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25/90770/B
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 25/90770/B Applicant : Mr Richard Bedingfield Proposal : Reinstatement of ground floor window; alterations to the rear boundary to form vehicle access Site Address : 6 Albany Street Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 3LE
Senior Planning Officer: Jason Singleton Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 11.09.2025 __
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 application accords with Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan and Section 18 of the Act.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This approval relates to drawings and supporting information received on 8th August 2025, referenced; 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
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Right to Appeal
It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: Douglas City Coucil - No objection
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties NOT should be given the Right to Appeal because: IoM Victorian Socirty - No Objection __
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25/90770/B
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Officer’s Report
THE SITE 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 6 Albany Street, Douglas, a two storey terraced property on the east side of the road. Albany Street. The rear of the property is accessed by a service lane also running to the rear of a number of dwellings fronting Woodbourne Road.
1.2 The terrace here is characterised along the frontages by the small walled gardens between the dwellings and the footpath, the bay windows at ground floor and the architectural string course detailing around the windows. The application dwelling and its adjoining nearest 3 neighbours also have additional corbel details at eaves level of the main house and bay window.
1.3 At the rear, the dwelling has a two storey outrigger matching with the adjoining neighbour and a rear courtyard area with an opening onto the rear access lane.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed are a series of internal alterations to form new ground floor WC, the reinstatement of ground floor window to the kitchen at the rear of the property within the rear outrigger and alterations to the rear boundary to form vehicle access and install a roller shutter type "door".
PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 21/00867/B - Installation of replacement windows, rear access steps and rear fencing. Approved.
PLANNING STATUS AND POLICY 4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is predominately residential under The Area Plan for the East 2020. The application site falls within the Selborne Drive Conservation Area.
4.2 Section 18 of the Town and Country Planning Act and Environment Policy 35 both outline that development in a Conservation Area should preserve or enhance the character and appearance of that area. General Policy 2 also contains a number of general standards towards acceptable development that would also be relevant in this case. In addition to these two policies consideration should also be given to Planning Circular 1/98 which provides guidance policies in respect of the alteration or replacement of windows.
REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.
5.1 Douglas Borough Council - No objection (26/08/2025).
5.2 DoI Highway Services - No comments at the time of writing.
5.3 No comments received from neighbouring properties.
5.4 The Isle Of Man Victorian Society (18 Aug 2025) with no objection and commented with; "It would have been helpful if this application was advertised as 'REAR GROUND FLOOR WINDOW'".
6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 The key considerations in the determination of the application are; o Section 18(4) test
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o Principle o Design & Visual impact o Impact upon the character and streetscene & Conservation area o Impact upon the neighbouring properties
SECTION 18(4) TEST 6.1 The property is situated within a Conservation Area, as such it is necessary to test the application under section 18(4) of the Town and Country Act (1999), see section 4.2 of this report, on whether the works would preserve or enhance the Conservation Area. The proposals as further assessed below will ascertain whether there is any detrimental visual impact from the works to the rear of the dwelling house, namely the creation of a window and the installation of a wider opening in lieu of the rear doorway and the installation of a garage door in the new opening onto the rear lane.
6.2 With this in mind and noting that the proposal is within the curtilage of an existing dwelling house and located at the rear at a lower level, the proposals are of a scale that should not alter the wider Conservation Area as a whole, the proposal at this stage would pass the Section 18(4) test by helping to preserve the Selbourne Drive Conservation Area.
PRINCIPLE 6.3 The site falls within the existing settlement boundary of Douglas and within an area zoned for residential use and development ensuring the principle would be in accordance with SP1 and STP2.
6.4 In terms of the proposals it is noted whilst the property is within a conservation area, this building is not a registered building and the majority of the scope of works are solely contained to the rear elevation. The front elevation would be largely un affected. As such the principle of the proposed material alterations to the rear of an existing property would be acceptable in this instance.
DESIGN & VISUAL IMPACT 6.5 In terms of the proposal and its location on the rear outrigger, the installation of a window to a previously bricked up reveal would be acceptable and within this elevation would be adjacent to a series of two other windows to this floor level. Above are two further windows to the first floor and below is a ground floor window and door way. The re- introduction of a window into an existing reveal would be acceptable alteration within the outrigger part of the property.
6.6 The alterations on the rear boundary adjacent to the access lane would see the widening of the entrance to a wider 4.2m between the pillars and 2.1m high. Within the reveal would be a sectional roller shutter "garage" type door. The neighbouring property No.4 also has this type and width of opening with a roller shutter doorway and opposite this site is the same. As such the proposals here would not visually appear out of place and would not be seen to be introducing an incongruous feature.
6.7 As such, from a design perspective, the proposal would be read within the context of the property and that of the street scene with little to no visual impact upon the host property or that character of the street scene front and rear, further ensuring compliance with GP2b,c, and Ep42.
CONSERVATION AREA 6.8 With regard to any adverse impact upon the existing conservation area the character of the streetscene, it is noted as being predominately residential and given the location of the scope of works biased to the rear of the property, the proposals would not be contentious and remain unobjectionable. The proposal would not be out of character here and would have a
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neutral impact upon the conservation area helping to preserve the overall appearance of the streetscene in accordance with EP35.
NEIGHBOURING AMENITIES 6.9 In terms of whether there is any material harm to the neighbouring amenity, taking into consideration the boundary details and the proposed use, the nearest neighbouring property would be to the north, N0.4.
6.10 In terms of whether there is any material harm to the neighbouring amenity, taking into consideration the nature of the site and boundary treatment and the size and scale of the proposals. It is not considered to have any negative impact upon the neighbouring living conditions and the proposal would not be seen to have an overbearing impact as the proposal is no higher than the boundary wall, neither would the proposal leading to a loss of light. The installation of a window within an elevation where there is already a number of opening would not result in any overlooking or loss of privacy to the neighbouring amenity beyond what already exists. As such this aspect would comply with Gp2g.
CONCLUSION 7.1 Given the above reasons, it is concluded that the proposals would have an overall acceptable impact on the existing dwelling and would preserved the overall character and appearance of the Conservation Area in line with Ep35 of the Strategic Plan, Section 18 of the Act.
8.0 RIGHT TO APPEAL AND RIGHT TO GIVE EVIDENCE 8.1 The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 sets out the process for determining planning applications (including appeals). It sets out a Right to Appeal (i.e. to submit an appeal against a planning decision) and a Right to Give Evidence at Appeals (i.e. to participate in an appeal if one is submitted).
8.2 Article A10 sets out that the right to appeal is available to: o applicant (in all cases); o a Local Authority; Government Department; Manx Utilities; and Manx National Heritage that submit a relevant objection; and o any other person who has made an objection that meets specified criteria.
8.3 Article 8(2)(a) requires that in determining an application, the Department must decide who has a right to appeal, in accordance with the criteria set out in article A10.
8.4 The Order automatically affords the Right to Give Evidence to the following (no determination is required): o any appellant or potential appellant (which includes the applicant); o the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, the Department of Infrastructure and the local authority for the area; o any other person who has submitted written representations (this can include other Government Departments and Local Authorities); and o in the case of a petition, a single representative.
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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 and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Permitted
Date: 12.09.2025
Determining Officer
Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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