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24/00013/B Page 1 of 6
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 24/00013/B Applicant : Mr Daniel Shimmin Proposal : Erection of oil tank (retrospective) Site Address : Dreswick Linden Avenue Port St Mary Isle Of Man IM9 5ER
Planning Officer: Lucy Kinrade Photo Taken : 23.02.2024 Site Visit : 23.02.2024 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 22.05.2024 __
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. Within 3 months of this decision notice the timber trellis hereby approved (as shown on drawing OT3B) shall be finished in a dark green in colour and retained as such thereafter
Reason: in the interest of visual amenity and to best match the dark green colour of the existing oil tank.
C 3. The screen planting hereby approved shall be carried out in accordance with the details as shown on drawing OT1B and OT3B and within the next available planting season. Any screen plants indicated on the plans which, within a period of five years from the date of planting, die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced during the next planting season with other plants of a similar species and size and retained thereafter.
Reason: In the interest of softening views of the oil tank from the neighbours perspective.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. Overall it is considered that the setback position of the tank, the low level and slim profile design and its dark colour all help to reduce the visual impact and prominence of the tank from public view and within the streetscene and surrounding area. The tank will be visible to the neighbour however is not considered to result in any overbearing or dominating impacts on
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their overall living condition or outlook to warrant a concern or refusal and the additional trellis and screen planting will help to soften views from the neighbour's perspective. Overall it is considered that the proposal is within the bounds of acceptability having acceptable visual and amenity impact meeting with General Policy 2 (b, c, g) of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and not at odds with Section 7 of the Residential Design Guide.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval relates to the following information and drawings: o OT1B o OT3B o Site Photo
and o Location plan o Site plan o Site photographs
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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 Handley Cross, Queens Road - as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status.
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Officer’s Report
1.0 SITE 1.1 Relates to detached dwelling 'Dreswick' with frontage onto two streets Linden Avenue and Queens Road.
2.0 PROPOSAL 2.1 Placement of an oil tank between the house and Queens Road and nearest the boundary with Handley Cross, Queens Road.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 PA 22/01350/B - conversion of roofspace including installation of new windows and rooflights - APPROVED
4.0 PLANNING POLICY 4.1 Site is designated as 'Predominately residential' on the Area Plan for the South 2013. Not at any flood risk and no registered trees. Adjacent the proposed Conservation Area.
4.2 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered relevant in the assessment of this application; o Strategic Policies 3 and 5 - promotes good development o Spatial Policy 5 - Building in defined settlements or in line with GP3
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o Paragraph 8.12.1 o General Policy 2 - General development considerations and standards o Environment Policy 42 - designed to take account character and identity
4.3 Also relevant is the Residential Design Guide (2021) which provides detailed advice including sustainable development and climate change resilience, design of new houses and extensions to existing residential properties as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential properties and sustainable methods of construction.
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 - No highways interest (12/01/2024 and 09/05/2024)
5.2 The owners of Handley Cross, Queens Road - Objection (16/01/24 and 22/01/24) - o oil tank is too close to their property o Too near to opening windows o Worried about their safety o unsightly from their property and from public view o not in-keeping with the frontages along Queens Road o if the alterative location is to be approved it should be a sufficient distance from the boundary wall o any new wall at the rear should be within the applicants own land o any pipe work should meet standards
5.3 The following were also consulted but nothing received as of 22/05/2024: o Port St Mary Commissioners
6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 Retrospective approval is sought for the positioning of a 1000ltr oil tank on concrete base approximately 4.2m from boundary with Queens Road. Oil tank measuring 1.76m (l) x 0.54m (w) x 1.44m (h). The submitted information also includes installation of screen planting for the oil tank or its potential re-positioning to the back of the house should the front location not be acceptable. The fundamental issues to consider in this case are: i. Principle ii. Visual impact on existing house, streetscene and surrounding area, iii. Neighbouring amenity impacts and iv. Other matters (relocation, building regulations and screen planting)
6.2 i) Principle 6.2.1 Oil tanks are fairly common place at dwellings in fact the Permitted Development (PDO) Order currently allows for their installation subject to conditions; being smaller than 1200litres, no more than 2m above ground level and no closer to the highway than the house and therefore anything outside of those parameters, such as this proposal, requires assessment as part of a planning application. There is a general principle in favour of residential development in residential areas and given oil tanks are fairly commonplace the general principle is accepted and therefore test falls to the visual and amenity impact on the existing house, streetscene, surrounding area and neighbours namely Handley Cross.
