DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00108/D Applicant: Foxdale Heritage Proposal: Erection of interpretation board Site Address: Field 333144 East Foxdale Road Foxdale Isle Of Man IM4 3HL Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 26.02.2024

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 advertisement hereby approved shall be used to display information relating to the heritage of the Foxdale Mines only. Should the signboard be no longer used or required for these purposes then the posts and board shall be removed with three months of the sign no longer being used. Reason: to protect the countryside from unwarranted advertisements.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The application complies with the Advertisement Regulations and with General Policy 3(h) and General Policy 8 of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 23rd January 2024;

• o Site Location Plan
• o Photos of example signage at proposed location
• o Proposed Signage
• o Signage Technical Details and Measurements

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 4(2):

Ballaterson Cottage, Station Road as they do not satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Louisa House, East Foxdale Road, Foxdale with the actual location site of the board being with within a small piece of land situated with field No.333411, situated nearby the Headlands Cattery car park, within the field itself. - 1.2 The site forms part of an area which was historically part of the Foxdale Mines. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the installation of an A1 signboard which is to measure 94cm by 70cm with an inner display size of 60cm by 84cm. The signboard is to be approximately 0.9m above ground level, with the overall height of the signboard being

• 1.6m high.
• 2.2 The sign will contain information about the former Foxdale Mines.

2.3 The current proposal is one of ten boards that are proposed to be erected within the wider Foxdale area and which will provide information on local heritage to the community. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There have been several other applications upon the site of which the following should be noted;

• 3.1.1 PA13/00387/B - Remediation of site and erection of a detached dwelling with associated landscaping works (comprising amendments to PA 12/01053/B) - Permitted.

3.2 There have also been the following application approved for similar signboards which have been sited across Foxdale village.

• 3.2.1 PA23/01117/B - Sited approximately 122m closer to Louisa House within the same field.

• 3.2.2 PA21/00978/D - sited within the grounds of St Pauls Church
• 3.2.3 PA21/00977/D - sited approximately 148m away from the proposed sign within this application adjacent to the roadside (the same board as proposed within this application, No.9 within a different setting.)
• 3.2.4 PA19/01386/D - sited within Foxdale Primary School
• 3.2.5 PA19/01020/D - sited within the grounds of the Clock Tower garden area
• 3.2.6 PA19/01005/D - sited within the Foxdale Heritage Centre
• 3.2.7 PA19/00932/D - sited within the Northern end of the disused railway line.

• 3.2.8 PA19/00911/D - sited within the Disused Railway Line, From Dove Cottage to Costain's Yard
• 3.2.9 PA23/01117/B - Sited closer to Louisa House within the same field.

PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "reclamation" and an area of "nature conservation zone" on the Foxdale Local Plan 1999.

4.2 Minded of the nature of the proposal being for a standalone signboard providing information for the historic mines in this specific area, the most relevant policy in the determination would be General Policy 3(h) which provides an exception to development for the interpretation of the Islands heritage, as well as taking into account General Policy 8 in respect of rural advertisement and The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013 which makes clear that the only considerations which can be applied to applications made under them are in the interests of protecting amenity and public safety. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 DOI Highway Services have considered the proposal and state "No Highway Interest." (02.02.24)

5.3 No comments have been received from Patrick Commissioners at the time of writing this report. - 5.4 The owner/occupier of Ballaterson Cottage, Station Road, Ballaugh have written in to support the application. (05.02.24)

ASSESSMENT 6.1 When looking at the proposal the main considerations are that the proposal would not impact the surrounding streetscene and that the proposal itself meets General Policy 3(h), General Policy 8 and The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013.

6.2 Within the Foxdale Local Plan 1999, it states the following regarding mining and the overall area; "Foxdale's history is strongly characterised by mining and its general environment and appearance pay tribute to that legacy still today. Mining in Foxdale is noted as early as 1740 although the mining of lead began in earnest in 1828 when the Isle of Man Mining Company took over operations throughout the majority of the Island and were responsible for the opening up of many shafts within Foxdale itself.

6.3 With the above in mind the works are clearly intended to assist in the public's interpretation of the history of the Foxdale Mines and the heritage of the Island and as such would comply with the expectations of General Policy 3(h). - 6.4 The sign itself is modest in size and of a height to be readable by a variety of users and would be of an interest within the locality rather than an intrusion to the enjoyment of the area. The proposal is sited away from the roadside and ultimately should not harm the surrounding habitats or nature zones. - 6.5 The sign does not contain any illumination and is set back a sufficient distance from the edge of the highway so as to limit any highway visibility or safety issues and not to create a distractions to road users, and for this reason would meets the tests of GP8 and the general standards set out in The Control of Advertisements Regulations 2013. CONCLUSION

7.1 The proposal is deemed to comply with the above mentioned Isle of Man Strategic Plan policies, whilst this is the case, the proposal has been assessed on a one situation basis with no other form of advertisement being acceptable, as such a condition should be attached to prevent the board being used to advertise anything else without prior approval. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013, 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) Persons to whom notice has been given under regulation 10(3)(a)(i)
• (d) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material;
• (e) The Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (f) The Ports Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (g) The operator of the railway or tramway; and
• (h) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. 8.2 The Planning Committee 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 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 : 28.02.2024 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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