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25/90261/C
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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 25/90261/C Applicant : Springwaters Estates Ltd Proposal : Additional use of cottage & bungalow for tourism Site Address : Springwaters Farm Cottage And Bungalow Ballamodha Straight Ballamodha Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AZ
Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 11.07.2025 __
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.
C 2. The two cottages hereby approved for additional use as holiday accommodation shall not be occupied by any one person or group of persons for more than 28 consecutive days during the period from 1st April to 30th September in any calendar year. However, between 1st October and 31st March, the unit may be let for longer-term residential occupancy, provided that: a) A register of lettings, including the names of all occupiers and their main home addresses, shall be maintained and made available for inspection by the Local Planning Authority upon request; b) The unit shall not be occupied by the same person or group of persons for more than 4 months in any 12-month period."
Reason: balance between supporting the local tourism economy and allowing flexibility for off- season use, while preventing permanent residential occupation.
C 3. The two cottages hereby approved shall only be used as ancillary accommodation in association with the main dwelling house "Springwaters Farm" and for purposes incidental to the use of main dwelling house "Springwaters Farm" as a single dwelling, or as a tourist unit that shall not be used or occupied other than for the purpose of short-let holiday and out of season longer term residential accommodation as per condition 2 and they shall not be used as a separate dwellings.
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Reason: The application does not propose to create separate units of accommodation within the site as ancillary use, tourist use and out of season residential only and has been considered as such.
C 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification) no extension, enlargement or other alteration of the units(s) hereby approved, other than that expressly authorised by this approval, shall be carried out, without the prior written approval of the Department.
Reason: To control development in the interests of the amenities of the surrounding area.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. It is considered that there is no demonstrable harm arising from the proposal and, in view of the provisions of Paragraph 9.5.8, Business Policy 13 and the principles of Housing Policy 16, the application is therefore recommended for approval.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 10th July 2025; o Location Plan o Drawing No. No.1655 - T1 rev1
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Right to Appeal
It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: DOI Highway Services - No objection Malew Parish Commissioners - No objection __
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Springwaters Farm, Ballamodha Straight, Ballamodha. The properties are two cottages recently approved for ancillary accommodation (PA23/00171/B & PA23/00580/B) which are situated within a cluster of outbuildings, approximately 15m North East of the main dwelling house.
1.2 Access to the site is from an existing concrete tract that serves the main dwellinghouse, outbuildings and the two application cottages.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The application seeks approval for the additional use of two cottages, recently approved for ancillary accommodation to tourist with out of season long term rental.
PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 The following applications are relevant to the assessment of this application;
PA24/00575/MCH - Minor Change To PA 23/00717/B to change extension floor level to match that of main building and alteration of external wall finish from render to composite cladding - Permitted
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PA23/00717/B - Conversion refurbishment and extension of redundant building to create a dwelling - Permitted with the following relevant condition; C2 - The extensions and alterations to the existing building hereby approved shall not be occupied at any time other than for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the residential use of the dwellinghouse, also known as 'Springwaters Farm', and shall not be separated, sold off or occupied as an independent dwelling unit.
Reason: To ensure proper control of the development and to avoid any future undesirable fragmentation of the curtilage.
PA23/00580/B - Extensions and alterations to dwelling - Permitted with the following relevant condition; C2 - The extensions and alterations to the existing building hereby approved shall not be occupied at any time other than for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the residential use of the dwellinghouse, also known as 'Springwaters Farm', and shall not be separated, sold off or occupied as an independent dwelling unit.
Reason: To ensure proper control of the development and to avoid any future undesirable fragmentation of the curtilage.
PLANNING POLICY 4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is within an area recognised as "not zoned for development" under the Area Plan for the South. The property is not within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.
4.2 ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 4.2.1 Relevant policies are General Policy 2, Strategic Policy 8, Environment Policy 16 and 22, Business Policies 11 and 13 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 which set out the general standards towards acceptable development, the acceptability of tourist development provided it does not adversely affect the surrounding area and where neighbouring amenity is not compromised.
4.3 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS 4.3.1 Policy on the Development of Non-serviced Accommodation (March 2019) - The document seeks to shape a future development strategy for the sector, help inform planning policy and to guide the Department as to what support mechanisms may be required to maximise the potential benefits of an expansion on non-service accommodation in the Island.
