**Document:** Officer Report **Application:** 16/00447/C — Change of use from tourist accommodation to residential use **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2016-06-21 **Parish:** Rushen **Document Type:** report / officer_report **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/21110-rushen-the-old-police-change-of-use/documents/1009925 --- # Officer Report **Application No.:** 16/00447/C **Applicant:** Mr Hugh & Mrs Jean Davies **Proposal:** Change of use from tourist accommodation to residential use **Site Address:** The Old Police Station Strand Road Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6HB Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley **Photo Taken:** 18.05.2016 **Site Visit:** 18.05.2016 **Expected Decision Level:** Planning Committee ## Officer’s Report THIS APPLICATION IS BROUGHT BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE INTERIM DIRECTOR OF PLANNING & BUILDING CONTROL. 1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is a roughly rectangular parcel of land within which sits the residential curtilage of The Old Police Station on Strand Road in Port Erin, along with a small, attached tourist unit. Adjacent the site to the immediate north is a car park, while in the immediate vicinity the buildings are residential in use. Nearby, though, is the commercial centre of the village. - 1.2 The Old Police Station is a dwelling of somewhat unusual form. Though in some ways it has classic Manx countryside proportions, it also has a very grand portico complete with pillars and set within which is a similarly grand front door with side lights. Moreover, the proportions of the windows at first floor are not equal, while to its side elevation is a most uncommon double-height curved bay feature that sits between the corner of the property and the externally expressed chimney stack and flue. There is also a single storey extension to the rear that is readily visible from Strand Street and is perhaps the most incongruous element of the building. It is, however, judged to be an attractive and characterful building, and one that positively contributes to the area. - 1.3 The tourist accommodation sits to the side of the ground floor and occupies roughly 40% of that floor; access thereto is provided via a door set within the entrance hall behind portico entrance. 2.0 THE PROPOSAL AND RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY - 2.1 The application seeks to change the use of the tourist accommodation to residential and subsume the tourist unit within The Old Police Station: in place of the existing kitchen, lounge, bedroom and shower room is shown a study, a new utility room, a bedroom and a shower room. - 2.2 No external changes are proposed. - 2.3.1 The agent has submitted a short statement outlining the history of the site and the basis for the application. In 1994, change of use of part of the ground floor to a chiropodist surgery was approved, and which was run by Mrs Davies (one of the applicants). When Mrs Davies retired, the rooms in use as that business were partly converted to residential use following planning approval being granted under PA 05/00074/B to allow for the erection of the single storey extension. The remaining rooms previously in use for the chiropodist were subsequently converted under PA 06/00142/C to the one-bedroom tourist unit that is now the subject of this application. The tourist let was closed as of 1st January 2014. - 2.3.2 With a view to selling the property as a whole in order to emigrate to the United Kingdom, the property has been advertised for sale for the past three years. There is now an offer on the property that is on the proviso that the tourist unit "be included within the residential curtilage of the dwelling". 2.4 The agent was asked to clarify certain points with respect to the take-up of the unit and also why the applicants ceased letting it as of 1st January 2014. He commented as follows: "The tourist accommodation was original set up as a part-time business to provide a supplementary income after Mrs. Davies retired as a chiropodist. The annex was mainly used to target the T.T and MGP rental periods. For the rest of the year it was used as part of Mr. & Mrs. Davies living accommodation for their own use and for when friends and family visited from the UK. They never intended or promoted the tourist accommodation as a full time business. "As a guide to recent rentals: - o Rental for the year ending 5th April 2013 equated to 85 nights. - o Rental for the year ending 5th April 2014 equated to only 19 nights. "Mr & Mrs Davies have now fully retired and are moving to the UK to be with their family and grandchildren. They stopped taking bookings at the end of 2013 and put the house on the market. "The property is primarily a single dwelling with the ability to close off the annex to provide fairly self-contained tourist accommodation. However, this does have some impact on the owners privacy and use of the house during rental periods and it is unreasonable to impose this on any potential purchaser." ## - 3.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN 3.1 The site falls just on the edge of two zonings in the Area Plan for the South: it is within an area zoned as Mixed Use, while the land immediately south is Predominantly Residential. - 3.2 The Strategic Plan General Policy 2 is probably the most relevant in this case: "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." 3.3 Since the Strategic Plan contains no policies with respect to a presumption one way or another in terms of assessing applications such as this, it is worth noting Business Policies 11 and 13. - 3.4 Business Policy 11 (in part): "Tourism development must be in accordance with the sustainable development objectives of this plan; policies and designations which seek to protect the countryside from development will be applied to tourist development with as much weight as they are to other types of development." - 3.5 Business Policy 13: "Permission will generally be given for the use of private residential properties as tourist accommodation providing that it can be demonstrated that such use would not compromise the amenities of neighbouring residents." 