DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00510/C Applicant: Mrs Tami James Proposal: Additional use of basement for picture-framing business Site Address: Glen Cam Farm Corlea Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3BA Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 17.07.2024

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.

• C 2. The use hereby approved shall only be for the benefit of Mrs Tami James while they are resident at "Glen Cam Farm" and no staff may be employed and/or work at the premises.

Reason: Although the specific details of this application have been found acceptable, any change to its operation will require fresh assessment.

• C 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2013 (or any Regulations revoking and/or re-enacting those Regulations with or without modification) no advertisement on or within "Glen Cam Farm" may be displayed without the prior submission and approval of advertisement consent. Reason: To control development in the interests of the amenities of the surrounding area.
• C 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 2019 or Town and Country Planning (Change of Use) (Development) (No. 2) Order 2019 or any order amending, revoking or re-enacting these Orders, the building hereby approved shall be used only for the purpose hereby approved (picture-framing business) and shall not be used

for any other purpose within Use Class 1.1 without the express grant of planning approval from the Department. Reason: To enable the Department to consider the implications of any subsequent change of use on the amenities of the area. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

Overall Glen Cam Farm is situated a distance away from any neighbouring property within its own grounds, as such the use of one room within the site for a picture frame business is unlikely to impact the character and appearance of the surrounding streetscene, parking provisions on the site nor neighbouring amenity and as such complies with General Policy 2, Transport Policy 7 and Business Policy 1.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 1st May 2024;

• o Location Plan
• o Floor Plans
• o Covering letter _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Glen Cam Farm, which is a large dwelling situated within its own grounds to the North of Corlea Road, Ballasalla. The site is accessed via its own driveway and has parking available for approximately 8 cars. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the use of the basement as a workshop for a picture frame business, with the proposed operating times as 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 12pm Saturday. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There are several applications upon the site of which one is relevant to the assessment of this application, PA23/00117/C, which is for "Additional use of residential dwelling as selfcatering tourist accommodation," which was Permitted. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Not for Development" on the Area Plan for the East. The property is not within a Conservation Area or a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 Whilst the site is situated within an area where General Policy 3 and Environment Policy 1 would be the overriding policies, due to the nature of the proposal the most logical Isle of Man Strategic Policies would be;

• - General Policy 2 which sets out general 'Development Control' considerations which are arguably relevant even where a proposal is not in accordance with the land-use designation, the wider impact (the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality) and parking/access/highway safety.
• - Strategic Policy 9 and Business Policy 10 set out that retail provisions are only to be permitted in established town and village centres.
• - Business Policy 1 which sets out that the growth of employment opportunities throughout the Island will be encouraged.
• - Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7.6 which sets out the requirement for parking standards. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state "- After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking, as the site access and visibility is acceptable in this low flow rural area, and the site layout allows parking for visitors and residents, subject to the business being conditioned to the proposed basement area only." (10.04.24) - 5.3 Malew Commissioners have considered the application and state no objection. (30.05.24) ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - principle of the development (land use designation, SP9 & BP10)
• - neighbouring amenity (GP2)
• - parking provisions (GP2 & TP7)
• - other matters

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 In the first instance, when looking at the principle of the use of the room for picture frame business, it should be acknowledged that permission has been approved and refused for the operation of a business from a residential property, throughout the Island. In fact the Government's Permitted Development Order permits a number of business operations to be run from a dwelling, these including child minding (up to 6 children), Bed and Breakfast (up to 3 bedrooms) and an occupant of a dwelling can operate any business from home (no visitors/staff allowed) via a home office within the property.

• 6.2.2 Whilst it is noted that Glen Cam Farm is situated within an area, "not for development" and as such the proposal will not fit within the land zooming in section 4.1, however the application site will majority stay as a dwellinghouse, with there being no other alterations proposed to the property. As such there will be no visual impact on General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, based on the proposed small scale use.
• 6.2.3 Further issues in terms of the principle is the possible impact on the nearby town centre. It is generally presumed that new commercial uses will be directed towards existing commercial areas. However, the impact of a single employee operating in this location, which is their main dwelling house is unlikely to draw materially harmful levels of trade away from the town centre. Moreover, such small businesses could enable the growth of a business that would eventually achieve a sufficient turnover as to encourage its moving into larger, more attractive and more appropriate commercial premises in that town centre in due course.

- 6.3 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.3.1 When looking at the impact from such proposals, issues are usually relating to the impact upon on-street parking provisions (discussed below), general disturbances through people coming and going from the site and noise. The applicants are the full time occupants of the property, living within the other rooms within the property and they will be the only employees working at the address. Noting that the closest neighbours to the property are substantially North East of the site, it is unlikely that there would be any neighbouring amenity impact.
• 6.3.2 As such overall, due to the nature of the business, with only a single client at a time and no noisy activities being carried out, and the distance of the property away from neighbouring properties it is considered unlikely that there will be a significant impact on the neighbouring properties.

- 6.4 PARKING PROVISIONS

• 6.4.1 Turning towards the parking provisions of the proposal and the parking on site. Transport Policy 7 in accordance with Appendix 7 states that there should be two parking spaces available for a residential property. Taking note of the proposal, an extra parking space should be available for clients to park within the site.
• 6.4.2 The parking available to the site is ample for both the proposed use and residents of the property, as such it is deemed that there would be no impact on the parking and the proposal would comply with Transport Policy 7.

- 6.5 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.5.1 It should be noted that the site has permission for additional use as tourist, whilst this is the case, noting that conditions should be applied to this application so that it is only the applicant that can do the business and the likelihood that the owner/occupier would not be working whilst the site is rented out. It is deemed that there would be no conflict of uses on the site. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 For the above reasons the proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2, Business Policy 1 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and therefore acceptable.

7.2 Having noted the site itself a condition requiring opening times and also to condition the floor plan are not required in this instance, due to the location of the property and the overall size of the dwelling. 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: 24.07.2024 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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