DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 21/01195/B Applicant: Mrs Caitriona Ellis Proposal: Window and door alterations to side elevation, and installation of rooflight and sun tunnels Site Address: 33 Hope Street Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1AP Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken: 19.01.2022 Site Visit: 19.01.2022 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 14.12.2022

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.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposal complies with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the submitted documents and drawings date stamped and received on 11 Oct 2021 and Amended drawing received 15 November 2022. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are 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):

No. 35 Hope Street, Castletown, as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site relates to 33 Hope Street, a two storey end-terrace property situated on the western side of Hope Street, within Castletown Conservation Area. The property fronts directly onto the street and features a modern built-in garage with roller shutter door. - 1.2 The dwelling is finished with grey stone and features casement windows and a central front door. The property has a pitched roof and a chimney stack on the northern gable.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for Window and door alterations to side elevation, and installation of rooflight and sun tunnels - 2.2 The details of the proposed works are as follows:

• i. Removing a redundant door on the ground floor north elevation of the dwelling, blocking up the area and rendering/painting over the closed aperture to match the external finish of the main dwelling.
• ii. Creating and new window aperture on the ground floor north elevation (just by the closed up door) and installing a new window measuring 450mm x 800mm. This new window would serve a WC on the ground floor north elevation.
• iii. Installing a new Velux window (rooflight) on the rear roof plane measuring 650mm x 970mm. Also, two new sun tunnels would be installed on the roof plane of the two storey rear outrigger.

2.3 The application was initially proposed and advertised as window and door alterations to side elevation. However, following comments from the neighbours at 35 Hope Street, the scheme was revised to 'Window and door alterations to side elevation, and installation of rooflight and sun tunnels'. The first floor window to the side of the dwelling has been removed from the scheme.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site is identified as being within a Predominantly Residential area on the Area Plan for the South 2013. The site is within the Castletown Conservation Area and also within an area prone to high tidal flood risk. The site is, however, not within a Registered Tree Area, and there are no protected trees on site. As such, the following Strategic Plan policies are relevant: - 3.2 General Policy 2 states that 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;
• (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;

• (k) does not prejudice the use or development of adjoining land in accordance with the appropriate Area Plan; and
• (l) is not on contaminated land or subject to unreasonable risk of erosion or flooding.

3.3 Strategic Policy 4: Proposals for development must: (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings(1), Conservation Areas(2), buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest; - 3.4 Environment Policy 35: Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development. - 3.5 Environment Policy 34 expresses a preference for the use of traditional materials in the maintenance, extension or alteration of pre-1920 buildings. - 3.6 Environment Policy 13 notes that development which would result in an unacceptable risk from flooding, either on or off-site, will not be permitted.

4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS - 4.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 S18 Designation of conservation areas Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act". It is not considered that this proposal would conflict with that objective and as such the application will be considered in the context of the policies as set out below and within section 3 of this report. - 4.2 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 "POLICY CA/2: SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application. Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected". - 4.3 Whilst not adopted planning policy, DEFA's Residential Design Guidance is a material consideration in the assessment of this application as, "It is intended to apply to any residential development within existing villages and towns, including individual houses, conversions and householder extensions". Sections 2.0 on sustainable construction and 7.0 which deal with impact on neighbouring properties are considered relevant to the current scheme.

5.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 5.1 The site has been the subject of three previous planning application for alterations and extensions to the dwelling which are considered to be materially relevant to the current application. They include: - 5.2 PA 97/00009/B for alterations and extension to dwelling - approved. - 5.3 PA 97/00714/B for extension to rear of dwelling - approved.

