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planning and building control bun-troggalys - planhal as gurneil troggal
Murray House, Mount Havelock, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2SF.
email: [email protected] Tel: (01624) 685901 Fax: (01624) 686443 Director of Planning & Building Control Michael Gallagher, M.R.T.P.I.
Date: 9th May 2011 Your Reference: DF11/0004
Mr. A. Johnstone, Planning Appeals Administrator, Crown Division, Chief Secretary’s Office, Government Offices, Douglas, IM1 3PG.
Dear Mr. Johnstone,
Re: PA11/00217/B – Residential development with associated car parking, Phase 9 Heather Crescent/Hazel Crescent, Upper Pulrose Estate, Douglas.
Please find a statement that set out the position of the Planning Authority in respect of the above planning application. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely,
Ian Brooks BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI Planning Officer
Planning application 11/00217/B – Residential development with associated car parking, Phase 9 Heather Crescent/Hazel Crescent, Upper Pulrose Estate, Douglas.
The aim of this statement is to provide background information to the planning application and to set out the views of the Planning Division in respect of the proposed development.
The site comprises of the residential properties of 31- 47 Hazel Crescent (odds) (inclusive), 1-23 Heather Close (odds) (inclusive), 66 Heather Crescent, a vacant site between Heather Crescent and the properties of 1-23 Heather Close and the public highway of Hazel Crescent, Heather Crescent and Heather Close.
The site is zoned as predominantly residential in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. The site is not within a Conservation Area and does not include any Registered Buildings.
The application is seeking planning permission for phase 9 of the redevelopment scheme for the Upper Pulrose Estate. The application comprises 14 apartments, 26 dwellinghouses and associated car parking.
Within the adopted Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, the following policies are considered to be relevant in the determination of this application: General Policy 2, Housing Policies 5 and 6, Recreation Policies 2, 3 and 4, Transport Policies 1, 4 and 7, Environment Policy 42
Housing Policy 5 states that "In granting planning permission on land zoned for residential development or in predominantly residential areas the Department will normally require that 25% of provision should be made up of affordable housing. This policy will apply to developments of 8 dwellings or more."
Housing Policy 6 states that "Development of land which is zoned for residential development must be undertaken in accordance with the brief in the relevant area plan, or in the absence of a brief, in accordance with the criteria in paragraph 6.2 of this plan. Briefs will encourage good and innovative design, and will not be needlessly prescriptive."
Recreation Policy 2 states that "Development which would adversely affect, or result in the loss of Open Space or a recreation facility that is or has the potential to be, of recreational or amenity value to the community will not be permitted except in the following circumstances:
(a) Where alternative provision of equivalent community benefit and of equivalent or better accessibility is made available; and (b) Where there would be an overall community gain from the development, and the particular loss of open space or recreation facility would have no significant unacceptable effect on local open space or recreation provision or on the character or amenity of the area."
Recreation Policy 3 states that "Where appropriate, new development should include the provision of landscaped amenity areas as an integral part of the design. New residential development of ten or more dwellings must make provision for recreational and amenity space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 6 to the Plan."
Recreation Policy 4 states that "Open Space must be provided on site or conveniently close to the development which it is intended to serve, and should be easily accessible by foot and public transport"
Transport Policy 7 states that "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards."
Environment Policy 42 states that "New development in existing settlements must be designed to take account of the particular character and identity, in terms of buildings and landscape features of the immediate locality. Inappropriate backland development, and the removal of open or green spaces which contribute to the visual amenity and sense of place of a particular area will not be permitted. Those open or green spaces which are to be preserved will be identified in Area Plans."
There have been a number of previous applications for the site; however, the application with the most relevance to the determination of this application is as follows:
10/00480/A - Approval in principle for a phased redevelopment of part of the Upper Pulrose Estate comprising 42 apartments, 42 dwelling houses, 35 sheltered apartments and a Police Office (discharging siting and means of access for all phases and discharging all reserved matters for Phase 8 only) – granted on 23rd September 2010 (see appendix A)
The Department of Infrastructure Highways Division recommends approval of this application. Douglas Corporation has no objection to the application. The Housing Division of the Department of Social Care confirm this application is already 100% affordable housing for a Local Authority.
The principal issues in assessing this application are a) Land use, b) Highway issues, c) Open space provision, d) Affordable housing, e) Visual amenity, and f) Impact on residential environment. The following paragraphs deal with these issues in the above order.
The development is compatible with the land use zoning of the area, which is predominantly residential within the Douglas Local Plan. It is considered the principle of developing the site for residential use to be acceptable in this locality;
however, there are other material considerations to be taken into account in order to determine whether the proposed development is acceptable.
The Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure accepts the conclusions of the applicant’s Transport Statement that the existing highway infrastructure can accommodate the development traffic and that there will be no adverse impact on highway safety.
The proposal is to replace an existing residential development with a comparable residential development. The new road layout includes an emergency access that is betterment over the existing situation where the area has only a single access point. The proposal includes off road car parking at an acceptable level. While there is an increase in the total number of dwellings, 35 of these are sheltered housing with a low traffic generation.
On road car parking has caused problems with bus penetration of this estate as well as the normal risks to pedestrians, the provision of off road parking will help to ameliorate both these issues.
On balance this proposal is an improvement in road safety and car parking terms and any increase in traffic generation can be accommodated within the existing highway infrastructure.
In assessing the open space provision, Recreation Policy 3 states that “Where appropriate, new development should include the provision of landscaped amenity area as an integral part of the design. New residential development of ten or more dwellings must make provision for recreational and amenity space in accordance with the standards specified in Appendix 6 of the Plan.”
It should be noted that the proposal is part of a much larger redevelopment scheme, which has planning permission under application number 10/00489/A. The overall redevelopment of the estate will provide 120 units, which technically requires open space to be provided; however, the overall scheme will also replace 90 units that had previously occupied on the estate. It was considered appropriate to assess the open space requirement on the net increase. The redevelopment scheme would provide a net increase of 30 units, which exceeds the threshold set out in Recreation Policy 3 and therefore the development provided additional open space as part of the proposal.
The previous application (10/00480/A) dealt with the open space provision for all the phases (8, 9 and 10). The current proposal will result in the loss of 721 sq m of open space; however, it should be noted that approximately 407 square metres of public open space is being provided between Block M and the Substation. It should be noted that the majority of the open space provision and compensatory measures will be provided within phase 10 of the redevelopment. The overall redevelopment scheme will provide in excess of 2300 sq m of open space in the form of formal open space (over 1500 sq m) and hard and soft landscaped area. This provision was considered to be acceptable by the Council of Ministers.
It was also a condition of the approval in principle that within 3 months of the occupation of the last dwelling to be constructed within phase 9 that an area of an existing children's playground would be enhanced. It would be appropriate to replicate the condition so as to ensure the children's play facility will be enhanced.
If you look at the application in isolation, the proposed development would be contrary to the policies of the Strategic Plan as the proposal will result in the loss of open space. However, when considering it as part of the bigger picture, i.e. phases 8, 9 and 10, the proposal help contribute towards the open space requirement for the overall redevelopment scheme.
Housing Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan states that "In granting planning permission on land zoned for residential development or in predominantly residential areas the Department will normally require that 25% of provision should be made of affordable housing. This policy will apply to development of 8 dwellings or more."
The applicant's have indicated that the proposed housing will be public housing for rent in its entirety. There is no private housing or first time buyer housing content. Therefore, it is considered the proposal accords with the affordable housing policy.
The design of the development has been designed to take account of the character and identity, in terms of buildings, landscape features of the immediate locality, in particular continuing the design and architectural terms from the Lower Pulrose redevelopment and phase 8. The development makes use of the same materials of phases. The independent inspector for Planning Application 10/0480/A stated that the proposal would create an interesting new residential environment for this area in keeping with earlier phases of the redevelopment of the estate. It is considered the development accords with Environment Policy 42 of the Strategic Plan.
In respect of the impact of the development on the remaining properties that form the outer ring of the estate, the proposed separation distances between the new dwellings and the remaining properties of the outer ring will be between 28.4 and 33.2m when the properties are directly facing each in a front to front relationship. The front to side relationship is approximately 21m. It is considered there is sufficient separation between the dwellings so as not to cause demonstrable harm to the outer ring dwellings in terms of overlooking and loss of privacy.
In terms of the residential environment of the new development, the siting of buildings are broadly in line with the approved siting under planning permission 10/0480/A with some house types repositioned to a different location. Adequate separation distances are provided within the redevelopment scheme. The general layout is acceptable and does not give the impression that the site is being overdeveloped. It is considered the new estate layout for phase 9 is acceptable.
It is recommended that the Council of Ministers grant planning permission subject to conditions in the attached schedule.
10/00480/A, a scheme of enhancement must have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority and thereafter, the enhancement scheme must be carried out within 3 months of the occupation of the last dwelling to be constructed.
This statement has been prepared by Mr Ian Brooks BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI, Planning Officer on behalf of the Planning and Building Control Division of the Department of Infrastructure.
I. Brooks
Date: 9/5/11
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