192611

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                                      24/00353/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No. : 24/00353/B Applicant : Mrs Deirdre Hughes Proposal : Installation of Solar Panels on top of Garage Flat Roof Site Address : 23 Ballanard Road Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 5HA

Planning Officer: Peiran Shen Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 15.07.2024 __

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.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposed solar panels do not harm the character of the area or the amenity of neighbouring properties due to their low heights, despite one being positioned close to the boundary line with 25 Ballanard Road.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the documents and drawing no. 01, 02, 03 which have been received on 27 March 2024, and drawing no. 04 Rev A which has been received on 31st May 2024. __

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):

25 Ballanard Road, Douglas

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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 THE SITE 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Kingston, 23 Ballanard Road, Douglas, a single storey detached dwelling located on the southwest of Ballanard Road. There is a single-storey flat-roof extension on the northwest of the house. This side extension has a narrow front part and a wider rear part. The end of the wider part sits on the boundary with 25 Ballanard Road.

1.2 The site is next to 25 Ballanard Road. No. 25 is northwest of the property, and it is at a level approx. 0.7m lower than the application site. The siting and the front elevation of the two dwellings are roughly aligned northwest-southeast.

1.3 No. 25 has a top-hung casement window and a bay window on the southeast elevation of the property, facing the northwest elevation of No.23. The two windows are close to the rear of the property and are aligned with the garage of No.23. The top-hung casement window serves a dining room and the bay windows services a living room.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The proposed is the installation of eight solar panels on the roof of the single-storey side extension. Each panel is approximately 0.55m tall. There will be five panels in a column close to the main house, one on the edge of the narrow part of the extension, and two in a row across the entire width of the extension.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 Alterations, erection of extension to provide ancillary accommodation and alteration to access and parking arrangement was APPROVED under PA 20/01364/B. This application included the narrow part of the exiting side extension. In the officer's report, it is explained that the overbearing and overshadowing impact of the proposal was not greater than the existing garage at that time and it's one of the reasons that this 2020 application was approved.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Predominantly Residential in the Area Plan for the East.

Strategic Policy 4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (g)

PPS and NPD 4.3 There is no planning policy statement or national policy directive considered materially relevant to this application.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Strategy and Guidance 5.1 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) contains the following guidance that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:

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o Chapter 7 Impact on Neighbouring Properties

6.0 REPRESENTATIONS This section is a summary. The original texts of the consultations and comments received are available on the Planning Application Search on the government website. 6.1 Douglas Borough Council does not object to this application (16.04.2024).

6.2 DoI Highway Services states there is no highway interest in this application (05.04.2024).

6.3 25 Ballanard Road wrote in objection to the application (18.04.2024). The original design was six panels, two in a row across the width of the wider part of the side extension. The comment states the design of the panel is not very residential. The comment also states since the extension is very close to their bay window, the increase of 0.55m in height would further overshadow and overbear this bay window.

6.4 Two site visits were conducted, and a revision was sought from the applicant (section 2 of this report). No.25 remained in objection (04.06.2024) after the revision and still considers the remaining one solar panel on the boundary still have an impact on the bay window. The comment also argues that reducing panels would remove the impact without severely compromising the proposed output of the panels.

6.5 The comments also mentioned issues that are not material planning considerations for this application. Such as alternative locations for the panels and whether the panels have building control approval.

7.0 ASSESSMENT Elements of Assessment 7.1 The key considerations of this application are its impact on the house itself, on the character and streetscene of the area, and the amenities of the neighbours.

Design of the House Itself 7.2 The solar panel will be hidden by a parapet and only the top will be visible, so it is considered to have no negative impact on the design of the house itself.

Character and Streetscene 7.3 Given 7.2, it is considered that there will be no negative impact on the character of the area and the streetscene.

Neighbouring Amenities 7.4 The main contention is whether the panels would have an additional overbearing and overlooking impact on No.25 besides the existing extension and whether such an increase, if exists, is at a reasonable level.

7.5 Two site visits were conducted, one conducted on No.25 and one on the applicant side with mock placement of the solar panels. The visit to No.25 confirmed that the bay window being affected serves a living room, which is a primary room and therefore makes the bay window a primary window. When standing right next to the bay window and looking up towards the applicant's site, the side wall of the extension takes up most of the outlook with a section of sky available on the top. It is acknowledged that the panels may be partially visible. So, a second visit was arranged to determine the impact of the solar panels.

7.6 The visit to the applicant site shows that the panels would only have very limited visibility and will not have a noticeable impact on the outlook of the bay window, given the bay window of No.25 is only visible when standing on the edge of the side extension and look down at a steep angle. This being said, it is acknowledged that there is an existing impact

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caused by the side extension and the applicant has agreed to revise the arrangement of the panels to minimise the concerns of the No.25.

7.7 After the site visits and the revised arrangements of the panels. It is considered that the solar panels would not have additional overbearing and overlooking impacts to the bay window of No.25.

7.8 Because the size of the panels is determined to have insignificant impact. It is unreasonable to suggest a reduction in panel numbers. This being said, the number of solar panels is not a material consideration in this application, only their impacts on the surroundings are.

8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 The proposed solar panels do not harm the character of the area or the amenities of neighbouring properties due to their low heights, despite one being positioned close to the boundary line with 25 Ballanard Road. Therefore, it is considered to comply with the General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and the Residential Design Guide July 2021 and is recommended for an approval.

9.0 INTEREST PERSON STATUS 9.1 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 which 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.

9.2 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: 18.07.2024

Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer

Principal Planner

Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.