3 July 2025 · Delegated - Principal Planner (Chris Balmer)
Ballamodha Mooar Farm, Ballamodha Straight, Ballasalla, Isle Of Man, IM9 3el
The proposal involves demolishing existing pole barn cattle sheds over 40 years old and erecting two new purpose-built cattle sheds on a working dairy farm, each about 42m long with widths of 16m and 14m, ridge height 6.4m, and eaves 4.3m, using fibre cement roofing, timber Yorkshire boarding cladding, precast concrete…
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The officer determined there is a general presumption against new development in the countryside per Environment Policy 1 and General Policy 3, but an exception applies under General Policy 3f for agr…
General Policy 3
General Policy 3 establishes a presumption against development in the countryside, but paragraph f allows exceptions for agricultural buildings where there is proven need sufficient to outweigh the general policy. The officer assessed the active dairy farm's requirement for modern cattle housing to replace failing 40-year-old sheds, improving welfare and safety, finding it accords as an extension for animal husbandry on existing holdings.
Environment Policy 1
Requires protection of countryside and rural character from adverse effects. The officer found the replacement sheds, sited within existing farm cluster and not in open countryside, would not harm landscape character or quality when viewed from highway among similar buildings.
Environment Policy 15
Requires agricultural buildings to demonstrate need, be sited close to farmstead, and appropriate in scale, materials, colour, siting, and form sympathetic to surroundings without detriment to countryside. The officer confirmed need, proximity adjacent to existing barns, matching materials (timber cladding, fibre cement roof), shallow pitch roofs aligning with neighbours, and scale reflecting modern farm buildings.
Environmental Policy 22
Addresses environmental harm from vibration, odour, noise, and light. The officer assessed no statutory nuisance to the farmhouse 30m away, as the use replicates existing cattle housing without eroding amenity space or differing from current operations.
Time limit
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.
Agricultural use only
The buildings must be used only for agricultural purposes only. Reason: the countryside is protected from development and an exception is being made on the basis of agricultural need. As such the building must be used for the purposes for which it is approved.
Removal if agricultural need ceases
In the event that the building hereby approved is not used or required for agricultural purposes for a period exceeding 12 months, the agricultural buildings hereby approved shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition within 18 months of its last use. Reason: The building has been exceptionally approved solely to meet agricultural need and its subsequent retention could result in an unwarranted intrusion in the countryside.
no objection
no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking
