Conversion of agricultural building to residential (non-habitable) accommodation ancillary to the occupation of Moaney Woods Farm (retrospective)

Refusal Reasons

• ✗The proposed development is unacceptable as the principle of the conversion from the existing agricultural building to a residential (non-habitable) accommodation is not accepted as the site lies within a rural and protected part of the countryside, where any development is strictly controlled, with the site not being allocated specifically for any development. The site is also not within any settlement boundary, and is not a building of historic, architectural or social interest warranting its conversion as an exception to development in the countryside. No personal circumstances have been put forward by the applicant to be considered to warrant a departure from the policies set out within the Strategic Plan (Strategic Policy 2, Spatial Policy 5, Environment Policy 1, General Policy 3, and Environment Policy 16 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016).
• ✗The proposed development, by virtue of its design and use of large areas of glazing, would fail to relate positively and appropriately to the character of the surrounding countryside as it does not take into account a proper analysis of the context of the immediate locality, and would have a deleterious impact on the surrounding countryside, and this conflicts with Environment Policy 16 (c), General Policy 2(b) and Strategic Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, which all require that the proposal takes take into account the landscape context and the impact on the amenities of the area in which it is sited.
• ✗The fact that the building has an independent access, sits outside the historic curtilage of 'Moaney Woods, is an agricultural building with restrictive agricultural conditions within agricultural land undermines the argument that the building would be ancillary to 'Moaney Woods'. It is also considered that no approval has been granted to allow the extension of the residential curtilage of 'Moaney Woods' into this site, with the historic applications showing that there has been no change to the residential curtilage. It is also considered that the extant conditions on site would facilitate the future severance of this property from 'Moaney Woods', should residential use of the building be allowed. Therefore, the application will be at variance with the character of the area and contrary to General Policy 3, and Environment Policy 1 of the strategic Plan.
• ✗The extension of the residential curtilage to include the agricultural buildings and agricultural field, with insufficient over-riding justification having been demonstrated represents an unwarranted domestic intrusion into the open countryside beyond the existing residential curtilage of 'Moaney Woods'. As such, the proposal is contrary to General Policy 3, Environment Policy 1, and Spatial Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and the Area Pan for the East.