7 September 2012 · Senior Planning Officer (delegated authority under Article 3(13) of the Town and Country (Development Procedure) Order 2005)
12, Sunningdale Drive, Onchan, Isle Of Man, IM3 1eq
The proposal involved altering the hipped roof of a semi-detached two-storey house to a gable end to accommodate a staircase for a new bedroom in the roof space, adding 5.8 sq m of floor area while keeping ridge height at 9m, plus a rear dormer (4.1m x 1.2m in shiplap UPVC) and front roof lights.
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The officer concluded that whilst the dormer might be acceptable, replacing the hipped roof with a gable end does not respect the site or surroundings in terms of layout, scale, form and design, as th…
Policy O/RES/P21 of the written statement (Planning Circular 1/2000) that accompanies the Onchan Local Plan
Requires extensions and alterations to be appropriate in terms of scale, massing, design, appearance and impact on adjacent property. The officer assessed the gable roof change as inappropriate form of development harming appearance of the site and adjacent properties in a uniform hipped-roof row.
General Policy 2
Permits development respecting site/surroundings in siting, layout, scale, form, design (b); not adversely affecting townscape character (c) or locality amenity/character (g). Proposal failed as gable harms streetscene, unbalances pair, disrupts uniform hipped-roof character of Sunningdale Drive.
no objection; has no traffic management, parking or road safety implications
The original application for erection of a roof extension to the side elevation (replacing hipped roof with gable) and installation of a rear dormer was refused by the planning authority for failing to respect the site, surroundings, and character of the locality under policies GP2 and O/RES/P/21. The appellants argued that precedents exist for similar alterations, the street has a mix of roof types, access to the roof space requires the change, and no neighbour objections were raised. The inspector agreed the dormer was acceptable but found the gable roof would create a harmful 'hybrid' appearance with the adjoining hipped-roof semi-detached house, disrupting the balanced street scene and visual continuity. Policies O/RES/P/21 and GP2 were not met. The Minister accepted the inspector's recommendation to dismiss the appeal on 18 December 2012.
Precedent Value
This appeal emphasises that hip-to-gable conversions on one of a uniform semi-detached pair are likely to fail if they create 'hybrid' appearances disrupting street scene rhythm, even with precedents elsewhere. Applicants should prioritise designs preserving pair symmetry and uniform roof forms in suburban residential streets.
Inspector: Anthony J Wharton BArch RIBA RIAS MRTPI