4.3.2 Isle of Man Visitor Economy Strategy 2022-2032 - The Strategy's headline targets are to grow the annual visitor numbers to 500,000 by 2032 and increase the annual economic contribution of the Island's Visitor Economy to £520m. This will mean attracting an additional 170,500 visitors per year compared to 2019. The aim is to triple the holiday and short break market as well as grow all of the other visitor markets. Combined with an expected increase in average spending per visitor, driven by strong growth in longer staying and higher spending leisure markets, these visitor numbers should result in a more than doubling of annual visitor spending on the Island to £310m, which will support an increase in Visitor Economy jobs to 5,000 and generate an annual Exchequer benefit of £49m.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;
5.2 DOI Highway Services have considered the application 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 proposals would have a similar or less parking demand to the existing situation." (24.03.25)
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5.3 Malew Parish Commissioners have considered the application and state, "No Objection." (09.05.25)
Highway Safety
6.2 PRINCIPLE/ COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSING POLICY 16 6.2.1 When looking at the principle of the proposal, it is necessary to note that the site falls outside of a defined settlement boundary within the open countryside, is not designated for residential development and the proposal would not accord with one of the defined exceptions as outlined in General Policy 3. Whilst this is the case, Business Policy 11 -13 allow tourist in both urban and rural environments with different caveats. When looking at the proposal within this application Business Policy 11 states the following in part, "Within the rural areas there may be situations where existing rural buildings could be used for tourist use and Environment Policy 16 sets out the circumstances where this may be permitted."
6.2.2 Housing Policy 16 has six parts to it a to f, a) states that it must be demonstrated that the building is no longer required for it's original purpose and the structure must be substantially intact and structurally capable of renovation. The proposal can be separated into cottage 1 (situated to the North) and cottage 2 (situated to the South).
6.2.3 When looking at cottage 1 it's noted that the previous use is unknown prior to PA23/00717/B, with the cottage either being a previous cottage or store for the main dwelling. When looking at cottage 2, the previous application PA23/00580/B states that the structure was originally a cottage.
6.2.4 With the above in mind and noting the previous applications for ancillary use, there is nothing provided with this application to state the existing structures are redundant from the ancillary use, which has only been in place for a relatively short period of time, especially when noting that the proposal is for additional use as tourist, which suggests in itself that the proposal is not redundant from the previous use. As such the proposal would fail part a) of Housing Policy 16.
6.2.5 Turning towards part b) of Housing Policy 16 which seeks that the building is of historic, architectural or social interest. Cottage 1 can clearly be seen to be of an age when traditional stone buildings were constructed and as such, due to this cottage 1 would pass part b) of Housing Policy 16. Turning towards cottage 2, which can clearly be seen as brick built, whilst there is nothing recently to suggest that the cottage is a new build, it can clearly be seen that the cottage is not of enough historic, architectural or social interest to warrant it's retention via tourist use. As such cottage 2 would fail part b) of Housing Policy 16.
6.2.6 When looking at part c) (which is mirrored in part f) which states that the building could accommodate the new use without requiring extension or adverse change to the appearance or character, it's noted that both cottages have had extensions to assist in their overall habitable footprint, whilst this is the case the extensions were approved on the previous applications (PA23/00580/B & PA23/00717/B) and were deemed to be acceptable from a visual point of view. As such both cottages would pass part c) of Housing Policy 16.
6.2.7 Part d) states that there would not be any unacceptable implications in terms of traffic generation, when looking at the proposal; it's unlikely that the use of tourist would increase traffic generation especially when noting that Highway Services have not raised any issues in this regard. As such both cottages will comply with part d) of Housing Policy 16.
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6.2.8 Turning towards part e) which seeks that the conversion to tourist would not lead to a dispersal of activity on such a scale as to prejudice the vitality and viability of existing town and village services, when looking at the proposal in this regard there are several tourist uses within a town centre and several situated within rural sites. The proposal would be seeking to add additional use to two, two bedroomed properties, which ultimately on their own would not impact the surrounding vitality and viability of the existing town and village services. Whilst that is the case, due to the proposal being situated within a rural environment a means of travel will be required which generally means that occupants are likely to travel to the existing towns and villages to assist in the vitality and viability. As such the proposal is deemed to comply with part e) of Housing Policy 16.
