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The site represents the residential curtilage of 4 Birch Hill Grove, Onchan which is a single storey detached bungalow, located on the eastern side of Birch Hill Grove, and on the north-eastern side of Hillberry Road.
The property has been zoned under The Onchan Local Plan Order 2000 as being within an area of "predominately residential"; the site is neither within a Conservation Area nor within an area of High Landscape Value or Costal Value and Scenic Significance.
There are no previous planning applications which are considered relevant in the assessment and determination of this application.
The application seeks approval for the conversion of bedroom to run a beauty therapy business. The business will be run on an appointment basis, and services will include Aromatherapy, Massage, Indian Head and Hopi Ear Candling. The business would be run from Tuesdays till Saturdays, with hours of operation from 12:00 till 20:00hrs. The business will be operated so that their will be no clients waiting, as the applicant requires time between each treatment to prepare the room for the relevant treatment. An off road parking provisions will be provided for visitors.
Onchan Commissioners have approved the application, subject to the Planning Committee being satisfied that adequate parking provision is available.
Highways Division have no objections as parking exists for clients within the curtilage of the site.
The Chief Fire Officer make no comment on the merit of the proposed development but request that an informative note be attached to any approval decision notice.
The IOM Water Authority make no comment on the merit of the proposed development but request that an informative note be attached to any approval decision notice.
We have received no privately written representations objecting to the application.
Generally Planning Applications are site specific; this type of development is particularly site specific. The Planning Authority has determined many applications for business run from home, with varied decisions.
The particular Material Planning Matters which need consider are:-
As indicated in drawing number 2007/22/04, the site can accommodate three off road parking provisions, two in the double garage and one parked on the driveway. The Highway Division have commented to the application, and have no objection as the site can accommodate the required parking provisions within the site. There is a slight concern that as there is only one off street parking space on the driveway and as garages are generally not always used for parking, this may result in visitors of the beauty therapy may result in parking within the street, however the site does have the required parking.
From visiting the site on four separate occasions, it is clear that the applicant currently parks one vehicle on the driveway and the second vehicle half on the driveway and half on the public footpath. At this stage the applicant is not parking illegally as there are no parking restrictions, additionally the footpath which has been partly parked on, would probably not be used very often, as the footpath ends at this particular point, and an pedestrian would have crossed the road before this point, an exception to this would be if a pedestrian where visiting the applicant dwelling, but it is not considered be a major issue.
As stated previously, there are no parking restrictions within the area, which benefits form fairly wide highways, and from my four separate site visits some vehicles do park on the highway. However, this area of Birch Hill Grove this was not the case as the majority, if not all the dwellings in this part of the close, have a least two off road parking provisions and therefore this helps greatly reduces on street parking. There were instances of on street parking in Birch Hill Grove, particularly at the turning heads, which are to the north and north east of the application site, and it would have caused a concern if the properties around the turning head proposed to operate a business. However due to the distance between the application site and these tuning heads it is not considered to be a concern.
Application 05/01832/C which was approved at Appeal proposed the conversion of existing detached garage into an osteopathic treatment room, with improved access and parking, a condition was attached which stated;
"Prior to the commencement of operation of the treatment room the access arrangements and car parking provisions must be set out in accordance with drawing nos 448/5 and 448/006 date stamped 21 September 2005 and capable of use."
It is considered a similar condition could be attached to meet the required parking provisions. A condition of this type may be difficult for the Planning Authority to enforce, however if parking does become a concern to the neighbouring residents, because the applicant has not introduced the indicated parking provisions, they would be able to take photograph evidence of the situation and submit them to the Authority to take possible enforcement action. Therefore, I consider it would be appropriate to add a condition of this type to any given approval.
The actually beauty treatment will have no adverse impact upon the neighbouring residential amenity, as with most similar treatments. The issue is whether the proposal through clients visiting the site would result and introduce any adverse impacts upon the residential amenity of the neighbouring properties. The most likely caused of any adverse impact would be traffic generated by clients visiting.
There are many examples of similar applications which propose a varying amount of different types of business run from home, with different hours and days of operation. It is therefore difficult to determine this application using previous decisions. Therefore as stated previously it is considered the application should be judged on its own merits.
As indicated previously, the applicant is proposing to operate on an appointment basis, and there will be a period of half an hour between each treatment secession, so that the applicant will be able to prepare the room for the next treatment. Due to this, it is unlikely that the parking provisions would become congested, so from this aspect it is considered to be acceptable.
The aspect which would cause most of the concern would be the vehicles arriving and departing from the site, and the impact that would have upon the neighbouring properties. The applicant proposes to operate the treatment business from Tuesdays till Saturdays from 12:00hrs till 20:00hrs. The times of most impact would be during the morning and later evening periods. The proposal starting at 12:00 will therefore be an acceptable time as the potential for nuisance to the neighbouring property would be significant reduced, compared if the business where to start before 0900hrs; the finishing time of 20:00 again might be a concern particularly during winter periods from headlight of vehicles, however due to the parking orientation in relation to the neighbouring properties, cars would more likely drive in and reverse out in a straight line, therefore would not involve significant light pollution through the headlights into the neighbouring property, it is also considered likely that people would have their curtains closed during this evening period, again reducing the impact. A third important consideration is that the dwelling is not located within a quiet cul-de-sac, but is near to the entrance of the Birch Hill Grove Estate, and therefore the residents in the area will be use to a number of vehicles passing past their dwellings throughout the day and evening. It is therefore considered the introduction of this business would not result in any significant adverse impacts upon the neighbouring residential amenity to warrant a refusal on these grounds.
For these reasons the proposal would be appropriate in this location and therefore it is recommended that the application be approval.
It is considered that the following meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should be afforded interested party status:
It is consider that the following parties that made representations to the planning application do not meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should not be afforded interested party status:
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 04.04.2008
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C 2. This approval relates to the conversion of the existing bedroom to operate a beauty therapy business as proposed in the submitted documents and drawings 2007/22/01, 2007/22/02, 2007/22/03 and 2007/22/04 received on 13th December 2007 and 28th January 2008.
C 3. Prior to the commencement of operation of the beauty treatment room the access arrangements and car parking provisions must be set out in accordance with drawing nos 2007/22/04 date stamped 13th December 2007 and capable of use.
C 4. Beauty treatment secessions shall not take place other than between the hours of 1200 – 2000 on Tuesdays to Saturdays, excluding public holidays.
C 5. The use hereby approved shall not be carried on by any person other than Anne Marie Bowman while she is occupying No. 4 Birch Hill Grove as a permanent resident. No more than one client shall take
part in the beauty treatment sessions at any one time and no employees, assistants or other such persons administering or helping to administer treatments shall enter the house or treatment room during beauty treatment sessions. The use shall cease and all equipment brought into the property in connection with the use shall be removed within one month of Anne Marie Bowman ceasing to be a permanent residential occupier of the property.
N 1. 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
N 2. The Chief Fire Officer recommends the installation of mains wired interconnected domestic smoke detection.
I confirm that this decision accords with Government Circular No 44/05 (Delegation of Functions to Director of Planning and Building Control)
Decision Made : Permitted Date: 8/4/08 Signed: M. I. McCauley Director of Planning and Building Control
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