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PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 20/01541/A Applicant : Mr Michael Clarke Proposal : Approval in principle for a dwelling addressing siting and means of access Site Address : Field 612631 Adjacent To Barroose House Barroose Road Baldrine Isle Of Man IM4 6AP

Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Refused Date of Recommendation: 09.02.2021 __

Reasons for Refusal

R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons

R 1. The erection of a dwelling on this site would represent an unwarranted development in the Island's countryside and would be contrary to both the land use provisions of the Area Plan for the East and to the provisions of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016. Furthermore, it has not been demonstrated that there is an overriding national need and a site for which there are no reasonable and acceptable alternatives. Therefore the proposal is considered to be against to Spatial Policy 5, Strategic Policy 2 & 10, Environment Policy 1, General Policy 3, Housing Policy 4 and Transport Policy 4 & 7 and therefore should be refused.

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Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of Dreeym, Upper Balladhoo, Baldrine Road should not be given Interested Person Status as they do not satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status by being more than 20m away from the red line boundary of the application site. __

Officer’s Report

THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is Field 612631 which is situated to the north west adjacent to Barroose House. The site is an agricultural field measuring around 0.79 ha.

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1.2 The field is accessed via the main Baldrine Road at the very north of the site.

THE PROPOSAL

2.1 Approval in Principle is sought for the construction of a new dwelling of which this application addresses the siting and means of access.

2.2 The proposed access to the proposed property will be from the existing access north of the site along Baldrine Road with the proposed property sited to the almost middle of application site set within the existing hillside.

2.3 The proposed siting of the property due to the topography of the site will be dug into the existing hillside and levelled to make space for the property and the proposed driveway.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 On the application site itself there are a couple of recent applications which are as follows;

09/01941/R - "Creation of a temporary construction compound and storage area" which was Withdrawn.

09/01270/R - "Creation of temporary construction road and permanent field gate" which was Permitted.

3.2 Within the surrounding area there is one application which is relevant to this application which is PA07/00888/B - "Erection of dwelling with associated wind turbine, solar panels and landscaping" which was Permitted.

PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "not for development" on the Area Plan for the East, Map 9, Baldrine. Due to the land designation of the land the most relevant Strategic Policies are Spatial Policy 5, Strategic Policy 2 & 10, Environment Policy 1, General Policy 3, Housing Policy 4 and Transport Policy 4 & 7.

4.2 Spatial Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "New development will be located within the defined settlements. Development will only be permitted in the countryside with General Policy 3."

4.3 Strategic Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "New development will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions(2) of these towns and villages. Development will be permitted in the countryside only in the exceptional circumstances identified in paragraph 6.3." Strategic Policy 10 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "New development should be located and designed such as to promote a more integrated transport network with the aim to: (a) minimise journeys, especially by private car; (b) make best use of public transport; (c) not adversely affect highway safety for all users, and (d) encourage pedestrian movement"

4.4 Environmental Policy 1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 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

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use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative."

4.5 General Policy 3 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of: (a) essential housing for agricultural workers who have to live close to their place of work; (Housing Policies 7, 8, 9 and 10); (b) conversion of redundant rural buildings which are of architectural, historic, or social value and interest; (Housing Policy 11); (c) previously developed land which contains a significant amount of building; where the continued use is redundant; where redevelopment would reduce the impact of the current situation on the landscape or the wider environment; and where the development proposed would result in improvements to the landscape or wider environment; (d) the replacement of existing rural dwellings; (Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14); (e) location-dependent development in connection with the working of minerals or the provision of necessary services; (f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry; (g) development recognised to be of overriding national need in land use planning terms and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative; and (h) buildings or works required for interpretation of the countryside, its wildlife or heritage."

4.6 Housing Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "New housing will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions(1) of these towns and villages where identified in adopted Area Plans: otherwise new housing will be permitted in the countryside only in the following exceptional circumstances: (a) essential housing for agricultural workers in accordance with Housing Policies 7, 8, 9

and 10; (b) conversion of redundant rural buildings in accordance with Housing Policy 11; and (c) the replacement of existing rural dwellings and abandoned dwellings in accordance with Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14."

4.7 Transport Policy 4 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 states, "The new and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the environmental objectives of this plan."

4.8 Transport Policy 7 states: "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards.

The current standards are set out in Appendix 7."

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Highway Services have considered the application and state that for them to comment further, "the submission must provide details of the access geometry including access width. Additionally, visibility splays must be provided at access point." (21.01.2019).

5.2 No comments have been received from Garff Commissioners at the time of writing this report.

5.3 The owner/occupier of Dreeym, Upper Balladhoo have written in to object against the application for the reasoning of highway safety due to the location of the entrance into the proposed property being so close to a blind bend. (16.01.21)

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ASSESSMENT

6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this application is the acceptability of the proposal in principle having regard to the Strategic Policies within section 4 above and the impact on highway safety.

PRINCIPLE

6.2 When looking at the proposed property with its position within the countryside within an area not designated for development on Area Plan for the East, there is a long established presumption against new residential development within the countryside as per the Strategic Policies as set out in 4.0 of this report.

6.3 The information provided for the application is minimal and there is nothing to demonstrate that the proposed dwelling is there to serve a viable agricultural holding or is there evidence of an agricultural need for the property. There is also not an existing building which the proposed property could replace, therefore there are no special circumstances to warrant the setting aside of the presumption against development as set out in General Policy 3.

6.4 It is then considered that the proposed property would not have an over-riding national need in land use planning terms to outweigh the requirements to protect the Islands countryside as set out in Environment Policy 1.

HIGHWAY SAFETY

6.5 When looking at the proposal with regards to the means of access apart from showing where the proposed driveway is going no additional details have been received with regards to visibility splays and other items, as such the proposal cannot be assessed on this due to the lack of information.

CONCLUSION

7.1 The application has failed to demonstrate that there is sufficient information

7.1 Overall, the purpose of the planning system is to control the use and development of land in the public interest. That requires a consideration of what is most appropriate for the population of the island as a whole. The protection of the Manx countryside from development and the presumption that new housing should be directed to locations consistent with the principles of sustainable development are two of the most important themes running through the Strategic Plan, the purpose of which is to establish a consistent framework within which the public interest can be served by the planning system. When making a planning decision that has permanent consequences (such as the erection of a dwelling as is proposed here) it is also essential to bear in mind that the development sought will endure long after the circumstances of the current applicant have ceased to exist.

7.2 Therefore, this application like the majority of applications the Department receives each year for new dwellings in the countryside, should be refused for being contrary to strict and established planning policy which seeks to protect the countryside from development. Furthermore, it is important; that such development is controlled by the development plan process rather than as ad hoc decisions taken in isolation.

7.3 It is considered that the proposal would be contrary with the relevant planning policies of The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, for the reasons set out in this report, it is recommended that the application be refused.

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INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons: (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf); (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material; (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure; (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material; (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

8.2 The decision maker must determine: o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status __

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner 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.

Decision Made : Refused Date: 12.02.2021

Determining officer Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer

Principal Planner

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.