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21/01407/C Page 1 of 5
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application No. : 21/01407/C Applicant : Port Erin Methodist Church Council Proposal : Change of use of church into a dwelling with associated parking Site Address : Methodist Chapel Station Road Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6BD
Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Photo Taken : Site Visit : Expected Decision Level : Planning Committee
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Permitted Date of Recommendation: 14.04.2022 __
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. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification) no extension, enlargement or other alteration of the dwelling(s) hereby approved, other than that expressly authorised by this approval, shall be carried out, without the prior written approval of the Department.
Reason: To control development in the interests of the amenities of the surrounding area.
This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposed application for a change of use to residential would be supported by according with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan 2016.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 15th November 2021; o Drawing No. 2107/01 o Drawing No. 2107/02 o Drawing No. 2107/03 o Drawing No. 2107/04
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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):
Davlin, Bay View Road, Port Erin and 37 Droghadfayle Road, Port Erin as they do not satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status. __
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION IS BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT COULD BE CONSIDERED CONTRARY TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT RECOMMENDED FOR AN APPROVAL
THE SITE 1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of Port Erin Methodist Church, Station Road which is situated within the Port Erin Village upon a corner plot where Station Road meets Droghadfayle Road. The Church is part of a larger site which includes the Methodist Church Hall which is situated to the West of the site.
1.2 The overall site in which the Church is situated upon is a quarter circle which includes a Funeral service to the West of the site and the Royal Legion Hall to the South of the site. To the South West of the site is a public car park.
THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Proposed is the change of use of the Church to a dwelling. No physical changes are proposed to the building.
2.2 The plan submitted shows the conversion and installation of first floor to the Church to provide a kitchen, dining, living room, study/snug and atrium garden to ground floor level and four bedrooms with home office to first floor level.
2.3 The application also proposes the alteration of the existing outside space to provide a landscaped area.
2.4 Two parking spaces have been provided with the site from the adjacent Church Hall's parking.
PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 The following applications are on the application site itself;
3.1.1 PA09/01218/B - Installation of replacement windows and door to entrance porch - Permitted
3.1.2 PA97/01448/B - Alterations to front entrance including ramped access and new doors - Permitted
3.2 Whilst not within the red line boundary, it is within the blue line given, the Church Hall next door has had a recent application PA21/01105/B, which was for the installation of "Installation of pitched roof, erection of porch, window / doorway alterations, revised building access and car parking provision and landscaping" which was Permitted.
PLANNING POLICY
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4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Civic & Worship" on the Area Plan for the South, Map 7 - Port Erin/Port St Mary. The property is not within a Conservation Area or a Flood Risk Zone.
4.2 As such the most logical Isle of Man Strategic Policy is Community Policy 3 which seeks that the loss of a local community facilities (other than shops and public houses) will only be permitted if it can be demonstrated that it is no longer practical or desirable to use the facility for its existing use or another use likely to benefit the local community.
4.3 Consideration should also be given to General Policy 2 which sets out the general standards towards acceptable development, Transport Policy 7 which sets out acceptable parking standards.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online;
5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state "Do not Oppose." (09.12.21)
5.3 Port Erin Commissioners have considered the proposal and are in support of the application (8.12.21)
5.4 The owner/ occupier of Davlin, Bay View Road, Port Erin have written in to object to the proposal on the basis of the land designation and its overall appearance within the streetscene.
5.5 The owner/occupier of 37 Droghadfayle Road, Port Erin initially wrote in to object to the proposal but further correspondence on the 19th January 2022 stated they would like to withdraw their previous comments.
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:
6.2 PRINCIPLE 6.2.1 The main issue arising in the case of this application is whether the loss of the Church and community aspects of the Church is acceptable, taking into account Community Policy 3.
6.2.2 When looking at the information provided as part of this application, there is no reference to the use of the Church no longer being required as a community apart from a low congregation number. Whilst this is the case the information goes on to state that a feasibility study was done and that for the owners of the Church the feasibility of them continuing to use the Church as a church or alternatively alter the internal structure to use the Church as a community space would be costly and ultimately it was decided that it would be more worthwhile to sell the site.
6.2.3 As stated within part 1 of this report, the Church also owns the Church Hall which is connected to the site, this had planning in 2021 (PA21/01105/B) to do works which was remodelling to make the space there more useful and to provide a better service to their congregation.
6.2.4 The loss of the community use of the main Church is regrettable, whilst this is the case there has been a long standing understanding that less and less people are going to Church services, especially with more modern ways of Church sermons being done such as online. With this in mind and the low numbers of official memberships it indicates that the likelihood of a use resulting in income sufficient to ensure the continued maintenance of the building would
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be minimal. In this case, therefore, it is not considered objectionable that the development would result in the loss of a community facility
6.2 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE 6.2.1 The floor plans provided within this application and the surrounding area are indicative, as such several pieces of information are missing from the drawings. There are proposed to be no changes to the exterior of the property apart from landscaping within this application.
6.2.2 The proposed use as residential would not be out of character for the surrounding area, as there are properties adjacent to the site and as such there would be a limited impact to the character and appearance of the surrounding area through the domestication of the site. The continued use of the site as residential should ensure that the church is habitable by a degree of upkeep and is maintained to help retain the visual appearance of the building.
6.3 IMPACT ON NEIGHBOURING AMENITY 6.3.1 When looking at the impact on neighbouring amenity, the level and scale of development proposed within this application is considered to be relatively minor and not judged to cause harm to the neighbouring sites due to there use is a Church Hall and Community Centre for the British Legion, including the surrounding area which will have it's own underlying noise levels. The closest residential property to the site will be "Norville" which is situated to the East of the site across the main road.
6.3.2 It is further noted we have not received any objections or comments from the adjoining neighbours and the local authority do not object. On balance, these aspects would be considered to be compliant with those sections of General Policy 2(g).
6.3.2 Another aspect of the amenity of the dwelling would be whether the proposal has a clear pleasant outlook from the principle rooms. Having looked at the indicative floor plans, it can be seen that the main principle rooms are situated to the East of the dwelling which overlooks the main Droghadfayle Road and due to its location within a town centre this is acceptable. It is considered that the views from the principal rooms, living room, kitchen and main bedrooms would have a pleasant outlook and all other rooms would have windows to provide natural light.
6.4 OTHER MATTERS 6.4.1 With regards to the parking available within the curtilage of the site, the proposal includes two spaces within the existing Church Hall site to the West of the site. The Church Hall site has an already reduced amount of parking within its site, which is less than the recommended under Transport Policy 7.
6.4.2 The application site, as stated previously is within a town centre position as such, there is public transport available on a fairly regular occurrence and there is a public car park situated to the rear of the site. Whilst the parking spaces would be better suited to the church hall it is noted on why they have been put forward as part of this application and understandable.
6.4.3 The removal of the parking spaces, whilst not needed, will be fulfilled via either public transport, the car park to the rear or alternatively with the on street disc parking surrounding the site.
CONCLUSION 7.1 It is considered that the conversion of the church to a dwelling house would provide in most regards adequate living conditions without compromising the character and appearance of the surrounding area/church itself or impact highway safety and as such is considered to comply the Strategic Policies within section 4 of this assessment and recommended approval with conditions.
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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 confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to that body by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.
Decision Made : Permitted
Committee Meeting Date: 25.04.2022
Signed : V PORTER Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
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