**Document:** DEC Officer Report
**Application:** 19/00208/B — Erection of agricultural barn
**Decision:** Permitted
**Decision Date:** 2019-05-24
**Parish:** Malew
**Document Type:** report / officer_report
**Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/29162-malew-ballacubbon-farm-st-marks-road-barn/documents/1043134

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# DEC Officer Report

**Application No.:** 19/00208/B
**Applicant:** Jack David Garrett
**Proposal:** Erection of agricultural barn
**Site Address:** Ballacubbon Farm St Marks Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AG
**Planning Officer:** Miss Lucy Kinrade
**Expected Decision Level:** Officer Delegation
**Recommended Decision:** Permitted
**Date of Recommendation:** 17.05.2019 _________________________________________________________________

## 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 building hereby permitted shall be agricultural use only.

Reason: The application has been assessed on agricultural need and any other use would require separate assessment.

- C 3. The agricultural building hereby approved shall be removed and the ground restored to its former condition in the event that it is no longer used or required for agricultural purposes.

Reason: The building has been exceptionally approved solely to meet agricultural need and its subsequent retention would result in an unwarranted intrusion in the countryside.

### Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to Site Plan, Ownership Plan, drawing number P6263-01, 3xA4 land ownership maps and supporting statement provided by Rural Business Consultancy all date stamped and received 25/02/2019.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

### Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the existing farm and farm building Ballacubbon Farm situated on the eastern side of St Marks Road, part way between Ballasalla and the hamlet of St Marks. The farm holding currently farms around 260acres with a mix of cattle and sheep. At present there are 47 dairy cows, with a further 11 expecting calves, 40 young calves and 11 larger reared cattle, around 200 ewes are expected to lamb in early 2019. - 1.2 The collection of buildings at the site comprises the farmhouse and several agricultural outbuildings, the applicant currently rents a milking parlour, cubicle shed and rearing shed from his parent (the landowners) who also farm from the site. In addition to the building at Ballacubbon the applicant also rents buildings for his farming business at a nearby farm which are no longer available to him.

2.0 PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the erection of an agricultural building for the housing of livestock, storage of machinery and general farming goods. The proposed building is to be situated within the existing cluster of outbuildings and adjacent to the yard and access track running through the site, the building will sit east of the farmhouse. - 2.2 The external building footprint is proposed to be 36.7m long x 13.7m wide with a pitch roof height of 5.8m. The building is proposed to be steel framed with concrete panels to the base and Yorkshire boarding above, the cement sheet roof will include translucent panels for natural light. The building is proposed to have two large door openings at each gable end.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The site has been subject to a number of previous planning applications for the erection of agricultural buildings in 1984, 1989 and 1999, all of which were approved. There have been no applications for agricultural building since; the last application approved for the site was in 2001 for alterations to the main house.

## - 4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The application site is within an area not designated for development on the Area Plan for the South 2013. Given the nature of the proposal is it relevant to consider the following policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 in the assessment of the current application: - 4.2 General Policy 3 (states in part):

"Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of: (f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry."

4.3 Environment Policy 1:

"The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix 3 at A.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an over-riding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative."

4.4 Environment Policy 15:

"Where the Department is satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building (including a dwelling), sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside, and that the impact of this development including buildings, accesses, servicing

etc. is acceptable, such development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they form a part.

Only in exceptional circumstances will buildings be permitted in exposed or isolated areas or close to public highways and in all such cases will be subject to appropriate landscaping. The nature and materials of construction must also be appropriate to the purposes for which is it intended.

Where new agricultural buildings are proposed next to or close to existing residential properties care must be taken to ensure that there is no unacceptable adverse impact through any activity, although it must be borne in mind that many farming activities require buildings which are best sited, in landscape terms, close to existing building groups in the rural landscape".

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Malew Commissioners - No objections (03/04/2019) - 5.2 The Department of Infrastructure Highway Services - no comments received (as of 16/05/2019)

## - 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are; (i) the principle of the development; and (ii) the visual impact of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the countryside and surrounding landscape in terms of siting, design, size and finish. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE DEVELOPMENT - 6.2 There aforementioned policies would indicate there is a general presumption against new development in the countryside, as set out in Environment Policy 1 and General Policy 3 of the Strategic Plan, however there are exceptions to this with respect to agricultural buildings GP3(f). - 6.3 As previously identified EP 15 the Department needs to be satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building to sufficiently outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside. In the case of this application there has been extensive supporting information submitted demonstrating the need for the new building not only to make up for the loss of rented buildings at a farm nearby but also to help increase the operation of the milking business to 90 cows. - 6.4 The current farm is occupied by both the applicant and his parents who also farm. The planning history for the site evidences the established agricultural nature of the site. Calculations submitted for the application demonstrate the required area for the current operation of the business being 1403 sq m, with the expansion to 90 milking cattle requiring 2715sq m. While the external footprint of the building equates to 502sq m, the internal floorspace available is around 490sq m which will still result in a shortfall of area, although will contribute to the expansion of the business, with the proposed location also being in significantly close proximity to the milking parlour reducing walking distance for the cattle. - 6.5 Given the extensive information provided within the application it is considered that the principle of the proposal is acceptable and will help to support the continued growth of a farming business which provide local produce that ultimately contributes to the Islands economy and working towards the aims of the DEFA Food Matters Strategy in growing the economic contribution of the Isle of Man food and drink from 2015 - 2025. THE VISUAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL

6.6 The proposed building is fairly typical in its size and comparable to those large agricultural buildings in the immediate area. The close proximity to the existing buildings helps to contain the spread of development across the countryside and from the roadside and nearby locations the proposed building is to be read in conjunction with the existing farmstead and is therefore not likely to result in any new visual impacts on the wider landscape, and in this respect the proposal is considered to accord with both EP1 and EP15.

## - 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 For the above reasons it is considered that the proposal satisfies the key tests of GP3 (f) and EP1 and EP15. Approval of the application should include the standard suitably worded conditions restricting the use to agricultural use only and requiring the building's removal and the land returned to its former condition should the building cease to be used for the approved agricultural use. The application is not required to go before the Planning Committee as the floorspace created by the development is less than that 500 sq m set out in the Planning Committee standing orders. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

- (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
- (b) 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;
- (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
- (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
- (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. 8.2 The Planning Committee 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 in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

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 : 20.05.2019 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.

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*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/29162-malew-ballacubbon-farm-st-marks-road-barn/documents/1043134*