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                                      21/00339/B                                     Page  1  of  4

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No. : 21/00339/B Applicant : Mr Mark & Mrs Shannon Smith Proposal : Erection of a first floor extension, creation of roof dormers and window / door alterations Site Address : 21 Kissack Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NW

Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :

Site Visit :

Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation

Recommendation

Recommended Decision:

Permitted Date of Recommendation: 18.05.2021 __

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. The new window in the gable serving the shower room shall be fitted with glass obscured to Pilkington Level 5 of equivalent and retained as such thereafter.

Reason: to prevent unacceptable inter-visibility between the new window and the existing adjacent neighbouring property.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal is considered to accord with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and the Residential Design Guidance.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the location plan, 1507.1 received on 26th March, 2021 and 1507.3 Revision 1 received on 30th April, 2021. __

Interested Person Status - Additional Persons

The Department of Transport's Flood Risk Management Division is a Government Department which has raised material planning considerations and as such should be afforded interested person status in this case. __

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Officer’s Report

THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling which sits on the south eastern side of Kissack Road in Castletown. The property is a semi-detached dormer bungalow which has a window in the gable which looks towards number 19 and to the rear are the rears of 34 and 36, Scarlett Road which sit 30m and 35m respectively from the closest point of their rear elevations.

1.2 The property also has a single storey flat roofed annex whose apex is slightly higher than the eaves of the main house to which it is attached and a very shallow pitched lean to garage which sits on the side of the dwelling. Number 23 has a pitched roofed rear annex which extends out as far as does the existing annex on the application property.

1.3 The submitted site plan incorrectly shows the numbering of the properties on the south east of the road (four of them are shown as number 25).

1.4 The current flat roofed rear extension is visible from Kissack Road as from Scarlett Road, particularly as there is a lane to the north of 36, Scarlett Road which affords a view towards the rear of the application property and number 23 and 19.

THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the extension of the existing property above the existing single storey flat roofed annex. The initial plans showed a shallower pitched roof which has been changed in amended drawings submitted on 30th April, 2021. The extension will feature a pitched roof albeit that the pitch is shallower than the main roof and the majority of the new walling will be finished in cladding. The extension will add 2.4m of walling with 2.5m of cladded wall above and a further 1m of roof, taking the extension up to the height of the existing ridge. The rear of the first floor extension will include a Juliet-style balcony which does not project out from the property but which has three large doors which are guarded by a glazed balustrade.

2.2 The existing patio doors in the side elevation on the ground floor looking towards number 23 are to be retained with no windows above this. The existing horizontally proportioned window on the rear will be replaced with three glazed doors and a new flat roofed dormer is to be introduced in between the neighbours' dormer and the proposed extension. The existing doors on the rear of the garage are to be replaced by a window and the existing horizontally proportioned window on the rear of the property is to be replaced by patio doors.

2.3 A new window matching the existing alongside is to be introduced on the gable facing number 19 and a new flat roofed dormer is proposed on the front pitch to match that already on the adjoining dwelling. The ground floor window on the front elevation is to be reduced in area.

PLANNING POLICY 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Residential. The site does not lie within a Conservation Area or area at risk of flooding nor are there any Registered trees or buildings on the site. As such, the following parts of the Strategic Plan are relevant:

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; (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality".

"8.12.1 Extensions to Dwellings in built up areas or sites designated for residential use

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                                      21/00339/B                                     Page  3  of  4

As a general policy, in built up areas not controlled by Conservation Area or Registered Building policies, there will be a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general."

3.2 The Department has recently 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. This aims to "encourage creative, innovative and locally distinct designs" and which improves the quality of the built environment. Specific advice is given regarding the design of extensions, suggesting that "extensions should generally have the same roof pitch and shape as the existing dwelling and their height should be lower than that of the main building. Generally pitch roofs are the preferred roof type compared with flat roofs which are generally inappropriate forms of development, especially if publicly viewable, unless the existing property as a flat/low pitched roof design" (3.2.2) It also advises on dormers, suggesting that flat roofed dormers are seldom appropriate on traditional properties due to their clumsy appearance but can be acceptable in areas which are characterised by them and on 1960s and 1970s bungalows (of which this is one).

PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 17/00069/B saw the approval of the existing flat roofed extension on the rear. The planning officer's report for that application states the following:

"6.2 The proposed extension is not particularly attractive but not completely out of keeping with the property which already has a flat roofed annex to the side. The rear of the property is not particularly publicly visible and the impact from adjacent residential property will be little different from what presently exists."

4.2 The front and rear dormers on number 23 were approved under 02/01846/B.

4.3 The most recent application on the application site was 19/00843/B for a two storey flat roofed extension which was refused for the following reason:

"General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan requires that development has an acceptable impact on the surrounding area and this is further guided by the Department's Residential Design Guidance adopted in March 2019. This clearly presumes against flat roofed extensions and annexes which do not follow the style and design of the buildings to which they would be attached, particularly where the works would be publicly visible. In this case, the two storey flat roofed extension would be visible from both Kissack and Scarlett Roads and would appear as an incongruous and clumsy addition to the built fabric. The rear extension is therefore contrary to GP2b, c and g."

REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Highway Services advise on 04.05.21 and 16.04.21 and that they have no highway interest in the application.

5.2 DoI's Flood Risk Management Division advise that there is no flood risk management interest in this application (28.04.21).

ASSESSMENT 6.1 The new proposal has a pitched roof which overcomes the previous reason for refusal and whilst the pitch is not quite as steep as that of the main house, it will sit comfortably in the streetscene as viewed from the front and rear, assisted by the use of cladding rather than render which will reduce its impact and make it subordinate to the main house.

6.2 In terms of impact on neighbours this was not given as a reason for refusal of the previous proposal which had a similar mass and would have had a similar impact. There is one new window which will look towards the neighbouring property at first floor level but this is a

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                                      21/00339/B                                     Page  4  of  4

bathroom window which will be fitted with obscured glazing (to be required by condition) to avoid intervisibility with the existing first floor window on the property to the north east. The distance between the gable of the neighbouring property and the proposed annex and particularly the angle is sufficient to overcome any adverse impact on the living conditions of those in that property.

6.3 Whilst flat roofed dormers are usually discouraged, this area is clearly characterised by them (the adjoining property has them) and the property is the type referred to in the RDG so the dormers are considered acceptable in this case.

CONCLUSION 7.1 The proposal is considered to accord with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and the Residential Design Guidance.

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.

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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 : 18.05.2021

Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER

Stephen Butler

Head of Development Management

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.