6.2.9 Overall when looking at the proposal in relation to Housing Policy 16, cottage one meets more of the criteria than cottage two does, mainly due to it's age and historic value, whilst this is the case, the properties themselves were assessed under Housing Policy 11 within the previous applications, for the ancillary use, which closely mirrors the criteria of Housing Policy 16 and as such deemed acceptable.
6.3 SEVERABILITY TEST / FOUR MONTH LET 6.3.1 Whilst the proposal is mainly for tourist, it is relevant to note that the applicant has also requested for out of season rental use from the two cottages. Whilst this is not completely residential it is very close to a residential use, and noting the back history of the proposal in that the request for ancillary was requested less than two years ago, with the tourist use and long term letting being requested for now and noting the fact that there is a possibility in the future that if the cottages can be separated from the main dwelling, this would create separate dwellings in an area not zoned for development which is contrary to the policies which are in place to protect the countryside.
6.3.2 It's clear that Springwaters Farm has two entrances into the site off the Ballamodha Straight, whilst this is the case, one of these is shared with the properties to the South of the site and is unlikely to be used regularly now that a personal entrance has been created. Having discussed this with the agent on behalf of the applicants, the original driveway was removed from the red line drawing as it is not to be used by the proposed cottages. It's also clear that there is a sufficient divide between the main dwelling and the proposed cottages by the main road splitting the two.
6.3.3 Whilst the above is the case, the two cottages are situated at a close proximity to each other and when noting the officers report for both cottages at point 6.17 (PA23/00717/B) and 6.10 (PA23/00580/B) which states, "Given the close proximity of this building to that of the principle dwelling house and the cottage opposite it would be appropriate to link this (through a condition) to the main dwelling house as ancillary use for short or long term lets in as opposed to being severed from the principle dwelling in its ownership which could then create adverse issues on living conditions given the closeness of these buildings. On balance, these aspects would be considered to be compliant with those sections of General Policy 2(g)."
6.3.4 Overall whilst the two cottages can be separated from the main dwelling, in this case the previous officer already accepted the possibility of short and long term lets of the cottages and ultimately with conditions, the proposed cottages would stay within the overall curtilage of the main site. Of which due to the location of the cottages and the main dwelling, it would be within the applicants best interest to know the coming and goings from the cottages.
6.4 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY 6.4.1 Business Policy 13 is accepting of the use of properties being used as tourist accommodation providing that it can be demonstrated that such use would not compromise the amenities of neighbouring residents. The overall area has a small cluster of four neighbouring properties all situated to the South of the cottages, of which one is within the ownership of the
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applicants and the main dwelling. The other three properties range from approximately 70m away from the cottages and further.
6.4.2 As stated above it is unlikely that the proposed users/ occupiers of the cottages would use the entrance into the site from the South, and whilst it could be conditioned it would not be enforceable and ultimately the use of the two cottages an ancillary could bring the same amount of traffic to and from the site.
6.4.3 Overall given the distance of the proposal from the neighbouring properties, it is not considered that there would be any adverse impact on the neighbouring properties to the South, with the proximity of the cottages to the main dwelling house, that any adverse harm would have a greater impact on the owners before the those of the neighbouring properties.
6.5 HIGHWAY SAFETY 6.5.1 In terms of highway safety impacts, there should be no material change in the effect on highway safety and car parking as there is sufficient parking within the site to accommodate the additional tourist use/ long term lets. It is also vital to note that there would be no alterations to the existing vehicular access to the site, which provides safe access and exit from the property in its current state.
6.5.2 Likewise, there is no objection from highway services to the proposal, which indicates that the scheme is acceptable from the DOI Highways perspective.
CONCLUSION 7.1 In view of the lack of concern raised with respect to the proposal, it is considered that there is no demonstrable harm arising from the proposal and, in view of the provisions of Paragraph 9.5.8, Housing Policy 15 & 16, Business Policy 13 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the application is therefore recommended for approval.
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: 16.07.2025
Determining Officer
Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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