3.6 The following paragraphs that appear before BP11 are also well worth noting: - "9.5.2 Tourism has historically been an important element in the Island's economy, and after a period of steady decline visitor numbers to the Island are once again starting to increase. A reliance on the traditional high volume, low yield holidays of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is long gone, with a swing towards high yield, lower volume tourism such as business trips, short breaks and special interest attractions. - "9.5.3 It is considered that the Island's primary assets to tourists and visitors alike are its unique historical landscape, culture and heritage, as well as a wide range of specialist events and attractions. Many activities and facilities providing for the Island's tourists require no permanent development: the TT Races, for example which attract by far the most significant number of tourists to the Island of any event held here, require little but the Grandstand on Glencrutchery Road and a small number of modest marshals' shelters around the Course. Tourism can, however require the erection of built structures - holiday accommodation being the most frequently requested form of new development required in association with the tourism industry. It is important that a balance be struck between the needs of tourism and the protection of these assets, and that tourism development should be sustainable in accordance with the objectives of this plan. There is no special reason why less demanding policies should be applied to tourism development than for other types of development in the countryside, and larger scale schemes may have to be the subject of an environmental impact assessment before planning permission is granted, as with any other form of large scale development. - "9.5.4 The Department of Tourism and Leisure is responsible for the development of the tourism strategy for the Island. The current version of the Tourism Strategy - "Fit for the Future" was approved by Tynwald in April 2004. One of the key issues identified in that strategy is the need to broaden the range of tourist accommodation: " 'Long term development is also being hindered by the lack of bed spaces in general and of the quality now being required to service our customer's base in particular. It is a necessary requirement that existing bed stock continues to upgrade and the Department will ensure appropriate support is put in place to enable existing business to develop. In addition the Department also needs to provide support for the building of new bed stock on an Island wide basis. " 'There also needs to be recognition that the local property market can have a major impact on future tourism development. If there is a continued loss of traditional resort accommodation taking advantage of the high cost of residential property then there will be a heavy reliance on new build hotels if serviced stock levels are to be retained or increased.' - "9.5.5 In recognition of this the Department proposes that new forms of contemporary tourism development will be welcomed, particularly those that satisfy customer demand for high quality accommodation in rural areas provided that they comply with the policies in the plan. Farmhouse accommodation or quality self catering units in barn conversions and making use of rural activities will be encouraged but must comply with General Policy 3 and Business Policy 9. Other forms of quality accommodation in rural areas will be considered, including the provision of hostels and similar accommodation suitable for walkers but must comply with General Policy 3 and Business Policy 11." 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services of the DoI offered no objection to the proposal on 28.04.2016, while Port Erin Commissioners resolved to support it on 11.05.2016. 5.2 Although Tourism within the Department of Economic Development were not directly contacted for their views, they have in the very recent past noted that they do not generally object to the loss of individual tourist units. 6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The use of the accommodation as residential, to match that of the main dwelling, will likely be of benefit to neighbouring living conditions for two reasons. Firstly, there can be some concern arising from noise nuisance or additional coming and going associated with a tourist use while, secondly, having one defined unit of accommodation within the building rather than the present two will reduce demand for on-street parking in the area. Both of these points - though limited weight is given to the first as no positive comments to this specific end have been received - go in favour of the application. Moreover, the tourist unit is situated within an evidently sustainable location, with good access to services, and accordingly it is concluded that residential accommodation here is acceptable, with General Policy 2 clearly being met. - 6.2 The most significant concern, then, is with respect to the loss of an existing tourist unit. It was evidently viable for a number of years; since January 2014 no data is available and so no conclusion can be drawn as to the potential viability of the unit since that time. It remains appropriate to consider how much protection should be afforded the loss of this unit, noting that DED's Tourism team would be unlikely to offer an objection, though it is difficult to know how to make such an assessment. - 6.3 Perhaps the main issue is the quality of the accommodation on offer. In this case, the tourist unit is likely to be considered attractive to potential consumers in view of the nature of the dwelling, but perhaps not at the 'high end' of offer when it is borne in mind the position of the property close to the town centre and with precious little views to speak of. It is concluded that there are likely to be plenty of similar kinds of accommodation in Port Erin such that the loss of this one unit would not be so serious as to warrant the application's refusal. This is something of a balanced conclusion, and is one relying in part on supposition (the lack of comment from DED's Tourism team makes full assessment difficult), but it remains the case that there does not appear to be sufficient evidence, or any other material considerations, on which to base anything other than a recommendation to approve. - 6.4 It is recommended that a condition be attached requiring the new rooms to form a part of the residential curtilage of The Old Police Station. While the plans are clear as to how the new and old rooms would come together for use as a single Planning unit, for the avoidance of doubt and in view of the need for the proposal as outlined in the supporting statement a condition to this effect would provide certainty for all. 7.0 RECOMMENDATION - 7.1 In view of the above assessment, it is concluded that the application should be approved subject to the condition described. 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons: - o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent; - o The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested; - o Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material, which in this case includes Highways Services of the Department of Infrastructure, and - o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. Recommendation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 13.06.2016 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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals. - C 2. For the avoidance of doubt, should this planning approval be implemented, The Old Police Station shall be occupied as a single dwellinghouse. Reason: To avoid sub-division of the Planning unit, which would in itself require separate and further assessment. The development hereby approved relates to Drawings 1604/01, 1604/02 and 1604/03, all datestamped as having been received 19th April 2016. 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:…20.06.2016 Signed :………E RILEY…………….. 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 ## 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/21110-rushen-the-old-police-change-of-use/documents/1009925*