DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 21/00786/B Applicant: Lady Noreen Forbes, Countess of Granard Proposal: Creation of pedestrian access and installation of gate (part retrospective) Site Address: Strathallan Cliff House Strathallan Road Onchan Isle Of Man IM3 1NN Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 17.11.2021 _________________________________________________________________

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 gate on installation must open inwards as shown on drawing No. GA1A received the 15th July 2021 and retained as such thereafter. Reason: for the avoidance of doubt and Highway Safety

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and therefore acceptable.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 15th July 2021:

• o Location Plan
• o Drawing No.SP1
• o Drawing No.GA1A
• o Drawing No.17TS005-03 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 4(2):

Owner/Occupier of No.6 Strathallan Park as they do not refer to the relevant issues in accordance with paragraph 2C1 of the Opertional Policy on Interested Person Status July 2021. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of Strathallan Cliff House which is a large detached dwelling situated to the South side of Strathallan Road. The property is traditional in appearance with large front boundary walls. - 1.2 The property was situated within a large plot of which a detached dwelling has been built under PA16/01050/B. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the creation of a gated entrance measuring 1.65m by 1.7m to the front wall of the property. The proposed entrance will have vertical boarded hardwood doors installed which are shown on the drawings to open inwards. - 2.2 The proposed use of the gated entrance is for maintenance machinery such as a ride on lawnmower to get easy access to the rear garden.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 Apart from the erection of a new dwelling on the side garden (PA16/01050/B), there are no other applications on the site which are relevant to this application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "predominantly residential" on the Area Plan for the East, Map 4 - Douglas. The site is not within a Conservation Area, Flood Zone, nor an area zoned as High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance.

4.2 In terms of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, paragraph 8.12.2 states, "As there is a general policy against development in the Island's countryside, it is important that where development exists, either in an historic or recently approved form, it should not, when altered or extended detract from the amenities of the countryside." With that in mind the key policy for this application is Housing Policy 16, which states (in full), "The extension of non-traditional dwellings or those of poor or inappropriate form will not generally be permitted where this would increase the impact of the building as viewed by the public." - 4.3 There are a number of other relevant policies within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, as summarised below.

• - General Policy 2 sets out general 'Development Control' considerations which are arguably relevant even where a proposal is not in accordance with the land-use designation including design (respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them), wider impact (the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality) and parking/access/highway safety.
• - Transport Policy 4 related to highway safety and pedestrians and Transport Policy 7 relates to parking (standards are set out in Appendix 7).

4.4 The Department has published the Residential Design Guide (2021) offers advice on residential extensions, alterations and the impact on neighbouring amenity.

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found online in full,

5.2 Highway Services (11.08.21 & 03.09.21) have considered the proposal and state the following, "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services find it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network efficiency and/or parking. The applicant is advised that the gate must open inwards." - 5.3 Onchan Commissioners have considered the application (11.08.21, 25.08.21 & 22.09.21) after a change to the proposal to recommend the application be approved for Planning purposes only. - 5.4 Two exactly the same representations have been received from No.6 and No.9 Strathallan Park objecting to the application. No.9 Strathallan Park does not exist and as such the representations have been combined and are taken as from No.6 Strathallan Park. The main concerns raised are as follows; "For the purpose of continuity we are objecting to application 21/00786/B.The information submitted in this planning application is incorrect as the hole in the wall was only created in order to build the new property in the grounds of this property 16/01050/B and should be reinstated back to the curtilage boundary wall as it was before the property was built. The area is already heavily overdeveloped and the utilities can not take any more development As with the

• 3 planning applications submitted by the same architect since 2015 our house, number 6, is STILL incorrectly shown as number 9 on planning application numbers 15/01247/B 16/01050/B and now 21/00786/B-WHY???? In light of the outcome of the past planning applications and our objections we are aware that this is a pointless exercise objecting nevertheless we are asking for Interested Party Status. Incidentally, in view of the fact that this property is sold subject to contract this application is being submitted by the original property owner. For the purpose of this objection we are submitting objections for house numbers 6 and 9 even though there are only 7 houses in Strathallan Park!!! We ask that this planning application be refused and that the wall is reinstated to its former self and that we are kept informed."

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - Character and Appearance (GP2)
• - highway matters (GP2, TP4, TP7) 6.2 Character and Appearance

• 6.2.1 When looking at the overall streetscene of Strathallan Road, there are several properties which have large walling to the front boundary, the walling in itself is broken up by pedestrian and vehicular gates.
• 6.2.2 The proposed entrance gates are proposed to be vertical boarded hardwood which will match the period and style of the property without looking out of place within the stretscene.
• 6.3 HIGHWAY MATTERS

• 6.3.1 The proposed gate is measured at 1.65m wide which is a suitable size for maintenance machinery and pedestrians, the sizing falls short of the width required for a car and as such a condition is not required to restrict the use of the entrance.
• 6.3.2 Highway Services have requested that the gates open inwards and not over the main pavement, this is shown within the proposed drawings but for the benefit of doubt a condition should be attached.

- 6.4 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.4.1 An objection has been recieved about the content of the application being incorrect and states that the access was created to facilitate the new build next door and states it should be reinstated to wall as previously existed. This application is for an access to the garden and the application has been assessed as such on the basis of the information available. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 The creation of an entrance and the proposed gates are features which would be seen within residential properties, with the proposal in this application keeping the character and appearance of the streetscene. As such the proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan and therefore acceptable. 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 : Permitted Date: 17.11.2021 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan 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.