Officer Planning Report Duplicate

Planning

Officer's report.

Description Of Application Site

• The application site is a two storey dwelling situated to the north of the Ballacrye Road.
• The property is currently a tourist unit.
• The site is located within an area of high landscape value and scenic significance.
• To the south east of the application site is the residence Ballanorman.
• To the northwest of the application site is Squeen Farm.

Proposal

• The application is seeking permission to convert this holiday cottage into a private dwelling.

Relevant Planning History

• 02/01903/B 'Alterations and extension to dwelling'. Granted 13th March 2003.
• Condition 5 of the permission stated that 'The building must be used by bonafide tourists only between 1st March and 1st October each year with no individual letting period extending beyond 4 weeks'.
• Condition 7 of the permission also requires 'The tourist unit must be used in association with "Ballanorman" and must not be sold or let off separately or be used as a separate residential unit'.
• 99/00706/A 'Approval in principle for the extension to Manx cottage'. Withdrawn.
• 83/1184 'Erection of dwelling & garage'. Granted 14.10.83.
• Condition 4 of this permission stated that 'The existing dwelling in field no 843 must be completely demolished & the site cleared within one week of the proposed dwelling being occupied'.

Development Plan Policies

• Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982.
• Planning Circular 3/89 'Renovation of building in the countryside'.

Statutory Consultation Responses

Highways Division of the DoT.

The visibility splays from the proposed access onto the public highway are inadequate to serve the proposed development which will result in an increase in traffic using the access from two trips per day to eight trips per day. Visibility spays of 2m by 80m are required to serve this development.

Ballaugh Parish Commissioners.

The Commissioners are opposed to the proposal because the dwelling has only been granted approval for use as a holiday home within the past two years as there was a need for such facility, and there appears to be a continuing demand for such accommodation, especially during the summer months.

Public Responses

Press notices were posted on 26/1/06.

Representations have been received from Registration and Grading Commission, a resident of Port Soderick, IoMWA, and SPMCE.

The Registration and Grading Commission have provided the following comments: The Commission supported the original planning application for Ballacrosha Cottage (now known as Ballanorman Croft) under PA02/01903/B. The premises have been registered with the commission for the 2005 registration year up till 11th February 2006 and has a current 4 star rating. Ballanorman Croft is also an advertiser in the new 2006 Isle of Man Holiday Guide. The Commission notes the original condition 7 under PA 02/01903/B 'The tourist unit must be used in association with "Ballanorman" and must not be sold or let off separately or be used as a separate residential unit'. The Commission is disappointed with the proposed change of use after 1 year's registration as a holiday cottage.

A resident of Port Soderick has provided the following comments: I am not sure of the history of this site but it appears that permission for tourist use was fairly recent. It is my belief that applications for tourist use should, in the majority of cases be treated no different to applications for residential use. Therefore, if the dwelling/accommodation is acceptable for tourist use it should also be acceptable for permanent residential use in the event that the tourist use becomes 'redundant'. However, this application includes no evidence to support the claim that it is no longer viable as tourist accommodation. Has the application sought the support of the DoTL for either assisting in making the accommodation viable or for 'de-registration'

SPMCE have provided the following comments: No real case has been put forward by the applicant. No information as to occupancy rates, income from rents, capital cost of conversion - less grants, how marketed. Seems to have been in use for only 3 years therefore too soon to really assess. In the absence of this sort of information, the Society opposes the change of use. It is useful to compare 06/0069, where extensions are sought to a holiday cottage. Here the use seems to be so successful, that the owners are prepared to spend more capital to extend it. The views of the Tourist Board would be interesting and should surely be taken into account before determining either application.

IoMWA have provided the following comments: For single connections to a water main (i.e. a single dwelling) the applicant should contact IoMWA Customers, tel. 69 59 49 For a change in the supply to a premises (domestic or commercial) the applicant should contact the IoMWA Byelaws Inspector) (Michael Karran) tel 69 59 57

Issues

• In 2002, an application was submitted for the building to be renovated and extended to provide tourist accommodation. The planning officer at the time noted that the cottage was in reasonable condition and the building was substantially intact. The planning officer concluded that it could be argued that the building retained its residential status although there was a condition attached to PA 83/1184 for the erection of a dwelling and garage requiring the cottage to be completely demolished.
• Given that the building existed, it was considered the proposal was reasonable in light of the policy guidance in Planning Circular 3/89. Subsequently, planning permission was granted on 13th March 2003 with a condition requiring 'The tourist unit must be used in association with "Ballanorman" and must not be sold or let off separately or be used as a separate residential unit.
• The applicant's are now seeking to change the use of the property from a holiday cottage into a separate dwellinghouse.
• The applicants have stated on the application forms that they rely on this property as a source of income and it has not been profitable to run as a holiday

cottage. They consider the solution to secure their financial future is to sell the property as a private dwelling.

• The Registration and Grading Commission has indicated the premises has been registered with the Commission for the 2005 registration year up till 11th February 2006 and has a current 4 star rating. Furthermore, the Commission has indicated that the premises are advertised in the new 2006 Isle of Man Holiday Guide.
• The applicants have not provided any evidence to show that there is no longer any need for such a use in this location especially after only one year's registration with the Commission.
• It would appear to be premature to grant planning permission for its conversion into a separate dwellinghouse especially in the absence of evidence sufficient to demonstrate that the building could not be operated successfully as tourist accommodation. I therefore consider the proposed change of use to be premature and unwarranted.
• The application site is located adjacent to the farm yard of Squeen Farm. This farm yard appears to be an active operation. I consider this particular use should have some bearing in the consideration of this application in terms of the compatibility of a residential use next to an agricultural operation. The use of the property is restricted to short term tourist lets. This does not raise any particular compatibility issues with the adjoining use, as users of the facility would expect to be located next to such uses.
• However, if the building were to be used on a permanent basis as a residential unit this could lead to complaints about noise, smell and other nuisances which could in turn prejudice the long term viability of the farm. I therefore consider the proposed use to be incompatible with the adjoining farm yard.
• The Highways Division of the DoT have objected to the application on the grounds that the visibility splays are inadequate to serve the needs of the development. The proposed use would generate more traffic compared to a tourist use and therefore will intensify the use of the access onto the public highway. I therefore consider use of an access with inadequate visibility splays to be unacceptable and would be prejudicial to highway safety.

Conclusion

I therefore recommend that permission be refused for the reasons stated above.

Party Status

I consider that the following should be granted party status due to their being statutory consultees or meeting the criteria of Government Circular 1/06:

• Ballaugh Parish Commissioners
• Highways Division of the Department of Transport; and
• The Registration and Grading Commission.

I consider that the following do not meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should not be afforded interested party status:

• SPMCE
• IoMWA; and
• The resident of Port Soderick