DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00044/B Applicant: Mr Neil Joughin Proposal: To demolish the attached garage to provide parking spaces accessed via the existing dropped kerb. Site Address: 5 Falcon Cliff Terrace Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 4AU Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 06.03.2023

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. For the avoidance of doubt, the existing garden area to the rear of the approved parking spaces shall remain as such.

Reason; In the interest of visual amenities of the area and as the application has only proposed two off road parking spaces that is what has been considered.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Residential Design Guide July 2021.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the documents, Site Location Plan, Existing Block Site Plan, Proposed Block Site Plan, Existing and Proposed Front Elevations, Existing and Proposed Left Elevations, Existing and Proposed Rear Elevations, which were received on 26th January 2023

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the 5 Falcon Cliff Terrace, Douglas, a two-storey pitched-roof end-of-terrace dwelling located on the north east of Falcon Cliff Terrace. The house has a twostorey pitched-roof rear extension, a single-storey mono-pitched-roof rear extension and a mono-pitched double garage.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed work is the demolition of the garage and the using the area for parking.

- 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 Removal of attached garage and replaced with a 2 storey attached dwelling, the removal of exiting rear conservatory replaced with a single storey extension, the removal of the existing chimney stacks, replace windows and doors, new render to the walls and replacement roof tiles was REFUSED under PA 22/01293/B. - 3.2 The reason for the refusal was the new dwelling alters the historical building pattern of the street and therefore negatively impact the character of the area. And the new rear extension overlooks 4 Falcon Cliff Terrace.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific

4.1 The site is within an area designated as Predominantly Residential in the Area Plan for the East. Strategic Policy - 4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:

• o Strategic Policy 3, 5
• o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (m) (n)
• o Transport Policy 7
• o Appendix 7
• o Community Policy 7, 10 and 11

PPS and NPD

4.3 There is no relevant Planning Policy Statement or National Policy Directive that applies to this application.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Strategy and Guidance

5.1 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) guides the design of new houses and extensions to an existing property, as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential property. - 6.0 REPRESENTATIONS This section provides a summary of all representations received. Full details are available on the government website.

6.1 Douglas Borough Council has not commented at the time of the report (06.03.2023).

6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (20.02.2023). The comment states that there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking. - 7.0 ASSESSMENT

7.1 The main considerations for this application are the principle of the application, its impact on the house itself, on the character and street scene of the area, on parking and neighbouring amenities. Principle of the Development

7.2 As the development is to increase parking spaces, the foundation of such development is the net increase of parking spaces for the street as a whole, as indicated in the RDG. This means after the development, the sum of the number of parking spaces created off-street and the number of parking spaces remaining on-street should be more than the number of existing parking spaces available on street.

7.3 The road is available for parking. The proposal does not remove any space available for on-street parking. Therefore, it is considered that there is no factual loss of on-street parking space. - 7.4 The proposal will create two parking space, one extra compared to the existing garage. - 7.5 The next test is whether over 50% of the existing front lawn/landscaped garden will be lost. After the proposal, the lawn still counts for more than 50% of the front garden. Therefore, it is principally acceptable. Visual Amenities - 7.6 The site has no front garden at the moment. In the meantime, the proposal maintain the historical gap between the semi-detached houses and the terraced house. Therefore, it is considered that there is no negative impact on the character and street scene of the area. Highway Safety - 7.7 As Highway Services does not oppose this application, it is considered that the proposal would have a neutral impact on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways and therefore is not acceptable.

- 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Residential Design Guide July 2021. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval. - 9.0 INTEREST 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 which 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: 24.03.2023 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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