230398

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 1 of 6 PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 14/01230/B Applicant : Isle Of Man Goats Proposal : Erection of an agricultural building Site Address : High Tilt Douglas Road Kirk Michael Isle Of Man IM6 1AS

Case Officer : Miss Melissa McKnight Photo Taken : 04.11.2014 Site Visit : 04.11.2014 Expected Decision Level :

Officer Delegation

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the curtilage of High Tilt and Field 234264 which is located to the north and east of the application site dwelling.

1.2 The site currently comprises a dwelling with attached garage and stables. The applicant also owns six other fields to the north of High Tilt that comprise a number of field shelters for the housing of goats. Further east of the site is Lhergy Vreck Farm.

1.3 The site is accessed via a single track that travels east/north east off the A3. To the north and west of the site is Kirk Michael Village.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The planning application seeks approval for the erection of a new agricultural building to provide housing, finishing area and a general and feed store.

2.2 The proposed new building would have a length of 17.8 metres, width of just less than 11.9 metres and maximum ridge height of just less than 6.5 metres; eaves height of just less than 4 metres.

2.3 The new building would have a 1 metre high smooth painted render blockwork bottom with the body of the building constructed with natural grey fibre cement sheets. The north western roof slope would also be constructed natural grey fibre cement sheets with the south eastern roof slope having solar panels.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 Planning approval was granted in 2014 for the erection of nine livestock shelters under PA 14/00236/B within Field Nos. 230578, 234267, 234455, 234456 & 234252. The application site has been subject to other previous planning applications that are not considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The application site is in an area zoned as Open Space (Agriculture) under the Kirk

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 2 of 6 Michael Plan 1994.

4.2 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains three policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application:

General Policy 3 states: "Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of:

f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry

Environment Policy 1 states: "The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix 3 at A.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an over- riding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative."

Environment Policy 15 states: "Where the Department is satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building (including a dwelling), sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside, and that the impact of this development including buildings, accesses, servicing etc. is acceptable, such development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they form a part.

Only in exceptional circumstances will buildings be permitted in exposed or isolated areas or close to public highways and in all such cases will be subject to appropriate landscaping. The nature and materials of construction must also be appropriate to the purposes for which is it intended.

Where new agricultural buildings are proposed next to or close to existing residential properties care must be taken to ensure that there is no unacceptable adverse impact through any activity, although it must be borne in mind that many farming activities require buildings which are best sited, in landscape terms, close to existing building groups in the rural landscape."

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Michael Commissioners have no objection to the current planning application (06/11/2014).

6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 When determining any agricultural development within the countryside that is not zoned for development General Policy 3 paragraph F of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 is used to assess the application. This policy states that development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of those buildings which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry. Further to this policy, the first paragraph of Environment Policy 15 requires first that Planning & Building Control should be satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building, sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside.

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 3 of 6

6.2 High Tilt sits in 32 acres of its own agricultural land which runs adjacent to the dwelling High Tilt and its garden and slopes downwards towards Kirk Michael Village. There is currently no agricultural building within close proximity to High Tilt although the dwelling is the farmhouse for the 32 acres of agricultural land.

6.3 There is an existing barn located in in Field 234266; however there is no road or hard access to this barn. This barn was once utilised by two schools from the north of England who camped at the farm. The barn was positioned in its location so that children could easily access the building from their tents, pitched in Field 234455.

6.4 The barn was primarily used for storage purposes and provided stabling for a couple of horses. The land was tenanted and as the barn, was not in daily use as part of a farming business it did not matter that the size and access were very limited. The grazing was only ever rented out during the spring, summer and autumn and tenants never had livestock on the land during the winter months which precluded the need for winter housing of livestock and the storage of large amounts of winter feed and bedding.

6.5 The Isle of Man Goats is the only Boer goat meat and Angora Mohair fibre farm on the Island. The business is still in its infancy but there is already a struggle to meet with demand for the products and there is currently a list of over thirty customers. The latest batch of Mohair yarn has almost sold out and more space is desperately needed. The herd currently stands at 172 goats (almost 100 of these have been born on the farm) and the herd will increase again during the third kidding which will start over New Year when the applicants will kid nearly 70 females, many of which will have twins.

6.6 The Angoras would greatly benefit from spending most of the winter months under cover in a barn. Angoras are sheared twice a year at six month intervals in order to correspond with pre kidding and mating times. Inevitably these goats end up needing a time of extra protection in the colder months. The additional barn space would enable high welfare standards of the stock which in turn creates a more productive stock.

