DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 23/00151/B Applicant: Mr A Brodie Proposal: Creation of a driveway and vehicular access Site Address: 5 Keyll Lhiarjee Laxey Isle Of Man IM4 7HT Planning Officer: Mr Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 26.05.2023

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.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 34 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan, Residential Design Guide July 2021 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to the documents, location pla, site plan date stamped as having been received on 1st February 2023 and drawing no. B/7744/1B date stamped as having been received on 1st March 2023.

______________________________________________________________ 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):

Woodcroft, New Road, Laxey

as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status.

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):

Ry-Cheilley, 4 Keyll Lhiarjee, Laxey as they do not refer to the relevant issues in accordance with paragraph 2C of the Policy. _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 5 Keyll Lhiarjee, Laxey, a detached dwelling located on the northeast of New Road. The site is currently accessed by Keyll Lhiarjee.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed is the creation of a new access onto New Road. The proposal include demolish a section of the front boundary wall and the erection of a fence on the boundary with No.4. The fence will be the same height and design as the existing fence with No.4.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 Erection of garage was APPROVED under PA 00/00655/B.

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. - 4.2 The site is within the Laxey Conservation Area. Strategic Policy - 4.3 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, 4(a) and 5
• o General Policy 2 (b) (c) (g) (i) (m)
• o Environment Policy 34, 35
• o Community Policy 7 and 10

PPS and NPD

4.4 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man is the only adopted PPS at the moment. It provides supplementary policy on developments within any conservation area.

5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Legislation - 5.1 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". This sets out the approach to be taken in determining planning applications, which includes giving great weight to the asset's conservation when considering the impact of a proposed development on the asset.

Given that the site is within a Conservation Area, the above requirements apply and appropriate consideration will be given in section 7.

Strategy and Guidance

5.2 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application: Section 6 "The Wider Site" - 5.3 Manual for Manx Roads provides best practise and technical details of how to ensure highways are accessible, safe, inclusive and serviceable.

6.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 6.1 Garff Commissioners object to this application (09.03.2023). The comment considers that it is inappropriate for a new highway exit/entrance for a single property in the context of Keyll Lhiarjee and this would reduce highway safety. - 6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (09.03.2023) after the new access was widened. The comment states that there are "no significant road safety or highway network efficiency issues." - 6.3 Owners/Occupiers of 4 Keyll Lhiarjee object to this application (22.02.2023). The comment states that while they are in favour if the proposal in principle, the current proposal would make it hard to manoeuvre space for No.4. The comment also states that part of the proposed fence is within the boundary of No.4. - 6.4 The applicant wrote in response to the comments from No.4. The response states that the new fence is requested by Highway Services for highway safety reason. The response then point out highway approved a proposal to altering access on the site in 2008. The response also noted about the position of the new fence. - 6.5 Owners/Occupiers of Woodcroft, New Road, Laxey wrote in objection to this application (22.02.2023). The comment states that it may impact the safety of New Road due to the nature of the bend at the site and parked cars on the other side of the New Road. The comment also states that the visibility splay is not achievable as shown on the plan and there is no route for emergency and refuse collection vehicles. The comment also states it will have an impact on the character of the Conservation Area. This comment is made before the amended plan was submitted in early March.

7.0 ASSESSMENT - 7.1 The main consideration for this application are its impact on highway safety and on the character and streetscene of the area. Highway Safety - 7.2 The proposed new access complies with Manual for Manx Road and has no objection from highway services. Therefore, it is considered that the proposal would not have a negative impact on highway safety. - 7.3 After confirming with Highway Services, the use of utilities, energy and emergency vehicles requires temporary and infrequently occupation of roads. The proposed access, likely any other access, will impact and be impacted by such vehicles. The site is also located close to the road that access into the driveway is not necessary for public service providers. Therefore, it is considered that this does not have an impact on the assessment of highway safety. - 7.4 After confirming with Highway Services, lawful on-street parking as a whole affects traffic flow and have an impact on the safety of the proposed access. However, parking on a

• certain positon on the road cannot be guaranteed and is therefore considered to not have an impact on the assessment of highway safety.
• 7.5 After confirming with Highway Services, the Manual for Manx Road has suspended previous standards and they are no longer applicable. Character and appearance of the area
• 7.6 The proposed removal of a section of the front wall and the proposed fence at the rear are considered to still preserve the character of the area due to its small scale. Other
• 7.7 The proposed fence would reduce access to the rest of the properties that current on the same driveway. However, such access involves ownership and is therefore a civil matter and falls out of the control of planning.
• 7.8 The position of the fence involves ownership and boundary settlement and is therefore a civil matter and falls out of the control of planning.

8.0 CONCLUSION 8.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 34 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan, Residential Design Guide July 2021 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01. 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 the land which 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: 13.06.2023 Determining officer Signed : C BALMER

Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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