6.3 ii)Visual impact on existing house, streetscene and surrounding area 6.3.1 The dwellings along Queens Road have a fairly consistent building line being set back slightly and having a mix of garden and driveway space between the house and the road. Majority of the dwellings have low level boundary walls with public views over and towards the
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house with some intermitting hedging and planting softening and breaking up the streetscene. The setback nature of the dwellings, the wide roadway and the open grassed triangle opposite the dwelling give the immediate area a fairly open feeling.
6.3.2 The oil tank is currently on the northern side of the house facing Queens Road and nearest the boundary of Handley Cross. Its concrete base sits a notable 4.2m back from the edge of the highway. The oil tank is fairly slim and sitting fairly low to the ground with its top no higher than the cill of the utility window behind.
6.3.3 There does not appear to be any other oil tanks at the fronts of properties along Queens Road and it is accepted that there would be some degree of negative impact in this being the only oil tank in this area fronting the road, however this impact is lessened by its setback distance from the road maintaining the open feeling of the area and minded of its low level and slim profile design and being finished in a dark green colour all of which contributes towards to reducing its visual prominence to an acceptable degree.
6.3.4 There is some low level boundary planting at the site, this will not completely obscure views of the oil tank but it does help to break up some of the views and soften the streetscene when passing the site, and as mentioned above the setback position and design of the oil tank including its dark coloured finish is not considered to result in a prominent feature and is not considered harmful or damaging to the overall appearance of the dwelling or the streetscene as to warrant a refusal, and is not considered to adversely impact the general appearance of the surroundings or to undermine the open aspect of this area or the adjacent proposed Conservation Area and is considered to be acceptable.
6.4 iii) neighbouring amenity impact 6.4.1 Objections have been received from the immediate neighbour Handley Cross. It is undeniable that the oil tank will be visible from the front of their property given the low level boundary wall between the two properties. Reviewing the position, angle and distances between the oil tank and the neighbour coupled with the low level and slim profile design of the tank itself and its positioning it is not considered to result in any overbearing or overshadowing impacts does not dominate the general outlook from the nearest neighbours window or from the front door where views over and towards the coast and open area are still available. Whilst individual views of the neighbour are empathised with and it is acknowledged that the oil tank here is not something that they like or enjoy looking at, given the policy testing, visiting the site and undertaking the planning assessment the proposal is not considered to adversely harm the general living conditions or overall amenity of Handley Cross to warrant any concern or refusal. The application is considered acceptable in this respect in line with GP2(g) and the principles of Section 7 of the Residential Design Guide 2021.
6.4.2 In order to help appease the neighbours' concerns the applicant sought to include screen planting around the tank and this is discussed further at paragraph 6.5.4 of this report.
6.5 iv) other matters (relocation, building regulation and screen planting)
Relocation 6.5.1 The original submission included a potential relocation of the tank to the rear if the current position along Queens Road was deemed unacceptable, however given the above findings it is not considered necessary to have the oil tank relocated to the rear.
Building Regulations 6.5.2 The current position of the oil tank along the Queens Road frontage is understood to meet current building regulations including meeting the required distances from the main dwelling as well as from the neighbours dwelling as to meet the required fire distances as to prevent the spread of fire from a house to the oil tank.
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Screen Planting 6.5.3 The original submission sought to include the tank in a close board timber fence which was considered to result in a more manufactured appearance and potentially drawing more attention to it. Mindful of the applicants concerns as to the views from their house, they sought to omit the timber fence and instead provide a more natural screen planting around the tank to soften views. It will of course take time for the planting to mature, but once it has the planting will likely conceal the tank and soften those views from the neighbour's perspective, and possibly further soften views from the road. Although considered acceptable without the trellis and screen planting, the proposal to include this would not be unobjectionable and a condition requiring the trellis being painted dark green and the plants being replaced within the next planting season should they die or be damaged within 5 years of first being installed would be appropriate.
7.0 CONCLUSION 7.1 Overall it is considered that the setback position of the tank, the low level and slim profile design and its dark colour all help to reduce the visual impact and prominence of the tank from public view and within the streetscene and surrounding area. The tank will be visible to the neighbour however is not considered to result in any overbearing or dominating impacts on their living condition or outlook to warrant a concern or refusal and the additional trellis and screen planting will help to soften and mitigation some views from the neighbour's perspective. Overall it is considered that the proposal is within the bounds of acceptability having acceptable visual and amenity impact meeting with General Policy 2 (b, c, g) and not at odds with Section 7 of the Residential Design Guide.
8.0 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: 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. __
I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner 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: 22.05.2024
Determining officer Signed : C BALMER
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Chris Balmer Principal Planner
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