6.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

6.1 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division confirms that they 'Do not oppose' in a letter dated 22 October 2021/ 12 January 2022/ 16 November 2022. - 6.2 There has been no written representation made regarding the current planning application by the Castletown Commissioners at the time of writing this report, although they were consulted on 19 October 2021/11 January 2022 and 15 November 2022. - 6.3 The owners/occupiers of 35 Hope Street have made the following comments regarding the application in a letter dated 7 November 2021:

• o They would want to be treated as an interested person as the lawful use of 35 Hope Street would be negatively impacted by the proposed development.
• o If Planning permission is granted, the opportunities for future development at 35 Hope Street would be severely restricted.
• o If new windows are inserted in the wall which adjoins 35 Hope Street, this would result in overlooking and loss of privacy.
• o They have no objection to the proposed alterations proposed for the front elevation or removal of redundant door on the side with 35 Hope Street.

• 6.3.1 No further comments have been received since amended plans were submitted by the applicants.

6.4 In response to the comments made by the owners/occupants of 35 Hope Street, the applicants have provided the following response in a letter dated 2 December 2021:

• o There is precedent already for this type of alteration as per number 39 Hope Street. This property has a piece of vacant land beside it and it currently has a ground floor window and a second floor window on the gable end and both overlook the site.
• o There are very similar parallels between our property and the site at 35 Hope Street where the objection has been raised, and between the site and 39 Hope Street which holds precedent for what we have applied for.
• o 35 Hope Street is currently a commercial site and an inserted window to our child's bedroom does not pose a privacy impact in our opinion.
• o We currently have a ground floor door with two glass panels which not only overlooks 35 Hope Street but provides us access to the site which we feel poses a greater privacy issue should the site be developed in the future. We have applied to remove this door and replace it with a wall.
• o The removal of a ground floor door with glass panels and the addition of a window to
• our child's bedroom would offset the potential impact to figure development of the site.

• 6.4.1 Following further discussions with the applicant, a revised proposal excluding the first floor window to the side elevation has been submitted by the applicants.

7.0 ASSESSMENT - 7.1 The key considerations in the assessment of this proposal are:

• a. The impact of the proposed works on the character and appearance of the dwelling itself, the surrounding area, and the Conservation Area; and
• b. The impacts on neighbouring residential amenity.

7.2 Visual Impact (GP2 and EP 35)

• 7.2.1 The works to install a new window on the ground floor side elevation and close up the existing side door are not considered to have detrimental impacts on the dwelling, or adversely affect the character of the streetscene and Conservation Area, given that these would not be prominent from the street scene. It is also considered that the new window position would be further concealed by the existing single storey building on the neighbouring site (35 Hope Street) which has its side elevation directly adjacent the window.

• 7.2.2 As well, the works to install the conservation style rooflight and two sun tunnels are exclusively at the rear and as such the character of the existing property and street scene of Hope Street would remain unaffected. Granting the top of the rear roof plane may be seen alongside Mill Street, the impact on the character and appearance of the area is considered to be negligible given the type of rooflight and sun tunnels proposed. Therefore, the character and appearance of the Conservation Area is preserved.
• 7.3 Impact on Neighbouring amenity (GP2 g and k, and RDG 2021)

• 7.3.1 In assessing the impact of the works on neighbouring amenity, it is considered that any impacts would be minimal. Granting a new window would be introduced on the ground floor side elevation with views to the side elevation of the existing building at No. 35 Hope Street, this is not considered to introduce a level of overlooking over the existing situation with a fully glazed door on this elevation. In fact, the proposal to install the small sized window to serve a WC, which is a non-habitable room would reduce the impacts over the existing fully glazed door which currently serves a kitchen which is a primary habitable room. It should be noted that the new window which measure 450mm x 800mm (0.36sqm) would offer a viewable area that would only be about 21% of the existing fully glazed door that has a viewable area measuring about (1.74sqm). As, the door would be removed, the impact here is considered to be diminished.
• 7.3.2 The new rooflight is also not considered to impact on neighbouring amenity given its inclined position at second floor level where it would not be able to offer overlooking views to the neighbouring properties at the rear.

8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 It is concluded that the proposal broadly complies with General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, and Planning Policy Statement 1/01, and is supported.

9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 9.1 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.

9.2 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: 03.01.2023 Determining officer Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Principal Planner

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