**Document:** Vannan Planning Submission **Application:** 05/00654/C — Removal of agricultural workers condition from dwelling **Decision:** Refused **Decision Date:** 2005-07-25 **Parish:** Braddan **Document Type:** report / planning_statement **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/78345-union-mills-three-acres-dwelling/documents/1209099 --- # Vannan Planning Submission W.B.Vannan D.A.[Edin.] Dip.T&C.P.[Edin.] Planning & Architectural Consultant Cronk na Quill Old Laxey Hill Laxey Isle of Man IM47DA Tel.[01624] 861013 e-mail vannplan@manx.net RECEIVED ON 06 APR 2005 DEPT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT 5th. April 2005 Planning Application for the removal of Agricultural Workers Condition from the dwelling known as 'Three Acres', Union Mills. I act on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Cain, the owners and occupiers of 'Three acres. This submission forms part of the Application for the removal of the Agricultural Workers Condition attached to the original Approval given in 1979. The Site The site lies to the north of the Peel Road and to the West of Union Mills [Plans C/1 and C/2]. For ease of reference the County Series Mapping is referred to, Map C/3 in that the field numbers are those which have been used in regard to this Application. The site forms part of field 1404 which has an area of three acres, from which the house derives it's name. Other land which is under the control of the Applicants comprises fields: a] 1334, an area of approximately 10 acres. b] 1406, an area of approximately 4 acres. c] 1338, an orchard of some 0.47 acres which is subject to a covenant precluding any development. Field 1405 has been sold to the owner of Ballafreer Cottage. The total area under the control of the Applicants is therefore some 17 acres. Fields 1334 and 1406 have however been sub-let to a farmer to form part of his areas for the grazing of sheep. Planning History The original Aproval was given under PA 48075, Approval in Principle, for a dwelling on field 1404 off Main Road Glen Vine, approved on the 26th. January 1979. This was subject to a number of Conditions. Those most relevant to this Application were : "4) This permission is in respect of one dwelling only on the whole of the site, which shall form part of the holding to which the dwelling shall be tied and from which the dwelling shall not be sold or let off separately without the Committee's permission. 5) The occupation of the proposed dwelling must be limited to persons whose employment or latest employment is or was in agriculture in the Island and including also the dependents of such a person as aforesaid and such tenancy must be subject at all times to enquiry and approval by the Committee." It is however interesting to note that under the Recommendations dated the 18th. January 1979, prior to the decision being made there was contained the following: "There appears to be a reasonable case for approving this application but this cannot be tied to farmland in the usual sense." This was initialled JMW, ie. Mr. Watson, the Chief Architect and Planning Officer at that time. This appears to indicate to indicate that he had doubts as to whether a standard Agricultural Workers Condition was appropriate in this case. A subsequent Detailed Application for a dwelling and a double garage, PA 48788 was approved on the 23rd March 1979. This was subject to the same Agricultural Workers Condition. It should also be noted that these Applications were for a site of three acres only and not as part of, nor related to, a farm. ### Summary The applicants are both persons who have only been involved in part-time, non profit making hobby farming. Mr. Cain's full-time employment was as an employee of the Ballamona Hospital from 1979 until his retirement in 1994. They have lived in the house since it was first constructed some twenty-four years ago and thus the house has never been occupied by a full-time Agricultural Worker. It is also clear that with a total area of 17 acres it is completely unviable as an agricultural unit. It has on occasion been suggested that the property should be put on the open market in order to determine whether it could be sold with the Agricultural Workers Condition attached, i.e. to an Agricultural Worker. This is not an option to the Applicants since it is their family home and they have no intention to sell or to leave their home in the foreseeable future. It is questionable as to whether such a proposal would in any case be contrary to Human Rights Legislation. It is also clear that a house of this nature and value would be beyond the reach of any agricultural worker. There appears to have been reservations by the Chief Architect and Planning Officer of the time as to whether the Condition was appropriate. If the Condition were to have been deemed reasonable and enforceable then action should have been taken at the appropriate time. This Application is therefore intended to rationalise the situation after approximately 24 years. It is also relevant to note that if the relevant part of the 1999 Planning Act were to have been enacted then it would have been possible to have applied for a Certificate of Lawful Use. I would also refer to the decision on the same subject by the Minister of the D.L.G.E. regarding PA01/2692 on Appeal which read: "The Minister has considered the report, but does not concur with all of the appointed person's conclusions. In particular the Minister has noted that there was adduced at the appeal hearing evidence that this dwelling has not in fact been used as farmworkers' accommodation since at least 1991, and that this evidence was not challenged. She also judges that, after so lengthy a period, the use of the dwelling for permanent accommodation is arguably established, and that it is unlikely that legal action to enforce the condition would now succeed. In these circumstances, retention of the condition would be unreasonable, whatever the current or future demand for farmworkers' accommodation in this area." This is relevant to this Application. ### Conclusion I would suggest that the Condition was inappropriate when first applied in that 'Three Acres' does not form part of a farm holding, that the Applicants for the original Application were not involved in hobby farming and not full-time agriculture, and that it has never in any case been occupied by a farmworker since Mr. Cain was employed at Ballamona Hospital. There also appear to have been reservations as to the appropriateness of the Condition in the first place. The above decision of the Minister at Appeal also indicates that it would not be reasonable to enforce such a Condition after a lengthy period of time, in this case some 24 years and that the use of the dwelling as permanent occupation for a non farmworker has been established. W.B.Vannan --- *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/78345-union-mills-three-acres-dwelling/documents/1209099*