6.7 When the goats are kid the young goats are extremely fragile for a couple of days until they are able to start regulating their body temperature at 36 to 48 hours old. Each female that kids has to be housed and penned with her kids for at least 48 hours when she kids. This also requires barn space.

6.8 As well as requiring barn space for the Angoras, barn space is also needed for the finishing of the Boer meat kids. Goats are extremely active animals that walk miles each day when grazing free range. This makes it difficult to get young goats to a decent weight that will generate a profit unless they are housed for finishing. This is in line with the practices of the larger Boer meat producers in the UK.

6.9 The existing barn in the middle of High Tilt Farm only just accommodates the meat kids or the Angoras, not both, as there is also the need to store feed for the herd. There is currently no storage for hay, straw and oats through the winter. The farming enterprise has produced over 1400 bales of meadow hay and once this is housed there is very little space for the hundreds of bales of straw needed and the 25 tonnes of oats required to see through the winter. At present, some straw is stored at a barn in St Jude's which is not in ownership of the applicant. This gives rise to transport and accessibility issues and poses a real risk of the feed and bedding becoming contaminated by vermin or badly affected by the weather as the applicant is not in control of the storage.

6.10 It is considered that the new agricultural building is agriculturally justified in allowing the business to grow which is encouraged and to provide high welfare standards for the goats. It is important to be able to sustain agricultural industry by safeguarding its prime

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 4 of 6 resources that supports the growth of new businesses which clearly show evidence of long term viability.

6.11 With the agricultural justification being accepted it is necessary to consider the site specific impacts of the proposed development. In this regard it is necessary to take account of the provisions of Environment Policy 15. This policy states that development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they will form a part of. In this respect the proposed new building, would be sited next to the dwelling and stables.

6.12 The building has been proposed at the location due to access and safety reasons. The barn in the location proposed would make it accessible in all weather conditions. As the farm is 32 acres every bit of grazing is precious to the applicants. Locating the barn further from the road and dwelling would result in driving over wet grassland which creates mud resulting in destroying grazing land.

6.13 Having the building close to the dwelling also allows higher security and safety of the kids and goats. There have been two occurrences where malicious activities have resulted in the death of one of the Boer Kids which resulted in a financial loss to the business and loss in generations from the kid that died. Criminal damage also occurred to the buildings located to the rear of The Mitre pub. The barn next to the dwelling would allow surveillance and the barn is harder to gain access to from those seeking to cause damage or harm.

6.14 The application site is located within the countryside which is not designated for any site specific development. It is therefore imperative that the proposed development does not harm the character and quality of the countryside and respects the visual amenity of the area.

6.15 The location of High Tilt is set within undulating land and the ridge height of the barn would match the ridged height of the dwelling, or at least be no higher than, given the topography of the landscape. Distant views of the barn would be attainable from the Baltic Road located over 270+ metres to the east of the application site.

6.16 Although the new building would not form part of an existing group of agricultural buildings, it would be sited next to the farmhouse dwelling and stables and would be within a wider setting of agricultural buildings. The proposed building is a typical modern agricultural building in terms of size, shape and use of materials and would not look out of place in the wider landscape which incorporates sustainability with the implementation of the solar panels. It is considered that the location for development is acceptable and is well screened from most public thoroughfares and is not considered to impact upon the appearance of the countryside or wider area.

6.17 The proposed new agricultural shed is to be erected on land that is classed as Agriculture Class 3 and therefore there would not be a loss of high class agricultural land through the proposed development.

7.0 RECOMMENDATION

7.1 Overall it is considered that the planning application is in accordance with General Policy 3, Environment Policy 1 and Environment Policy 15 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 and as such is recommended for approval.

8.0 PARTY STATUS

8.1 In line with Article 6(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013, the following Persons are considered to have sufficient interest in the

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 5 of 6 subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings relating to the application: the applicant or, if there is one, the applicant's agent; the owner and occupier of the land the subject of the application, Highway Services, and the Local Authority in whose district the land the subject of the application sits.

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted

Date of Recommendation:

26.11.2014

Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal O : Notes attached to refusals

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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

C 2. The building must be used only for agricultural purposes.

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.

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This approval relates to DRAWING Nos JL- 01, JL - 02, JL - 03 and JL - 04 all date stamped as received on 27th October 2014.

I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to Director of Planning and Building Control /Head of Development Management/ Senior Planning Officer.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 27/11/14

Determining officer (delete as appropriate)

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26 November 2014 14/01230/B Page 6 of 6 Signed :... Chris Balmer

Senior Planning Officer Signed : Sarah Corlett

Sarah Corlett

Senior Planning Officer

Signed :... Michael Gallagher

Director of Planning and Building Control

Signed :... Jennifer Chance

Head of Development Management