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Tel +44(0)1624 631000 · Fax +44(0)1624 631001 7 September 2010
Department of Infrastructure Planning Division Murray House Mount Havelock Douglas IM1 2SF
Dear Sir
Re: Proposed demolition of existing property (Palm Winds) and the construction of four dwellings and associated entrance, site roads and drainage, land at Palm Wind, Vollan Crescent, Ramsey.
This planning statement is in support of the above planning application.
The Site
The site is situated to the North of Ramsey, next to the Grand Island Hotel site, as indicated on the site location plan. The site measures approximately 1.65 acres and consists of the property known as Palm Winds and its landscape gardens. The site is generally level, with a steep slope dropping away to the North and East boundary. The South boundary faces on to Agricultural field and the West boundary fronts on to the road that accesses the Royal Park residential development.
There are existing mature trees to the North and West boundary and large garden shrubs and hedging to the Southern boundary. The East boundary is clear of large trees and affords views out to sea.
Access to the site will be off the road serving the Royal Park development. The site is zoned for "Predominantly Residential" in the Ramsey Local Plan 1998. The Site History
A planning application (PA04/1321), for the development of 5 dwellings on the site was approved by the Planning Committee on 4th March 2005 and following a request for a Review the scheme was once again approved on 20th May 2005. Planning application PA04/1321 was supported by the Planning Department and Ramsey Town Commissioners.
The planning approval was subsequently appealed and following an enquiry held on 22nd and 23rd November 2005, the Minister of the Department of Local Government and the Environment issued notice on the 10th February 2006 that Application PA04/1321 was to be refused for the following reasons:
Hartford Homes Ltd · Middle River · Douglas · Isle of Man · British Isles · IM2 1AL Directors A.S. Greenhalgh, J.S. Greenhalgh, N.A. Greenhalgh · Inc. in the Isle of Man No. 061 408C · VAT No. GB 001 0743 45
1) The proximity of the proposed dwellings on plots 4 and 5 to the edge of the cliff would result in- a) Unacceptable visual prominence of the building because of their height and position in the local context. b) Potential impairment of the living conditions of the residents of 3 to 6 Vollan Crescent because of overlooking; and c) Potential disturbance to the land stability of the cliff and gulley because of engineering operations taking place closer to 1-6 Vollan Crescent than the foundations of the existing bungalow. 2) The proposed drainage layout is such that it would result in an increased risk of polluted flooding to 16 Vollan Crescent.
A copy of the site plan 1212/04/012 Rev A is attached showing the proposal submitted as PA 04/1321.
Encouraged by the original approval of the Planning Application No PA04/1321 and the subsequent support of the application at Review, the current application aims to address the reasons for refusal as highlighted in the Minister of DOLGE's Notice, dated 10th February 2006.
The current application proposes the demolition of the Palm Winds house and in its place, the construction of four dwellings, site access and associated site works, all as detailed within the drawing package attached.
A new access will be formed into the site, with details having been discussed and agreed with the Department of Transport. The new site road will run along the Northern boundary, thereby positioning the houses centrally on the site, this arrangement will limit the view of the dwellings from Vollan Crescent when taking into account the raised level of the site compared to Vollan Crescent and the planted and treed Northern boundary of the site.
The dwellings on Plots 1, 2 and 3 will be similar in design. The form of the house is very simple, making use of render, stonework and timber to articulate the elevations with traditional pitched roofs. The houses have been orientated to maximise the benefit of the sun's path. The rear, south facing elevations are highly glazed to maximise solar gain and provide views onto the south facing garden and the fields beyond. Solar water heating panels will be mounted on the south facing pitch roofs.
Plot 4 will contain an 'L' shaped 2 storey house with a single storey garage annex. The materials proposed for the external elevation of this house will be similar to those on Plots 1, 2 and 3 and therefore all 4 dwellings will form a cohesive group. The position of the Plot 4 house is such that the majority of the new house "sits behind" the line of the original house, apart from a small projection on the east gable of the new house. The Plot 4 house also benefits from a highly glazed southern elevation which takes advantage of solar gain and views.
We list below the measures that have been adopted, in the current proposal, to address the reasons for refusal of Planning Application PA04/1321.
1) The proximity of the proposed dwelling on plots 4 and 5 to the edge of the cliff would result in;
a) Unacceptable visual prominence of the buildings because of their height and position in the local context.
The current scheme now proposes that only one dwelling is constructed on the Eastern end of the site compared to the two previously requested. The proposed house is positioned carefully to limit potential to see the building from distant vantage points. The main mass of the new house sits well behind the line of the original house with a narrow two storey gable being the tallest element to the east. b) Potential impairment of the living conditions of the residents of 3 - 6 Vollan Crescent because of overlooking.
By reference to the proposed site plan compared to the site plan of PA04/1321 and the position of the existing property, it is suggested that the issues of perceived overlooking are no longer applicable. c) Potential disturbance to the land stability of the cliff and gulley because of engineering operations taking place closer to 1-6 Vollan Crescent than the foundations of the existing bungalow.
The position of the proposed Plot 4 dwelling is set back from the line of the existing house and therefore should eliminate the possibility of disturbance to the stability of the land. It should be noted that ARUP Associates confirmed that the properties proposed by PA04/1321, which were closer to the cliff edge, would not have impact on the stability of the cliff. Please refer to the structural analysis provided by Brian Farrow (Structural Engineer) dated December 2009, on the current proposal. 2) The proposed drainage layout is such that it would result in an increase risk of polluted flooding to 1-6 Vollan Crescent. a) Whilst sharing the appointed person's concerns relating to the increased risk of polluted flooding to 1-6 Vollan Crescent, he judges that it would be both undesirable and unreasonable to require, as is recommended in paragraph 90 of the report, that certain number of the building should not be connected to the foul sewerage system until such time as the sewer in Vollan Crescent is connected to the "I.R.I.S" system, which connection may not be until 2012/13 or after.
In the four years since the refusal of PA04/1321, works have been carried out on the adjacent site in actioning Planning Approvals PA04/2311 and PA04/2310. Works have included the construction of a new storm water drain to serve the site and drains directly to the sea. We understand that the flooding experienced by 1 - 6 Vollan Crescent occurs during periods of extremely high rainfall, when the combined sewer serving these properties sometimes has difficulty coping with the extra storm water. As any additional new development will not impact on the combined drain serving 1-6 Vollan Crescent by not adding storm water to this system, it is proposed that the only discharge into the combined system will be the foul water from the four new dwellings. It should be noted that the previous application to connect five homes into the combined system was supported by Ramsey Town Commissioners.
Please refer to email from Ian Wade of the Drainage Division dated 4th December 2009 confirming they have no objections to these proposals.
The existing house on the site will be demolished with any recyclable material, processed accordingly. Any non recyclable material will be disposed of in a Government registered site.
The majority of the existing boundary trees and hedges on the site will be retained as part of the proposed development, to maintain the local ecology and the mature landscaping character of the site. The dwellings themselves will be constructed in a highly insulated timber frame system to limit waste during construction and achieve low energy use in habitation. Solar Water heating panels will be mounted on south facing roofs, which should provide approximately 70% of the hot water requirement of the dwelling and will be supplemented by energy efficient condensing boilers. The aim of this development is to adopt sustainable construction techniques and produce dwellings which consume low levels of energy in use.
We believe that this proposal to be an appropriate development of the site which addresses the reasons for refusal of the previous scheme as well as producing dwellings of a sustainable design.
We trust that we have provided sufficient information for this proposal to be considered but should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the writer.
Yours faithfully
Mr G Li
For and on behalf of Hartford Homes Ltd
Encs
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