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24/00127/B Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 24/00127/B Applicant : Garff Commissioners Proposal : Erection of fence, (retrospective) and creation of 3No additional parking bays at Cooil Roi Site Address : Cooil Roi Elderly Persons Complex Glen Road Laxey Isle Of Man IM4 7NX
Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 12.03.2024 __
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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
C 2. The parking spaces hereby approved shall be laid out, constructed and finished in full accordance with details shown on drawing number 23 1796 03 Rev A, and retained thereafter.
Reason: To ensure suitable surface finish, parking space sizes and that no spaces encroach the highway in the interests of highway safety.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The application is considered to meet S18 of The Act and to have acceptable visual, amenity and highway safety impact and to accord with General Policy 2 (b, c, g, h and i) and to meet the tests the Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval relates to the following drawings and information o Drawing No: 23 1796 01 o Drawing No: 23 1796 02 o Survey drawing no: 2310F/01 - All date received 31/01/2024
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o Drawing No: 23 1796 03 Rev A - Date received 20/02/2024
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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are 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 4(2): o 21 Cooil Roi, Glen Road Laxey o 24 Cooil Roi, Glen Road Laxey as they both satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2020).
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 4(2): o Cruachan, Highfield Drive, Baldrine as they are not 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 Policy. __
Officer’s Report
SITE 1.1 The application relates to the Cooil Roi Elderly Persons Complex, Glen Road, Laxey.
PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the creation of 3 car parking spaces, and the retrospective erection of fencing.
HISTORY 3.1 There are a number of previous applications for alterations and extensions although none are considered materially relevant in this specific case.
PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The site lies within an area designated as 'Mixed Use' on the Area Plan for the East 2020 and within the Conservation Area and is recognised as being at a surface water flood risk. S18 of The Act is relevant as a statutory test in the assessment as well as the following:
4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies considered materially relevant to the assessment: o Strategic Policies 3 and 5 - promote good design and use of local materials and character o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (g) - general standards towards acceptable development visual and neighbouring amenity o Environment Policy 13 - flood risk o Environment Policy 35 - preserve or enhance conservation area o Environment Policy 42 - promotes development taking account of locality in design.
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o Community Policy 7, 11 - prevent criminal activity and reduce spread of fire o Infrastructure Policy 5 - conserve the Island's water
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.
5.1 Department of Infrastructure Highway Services - Comments (09/02/2024) - the parking spaces appear to encroach the highway and may need amended/re-aligned to avoid this and so to not reduce the access point. Revised drawings were received relocating and re-aligning the spaces and email and telephone communication with DOI Highway Services confirmed the changes were considered acceptable from a highway perspective (11/03/2024) and a further email dated 12/03/2024 seeking a condition that the works are carried out in accordance with the plans and finished in a bound and consolidated surface.
5.2 Comments have been received from the occupants of No. 21 and No. 24 Cooil Roi - objections (06/02/2024, 19/02/2024 and 20/02/2024) - fences are out of keeping with the conservation area, are unnecessary and take away communal space for existing residents.
5.3 Comments from owners of Cruachan, Highfield Drive - in support (05/03/2024) - their family relative is due to move in and has a pet and having the fence was a deciding factor in their accommodation selection.
5.4 Comments were also sought from the following people but nothing received as of 05/03/2024: o Garff Commissioners o Manx National Heritage o DEFA Registered Buildings and Conservation Area team o Manx Utilities o DOI Flood Risk Management
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The entire complex sits within the Laxey Conservation Area although is a far more recent building group compared to the much older historic building stock in the area, this older stock contributing more so to the character of the Conservation Area.
6.2 The application relates to the installation of two sections of timber fencing outside of one of the buildings and the creation of 3 parking spaces only. The key tests in the assessment of both parts are the visual impact on the Conservation Area, amenity impact on the neighbours and whether the 3 new parking spaces would result in any highway safety issues.
Fencing 6.3 Noting from the submission that a level of hardsurfacing has already been carried out at the site which has exacerbated loss of garden area, a number of fencing objections have been received from residents in the complex on both visual and amenity grounds. They state that the fencing is of a style out of keeping with the conservation area and its installation is unnecessary and reduces communal garden area available to other residents. In terms of the latter reduced use element this would be a matter outside of the planning process to be dealt with by the landowner and residents themselves and so in this case not a matter for this application. In terms of the former, the fencing is fairly low level design sitting below the window cill and is made of timber with spacers, its introduction is perhaps not typical within a Conservation Area but often seen used as residential boundary treatments Island wide. In this case the existing buildings are not typically historic nor exemplar buildings within the Conservation Area, and although having some traditional forms in the two storey with pitched roof arrangement and inclusion of Manx stone, their overall more modern appearance is somewhat capable of accommodating some change and the installation of the low level fencing
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in this instance read directly in connection with the building and being of small size and scale is not considered to be so visually unacceptable in this specific location and associated to this specific building as to adversely impact the existing building, streetscene or to harm the wider character of the Conservation Area of which the overall character is to be preserved.
Parking Spaces 6.4 The proposed spaces are to abut an existing hardstanding area already used for parking and turning. Whilst it's a shame that it reduces some of the green area and breaks in development for the wider complex the loss of the small area is not considered to be so unacceptable minded other green space is retained elsewhere on the site and public gardens being a short walk away and the overall character of this part already being used for parking is not out of keeping or to harm the wider character and appearance of the area. One window will have its outlook changed to a degree but given the open area beyond the cars and the footpath between the car parking and window being retained this outlook change is not considered to be so unacceptable as to harm general living conditions or amenity.
6.5 In terms of highway safety, the proposal will provide increased off road parking for the occupants or any visitors to the site. Information from DOI highways officer indicates that the highway terminates just alongside the proposed 3 spaces and one of these spaces would overhang the highway. In response to these comments the agent submitted revised drawings making smaller an access ramp into the complex buildings and pulling away the spaces from the road so as to not overhang the highway. DOI Highway Services provided updated comments stating that the proposal shown in revised drawings would not impact on the highway and they considered it acceptable.
CONCLUSION 7.1 For the above reasons the proposed fencing is considered to have an acceptable visual impact on the existing property and not to adversely impact or harm the character and appearance of the Conservation Area which is to be preserved, and the proposed parking spaces being alongside an existing open parking area will not result in any increased or adverse visual or amenity impacts and is not expected to result in any significant highway safety issues and is to preserve the overall Conservation Area character and appearance. A condition will be added in respect of the highway layout works in the interest of highway safety.
7.2 The application is considered to meet S18 of The Act and to have acceptable visual, amenity and highway safety impact and to accord with General Policy 2 (b, c, g, h and i) and to meet the tests the Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
INTERESTED PERSON STATUS 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf); (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material; (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure; (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.
8.2 The decision maker must determine:
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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 above 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 and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 13.03.2024
Determining officer Signed : S BUTLER
Stephen Butler
Head of Development Management
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