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                                      21/00189/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 21/00189/B Applicant : Mr & Mrs Stuart & Heather Blackley Proposal : Construction of First floor extension over garage and erection of garden shed Site Address : Greenbank Tynwald Road Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1JZ

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken : 15.04.2021 Site Visit : 15.04.2021 Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 30.04.2021 __

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

C 2. Prior to the undertaking of any works on the shed or its base, a method statement must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department which describes how the shed and its base will be constructed so as not to damage the root systems or the trees themselves which are adjacent to the site.

Reason: the adjacent trees are Registered and to ensure that the works will accord with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 3 of the Strategic Plan.

C 3. The new accommodation above the garage may be used only as living accommodation ancillary to that in the main house, Greenbank as defined in the approved plans and may not be let or sold off separately.

Reason: the proposal is not to create a self-contained unit of accommodation and has not been assessed as such.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. With the addition of a condition about the construction of the shed and its base, the works are considered to accord with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

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Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to drawings 1015-001, 1015-002, 1015-003 and 1015-004 all received on 25th February, 2021. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

Department of Infrastructure's Flood Risk Management Team is Government Department which has raised material considerations and should be afforded interested person status in this case. __

Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling, Greenbank, which sits on the north eastern side of Tynwald Road. Whilst Lyndale Avenue lies to the south east and The Grove to the north west, the site sits in an open area with an L-shaped green field separating the property curtilage from the residential development referred to above and also the Cathedral which lies to the north east of the site.

1.2 The existing house is a handsome building with substantial stacks at the end of each side of the ridge with eaves brackets, slim, vertically proportioned window openings which have an unusual top third, bottom two thirds sliding sash arrangement with the ground floor windows having leaded lights in the upper sashes. The front door is a double door with each having six panels with one having a letterbox. These sit underneath a single storey veranda style roof which extends to top the two angled bays on each side of the front elevation.

1.3 A more modern detached garage lies to the north west which has a pitch which matches those on the main house but with more modern proportions and character.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the upward extension of the garage and also the erection of a detached shed in the rear corner of the site.

2.2 The garage currently has an eaves level of 2.5m and a ridge level of 4.6m. As extended, this will be 3.8m and 6m respectively. There will be a new window incorporated into the front elevation above the garage door. The upstairs is laid out as a guest bedroom with en-suite facilities and with an external timber staircase serving the new first floor level door. This space will provide approximately 26 sq m of accommodation.

2.3 The shed will be located underneath the canopy of an existing tree with the plans annotated that "All existing trees to be retained" and that the shed will sit on a concrete base rather than having formal foundations which could interfere with the tree roots. The shed will have a footprint of 4m by 3m and will have a shallow pitched felt roof and shiplap timber clad sides with double doors and attached windows in the front elevation which will face east.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Peel Local Plan of 1898 as Predominantly Residential. The site is not within any Flood Risk Area but is within Peel's Conservation Area. The property is not Registered. The trees which are on land which surround the site are Registered.

3.2 As such, the following parts of the Strategic Plan are relevant:

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General Policy 2: "Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:

(b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them; (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; (f) incorporates where possible existing topography and landscape features, particularly trees and sod banks; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways".

3.3 There are also policies within the Strategic Plan which specifically protect trees (Environment Policy 3) and the ecology which may be associated with them (Environment Policy 4) as well as requiring the preservation or enhancement of the character or appearance of a Conservation Area (Environment Policy 35) which are echoed and expanded in Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man.

3.4 The Department has published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing property as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential property although there is no specific advice about ancillary structures which would be directly applicable in this case.

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 The property has been the subject of applications for extensions and the detached garage (10/01262/B, 12/00713/B, 16/00598/B) and a greenhouse (17/00323/B).

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Highway Services have no highway interest in the application (01.04.21).

5.2 DEFA's Arboricultural Officer was consulted (15.04.21).

5.3 DoI's Flood Risk Management Team advise that there is no flood risk from the proposed development (14.04.21).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The issues in this case are not only whether the proposed works would have any adverse impact on the character and appearance of the property (GP2) but as the property lies within a Conservation Area, the test is higher: whether the proposal would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the property (Environment Policy 35 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 CA/2). The increase in height of the garage will give the garage a more vertical proportion which would enhance its appearance, thus complying with this requirement. The shed will not be seen and will therefore not have any adverse impact on the CA (EP35) or the character or appearance of the area (GP2).

6.2 Given the distance between the property and others around it, and the existing established vegetation on the boundaries, it is not considered that the proposal would have any adverse impact on the living conditions of those in adjacent properties, but it is relevant to consider the impact of the development, particularly the shed, on the existing trees. The verbal advice of the Arboricultural Officer of the Department is that a base for the shed could be constructed such that it did not affect the root systems of the adjacent trees, however, done badly, this could result in harm to these trees which are Registered and which have amenity value. He

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would be content with a condition which requires the submission and approval of a method statement relating to how the base and shed would be formed so this could be assessed, prior to any such works.

CONCLUSION 7.1 With the addition of a condition about the construction of the shed and its base, the works are considered to accord with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

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 in Article 4(2) who should be given Interested Person Status. __

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management 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 : Permitted Date : 30.04.2021

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

Customer note

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