**Document:** DEC Officer Report **Application:** 20/00982/C — Use of building as a guest house **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2020-11-18 **Parish:** Braddan **Document Type:** report / officer_report **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/13496-braddan-5-castlemona-dwelling/documents/1000265 --- # DEC Officer Report **Application No.:** 20/00982/C **Applicant:** Miss Delia Maguire **Proposal:** Use of building as a guest house **Site Address:** 5 Castlemona Avenue Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 4EA **Planning Officer:** Mr Peiran Shen **Photo Taken:** 07.10.2020 **Site Visit:** 07.10.2020 **Expected Decision Level:** Planning Committee **Recommended Decision:** Permitted **Date of Recommendation:** 29.10.2020 _________________________________________________________________ ## 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. N 1. For the avoidance of doubt, no retrospective approval is hereby given for any previous use of the site. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. This application is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Strategic Plan. ### Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the submitted documents, planning statement and drawing no JTM2020-P-00, JTM-2020-P-01, JTM-2020-P-02 date-stamped as having been received on 25th August 2020. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ ### Officer’s Report THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL BUT CONTRARY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN. 1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the curtilage 5 Castlemona Avenue, Douglas, an existing three-storey mid- terrace property with a lower ground floor located on the west of Castlemona Avenue, closing to its junction with The Promenade. 1.2 Castlemona Avenue has a variety of land use including dwelling, flat, guest house, light industry/storage, shop and restaurant, etc. 2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for use of the property as a guest house. The application does not propose any alterations or modifications to the external elevations of the property. - 2.2 The property's internal configuration is a communal room, a bedroom, a kitchen and a utility room on the ground floor; four bedrooms and a bathroom on the first, second and third floor. There are also a living/dining room and a kitchen on the ground floor 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There is no previous application considered materially relevant to this application. 4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is within an area designated as Predominantly Residential Use in the Douglas Local Plan 1998. In the Area Plan for the East (adopted but waiting for approval by Tynwald), the site is designated within an area of "Mixed Use". The written statement states "uses which are not compatible with residential development will generally not be supported within the areas of mixed use". - 4.2 In terms of strategic policy, the following policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are considered relevant in the assessment of the current application: - 4.3 General Policy 2: "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 - (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways; - (j) can be provided with all necessary services." 4.4 Transport Policy 7: "The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards." - 4.5 Appendix 7.6 states typical residential dwelling and apartments should have "1 space for 1 bedroom; 2 spaces for 2 or more bedrooms". It also states that hotels, motels, guest houses should have 1 space per guest bedroom. This standard may be relaxed in urban location under certain circumstance. - 4.6 Appendix 7.6 also states: "These standards may be relaxed where development: - (d) is within a reasonable distance of an existing or proposed bus route and it can be demonstrated a reduced level of parking will not result in unacceptable on-street parking in the locality." 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection on this application (24/08/2019). - 5.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose to this application (26/08/2019). 6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application, is the impact of the proposal on the neighbours and local amenities. - 6.2 It is difficult to assess how an individual person would behave whether they be a tourist or permanent resident. As a tourist, a person may be out a lot of the time, but may also have greater late nights and be disruptive on return. In general terms, however, the majority of people tend to behave well and raise no concerns. Therefore, it is unlikely for this change of use to have a significant impact on the living conditions of the neighbouring properties. - 6.3 The property does not have off-street parking. There is also a shortage of on-street parking. The development could cause a further strain on parking availability. However, as Highway Services does not oppose this application, this means the development is unlikely to have an impact on traffic flows. In addition, the site is close to Douglas town centre and there are bus stops nearby so a car is not necessary for tourists who choose this accommodation to travel around. Therefore, the possibility of impact parking is small and therefore acceptable. 7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and Business Policy 13 of the Strategic Plan. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval. 8.0 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 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. 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 it under the appropriate delegated authority. Decision Made : Permitted Committee Meeting Date: 16.11.2020 Signed : P SHEN 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 ## Customer note ## This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records. --- *Data sourced from the Isle of Man public planning register under the [Isle of Man Open Government Licence](https://www.gov.im/about-this-site/open-government-licence/).* *Canonical page: https://planningportal.im/a/13496-braddan-5-castlemona-dwelling/documents/1000265*