a temporary construction access from Poortown Road has been approved under PA 12/00184/B. A number of applications seeking minor changes to certain plots and dwellings have subsequently been approved.

¹ The decision notice for PA 10/00544/B is attached at Appendix 1

Planning Policy Context

1. The application is concerned with the timing of highway and parking provision within an approved residential development and as such its planning policy context is not extensive. The Peel Local Plan (Planning Circular 6/89) and the Isle of Man Strategic Plan (IoMSP) form the extant Development Plan in this instance.

1. The Peel Local Plan, Planning Circular 6/89; the Peel Local Plan and Written Statement (Planning Circular 6/89) was adopted by Tynwald on 19th April, 1989, and offers little relevant guidance in respect of the issue identified above. By way of background however it indicates that the whole of the site is within an area which is designated for Predominantly Residential use, and Policy 5.3 of the Plan states that “Land for residential development on the perimeter of the town will be allocated”. Policy 5.14 states that “New residential development will be to appropriate densities in order both to meet the requirements of the population and to reduce the impact on the countryside”. Policy 5.15 indicates that “Comprehensive landscape proposals will be required as part of future submissions”. The car parking standards in the Plan - a minimum of 1.5 car parking spaces for each dwelling, depending upon circumstances - have been superseded by those of the IoMSP.

1. The Isle of Man Strategic Plan; the IoMSP was adopted by the Department in June 2007 and approved by Tynwald the following month, and is intended to provide “the strategic and general policy framework within which provision will be made for development and conservation needs for the period 2001-2016”. Together with Area Plans the IoMSP forms a Development Plan as required by the 1999 Town and Country Planning Act. It is explained in the IoMSP that existing Local Plans will remain in effect until they are replaced by new Area Plans, and that the 1982 Development Plan, as amended by the various Local Plans, will have effect as an Area Plan. It is also made clear in the Plan that “in the case of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Strategic Plan and the provisions of an Area Plan, whichever came into force later will prevail”, with the Strategic Plan being the most recent in this instance.

1. Amongst the Strategic Objectives of the Plan (page 11) it is stated that the housing needs of the community should be met by the provision of sufficient housing of an acceptable standard and of an appropriate nature and in appropriate locations, and that high standards of residential amenity in new development and a physically safe environment will be promoted.

1. The Strategic Policies which flow from these objectives (page 13) emphasize the need to make the best use of resources by, amongst other things, "ensuring efficient use of sites, taking into account the needs for access, landscaping, open space, and amenity standards". Strategic Policy 10 (page 17) seeks to promote a more integrated transport network by ensuring that, amongst other things, new development is located and designed so as not to adversely affect highway safety for all users.

1. General Policy 2 of the Plan (page 30) identifies standards of development that should be complied with, amongst which is a requirement for new development to provide satisfactory amenity standards in itself. This includes the provision of safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space.

1. Transport Policy 4 of the Plan (page 96) states that the new and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner. Transport Policy 7 (page 97) requires that parking provision in all new development meets the Department's standards, which is shown at Appendix 7 of the IoMSP to be 2 spaces per unit for typical residential and terrace development.

• The Proposal

1. Condition 4 of approved PA 10/00544/B is intended to ensure that new residents can access their property and park their vehicles in a safe and convenient manner. It does not seek to control the phasing of the overall development, i.e. the order in which the new dwellings and associated facilities are provided; it simply seeks to ensure that, once constructed, new dwellings and their associated parking can be appropriately accessed by residents. It states;

"Prior to the occupation of any dwellings, the road layout shown by approved drawing 2313.127 Site Layout including parking areas, must be laid to at least base course level and the parking associated with the development must be available for use by occupiers of the dwellings".

1. Whilst the intention of the condition is of course valid and reasonable its wording in this instance fails to take account of the practical and commercial reality of developing a site of this size. There is no practical reason why all of the highways within the site must be laid to base course level ahead of the first dwelling being occupied. This would result in roadways being constructed through parts of the site where development is not yet taking place and where access is not yet required, which serves no purpose and carries no benefit. On the contrary, prematurely providing all of the highways within a large site is likely to threaten the viability of early phases of development and opens up the possibility of unfinished roads lying within otherwise undeveloped land for an indefinite period.

1. This application seeks approval to vary the wording of condition 4 so that it addresses the above points without compromising the underlying objective of the original condition. This can be accomplished with the following;

"No dwelling shall be occupied until the estate road between that dwelling and the existing public highway, including footways and the approved roundabout on Poortown Road has been constructed to at least base course level and the parking spaces for that dwelling have been provided".

1. The words in italics have been added in response to a query from the Planning Authority, with the roundabout in question currently being under construction (we do not propose that the final condition includes italics). The approved development connects to the public highway at two points, via the roundabout currently under construction and by way of Clover Avenue. This latter connection has already been created in order to serve existing dwellings and as such the varied condition will allow new residents to use either access.

1. It is usual for residential planning approvals, particularly in respect of sizeable schemes, to include a condition which is worded in a similar form to that now

proposed, i.e. it requires highway access to be provided between a new dwelling and the existing public highway prior to occupation of that dwelling. Recent approvals where wording of this nature has been used include PA 10/01558/B (Foxdale)² and PA 11/00990/B (Ramsey)³, and similar was recommended by the Inspector for PA 11/01250/B (Kirk Michael)⁴. There would not appear to be a standard form of wording used by the Planning Authority to address this issue, hence the slight variation in these examples.

1. The Highway Authority has confirmed during consultation that in its view the varied condition as proposed is preferable to that currently attached to PA 10/00544/B as it does not wish to see roads constructed to base course level and then left unfinished for an indefinite period.

• Summary and Conclusion

1. In December 2011 planning approval was granted under PA 10/00544/B for a development of 101 dwellings and associated works on land between Poortown Road/Derby Road and QEII High School in Peel. Condition 4 of the approval requires the highways within the site to be constructed to at least base course level and the parking areas made available for use prior to the occupation of any dwellings.

1. The underlying intention of the condition is to ensure that new residents can access their property and park their vehicles in a safe and convenient manner. It does not seek to control the phasing of the overall development, i.e. the order in which the new dwellings and associated facilities are provided.

1. There is no practical reason why all of the highways within the site must be laid to base course level ahead of the first dwelling being occupied. This would result in roadways being constructed through parts of the site where development is not yet taking place and where access is not yet required, which serves no purpose. Prematurely providing highways within a site is likely to threaten the viability of early phases of development and opens up

² The decision notice for PA 10/01558/B is attached at Appendix 2 ³ The decision notice for PA 11/00990/B is attached at Appendix 3 ⁴ Extract from Inspector's report for PA 11/01250/B is attached at Appendix 4

the possibility of unfinished roads lying within otherwise undeveloped land for an indefinite period.

1. This application seeks approval to vary the wording of condition 4 so that it addresses the above points whilst still achieving the objective of the original condition. It is usual for residential planning approvals, particularly in respect of sizeable schemes, to include a condition which is worded in a similar form to that now proposed, i.e. it requires highway access to be provided between a new dwelling and the existing public highway prior to occupation of that dwelling.

1. The Inspector is therefore invited to recommend to the Council of Ministers that planning approval be granted to vary condition 4 as suggested in paragraph 17 above.