**Document:** Officer Report **Application:** 17/00888/B — Extension to stables to provide storage and tie up facilities **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2017-10-31 **Parish:** Malew **Document Type:** report / officer_report **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/22100-malew-ballawhetstone-farm-extension/documents/1019733 --- # Officer Report **Application No.:** 17/00888/B **Applicant:** Stella Hampton **Proposal:** Extension to stables to provide storage and tie up facilities **Site Address:** Ballawhetstone Farm Douglas Road Ballabeg Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 4ED Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley **Site Visit:** 07.09.2017 **Expected Decision Level:** Officer Delegation **Recommended Decision:** Permitted **Date of Recommendation:** 26.10.2017 _________________________________________________________________ ## 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. The extension hereby approved shall only be used in association with the equestrian facility on the site. Reason: To ensure proper control of the site, which is in a mixture of lawful uses at present. Plans/Drawings/Information; The development hereby approved relates to the following drawings: - o The Land Ownership Plan (date-stamped as having been received 18th August 2017); - o Location Plan / Block Plan (date-stamped as having been received 7th July 2017 and 18th August 2017); - o The Proposed North East and South East Elevation drawing (date-stamped as having been received 7th July 2017 and 18th August 2017); - o The Proposed South West Elevation (date-stamped as having been received 18th August 2017), and - o The Proposed Floor Layout drawing (date-stamped as having been received 26th September 2017). ### Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None. _____________________________________________________________________________ ### Officer’s Report 1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is a large area of land that includes the entirety of the land owned in association with Ballawhetstone Farm, the buildings of which are located to the south of the A7 and southeast of Ballabeg but with the large majority of the landholding situated to the north of the highway. - 1.2 Within the site is a pair of joined barns, one of which has a Lawful Use Certificate as a riding school and the other of which was approved for agricultural purposes. Both the relevant applications were approved in 2012. 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the erection of an extension to the building that has a Certificate of Lawful Use as a riding school. The extension would be long and thin (relative to the existing, joined buildings), and although it would run almost fully along the two gable walls of the two joined buildings it would only be accessible through, and used in connection with, the building used in connection with the aforementioned riding school. - 2.2 The extension would match the roof pitches of the existing buildings. - 2.3 The applicant has explained that the extension is needed to provide a 'safe area' to tie up the horses so that the children clients of the pony cub can handle and care for them. ## - 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 The two applications mentioned above have the reference numbers 12/01512/B and 12/01135/LAW. The older of the two barns was approved under PA 90/04149/B. - 4.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN 4.1 The land is not zoned for any particular purpose on Map 6 of the Area Plan for the South 2013. While the riding club does not operate from a building approved for that use, it nevertheless operates lawfully. Therefore, the relevant Strategic Plan policies are judged to be Environment Policies 19 and 21. - 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 Highway Services of the DoI offered their formal comments on 25th September 2017, stating the proposal represented an improvement to the existing equestrian facilities and had no highways implications. 5.2 Malew Commissioners offered no objection on 6th September 2017. - 6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 While it is a fundamental principle that the countryside should be protected for its own sake, it is also true that there are policies that allow for development in certain circumstances and where certain criteria can be met. In this case, those circumstances are set out in EPs 19 and 21. 6.2 While the planning history is a little unusual, it is still considered appropriate to assess the application on the basis that there is a lawful equestrian use on the site since, after all, that is the case. 6.3 The extension is small in scale relative to the existing barn building and, while it would increase the mass of the building at a position fairly close to an adopted highway, it would not be to such an extent as to be judged materially harmful in visual terms. The boundary treatment would soften the appearance of the extension, as would the presence of the existing barns and house that are situated between the proposed extension and the highway itself. No objection is raised on this ground. - 7.0 CONCLUSION 7.1 Despite the somewhat controversial planning history, it is concluded that the details of this application are acceptable. A condition specifying the use is considered necessary. A condition requiring the removal of the extension was considered, but on the basis that no such conditions exist in respect of the much larger buildings to which the extension would be attached it is not considered necessary in this instance given the small, relative scale of the extension proposed. I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation. Decision Made : Permitted Date : 27.10.2017 Determining officer Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management ## 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/22100-malew-ballawhetstone-farm-extension/documents/1019733*