Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No.: 25/90281/B Applicant: Gansey Beach Apartments Limited Proposal: Installation of a protective lift housing structure on the roof of the building with associated internal access Site Address: Gansey Mill Apartments Beach Road Port St Mary Isle Of Man IM9 5NE Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 23.04.2025 _________________________________________________________________

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 development shall not be carried out unless in accordance with the approved details and colour as per Document 03 - Detailed Plans and shall be retained as such thereafter. Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 17th March 2025;

• o Document 1 - Location Plan
• o Document 2 - Site Plan
• o Document 3 - Existing Drawings
• o Document 3 - Proposed Drawings
• o Document 4 - Supporting Information
• o Document 5 - The Current Access Arrangements
• o Document 6 - Maintenance Access
• o Document 7 - Visual Impact _________________________________________________________________

Right to Appeal

It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: DOI Highway Services - No Objection Port St Mary Commissioners - No Objection

_________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Gansey Mill Apartments, Beach Road, Port St Mary which is a five storey apartment block situated to the South of Beach Road situated within a corner plot. - 1.2 The apartment block currently has a lift shaft, which is situated upon the main roof and clad in white cladding. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the removal of the existing lift shaft and erection of a new lift shaft, with an overall height of 2.5m by a width of 2m. The lift shaft is to be grey in appearance by having a fiberglass roof finish, and grey coloured PVC external finish to the sides. The existing fire exit door is not to be altered. PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There are no applications on the site which are relevant to the assessment of this application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Area Plan for the South, Map 7 - Port Erin/ Port St Mary. The property is not within a Conservation Area but is situated in a High Risk Flood Zone.

4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies considered materially relevant to the assessment:

• o Strategic Policies 3 and 5 - promote good design and use of local materials and character
• o General Policy 2 (b, c, g, h, i) - general standards towards acceptable development visual and neighbouring amenity
• o Paragraph 8.12.1 - supports principle of residential development in zoned areas
• o Environment Policy 10 - any application within a flood risk zone requires a flood risk assessment.
• o Environment Policy 23 - any increased impact on neighbours.
• o Environment Policy 42 - promotes development taking account of locality in design.
• o Community Policy 7, 11 - prevent criminal activity and reduce spread of fire
• o Infrastructure Policy 5 - conserve the Island's water

4.3 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) contains the following guidance also considered materially relevant:

• o Section 4 Extensions
• o Section 5 Architectural Details
• o Section 7 Impact on Neighbouring Properties

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, "No Highways Interest." (26.03.25) - 5.3 Port St Mary Commissioners have considered the application and state, "No Objection." (04.04.25)

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - character and appearance (GP2, b,c)
• - impact on neighbouring amenity (GP2, g)
• - other matters (EP10, CP7, 11 & IP5)

- 6.2 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.2.1 There is a general presumption in favour of extensions or alterations to existing properties as per Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, where such works would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent properties or the surrounding area in general.
• 6.2.2 The proposal will be introducing a larger built form in terms of size and height, whilst this is the case the general appearance of the lift shaft is considered to be proportionate to the main structure and is designed with safety in mind.
• 6.2.3 It is especially noted that the existing lift shaft is very visible from distance views such as Rhenwyllan Close, the proposal due to the materials chosen should match the existing roof, which will reduce the appearance of the lift shaft from these distances.

- 6.3 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.3.1 The level and scale of development proposed within this application is considered to be relatively modest and not judged to cause harm to the enjoyment of the main property or considered to harm the neighbouring amenity of the surrounding properties.

6.4 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.4.1 The proposed works are an extension to an already existing apartment block, as such the proposal is not expected to create any changes or new issues in respect of criminal actively or spread of fire. The proposal whilst increasing the surface area of the apartment block, any water run-off will be dealt with as per the existing arrangement of the apartment block. The proposed extension will not increase water usage of the apartment block and therefore there are no new issues in this respect.

• 6.4.2 Turning towards the fact that the site is situated within a Flood Risk Zone and that due to Environment Policy 10 a flood risk assessment should be included as part of the application. When noting that the works are situated upon the existing roof, it's unlikely that the proposal will impact any flood risk currently within the site. As such it's deemed that a Flood Risk Assessment is not required in this instance. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 The proposed lift shaft is deemed to comply with general Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and 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.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management 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 : 23.04.2025 Determining Officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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