**Document:** Officer Report **Application:** 25/91179/C — Additional use of upper floors as self-contained residential dwelling (Class 3.4) **Decision:** Permitted **Decision Date:** 2026-03-05 **Parish:** Arbory **Document Type:** report / officer_report **Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/130614-arbory-the-friary-apartments-dwelling/documents/1592019 --- # Officer Report **Application No.:** 25/91179/C **Applicant:** Mr Doug Skinner **Proposal:** Additional use of upper floors as self-contained residential dwelling (Class 3.4) **Site Address:** The Friary Apartments Main Road Ballabeg Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 4HA **Planning Officer:** Vanessa Porter **Expected Decision Level:** Officer Delegation **Recommended Decision:** Permitted **Date of Recommendation:** 04.03.2026 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. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The impact with regards to neighbouring amenity would be the same whether the site was used for permanent residential or tourist use, as such it is considered that there is no demonstrable harm arising from the proposal and, in view of the provisions of Paragraph 9.5.8, Housing Policy 15 & 16, Business Policy 13 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the application is therefore recommended for approval. Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 16th January 2025; - Drawing No. 001 - Drawing No. 100 - Drawing No. 101 Right to Appeal It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: DOI Highway Services - No objection Arbory and Rushen Commissioners - No objection It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should NOT be given the Right to Appeal because; Balladuke Farm - Objection identifies land that is owner or occupied by the objector that would be impacted on, but such land is not within 20 meters of the site (and no Environmental Impact Assessment is required) ## Officer’s Report ## - 1. THE APPLICATION SITE 1.1 The application site is the curtilage of "The Friary Apartments," Main Road, Ballabeg which is a three storey property situated to the South West of Main Road, which is a relatively new build having been built under PA08/01266/REM. 1.2 The site currently has three parking spaces, one within the existing garage and two situated to the apron at the front of the site. It's relevant to note that if one of the parking spaces are used in front of the property that this will in turn block the garage off. ## - 2. THE PROPOSAL 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the additional use of the tourist accommodation as residential, no external alterations are proposed. 2.2 The properties internal configuration is open plan kitchen lounge, two bedrooms and bathroom to first floor level and two bedrooms and bathroom to second floor level. ## - 3. PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 There is one previous application which is relevant to the assessment of this application, PA17/0017/B, which was for "Alterations to facilitate change of use of ground floor retail unit (class 1) to tourist accommodation and first floor apartment from permanent residential to tourist accommodation." ## - 4. PLANNING POLICY 4.1 The application site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Area Plan for the South, Map 6 - Colby/Ballabeg. The site is not situated within a Conservation Area/ Proposed Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone. ### 4.2 ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016 - 4.2.1 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered pertinent to the assessment of this application: General Policy 2 - General Development Considerations. Environment Policy 4 - Protects ecology and biodiversity/important habitats. Environment Policy 42 - new development should be designed to take into account the character and identity of the area. Housing Policy 1 - Refers to housing needs which includes enabling 5,100 additional dwellings (net of demolitions), and including those created by conversion, to be built over the Plan period 2011 to 2026. Housing Policy 4 - New housing will be located primarily within our existing towns and villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable urban extensions of these towns and villages. Housing Policy 17 - Deals with the conversion of buildings into flats/apartments. However, its principles would be applicable to the current application which seeks to erect a new block of apartments in a built up area, particularly in relation to outlook, amenity space provisions, parking, and traffic management. - Strategic Policy 1 - Efficient use of land and resources. - Strategic Policy 2 - Priority for new development to identified towns and villages. - Strategic Policy 3 - Development to respect the character of our towns and villages. - Strategic Policy 4 - development proposals must protect or enhance the nature conservation and landscape quality of urban as well as rural areas. - Strategic Policy 5 - Design and visual impact. Strategic Policy 10 - development should promote integrated journeys, minimise car use and facilitate other modes of travel. Transport Policy 1 - Proximity to existing public transport facilities and routes, including pedestrian, cycle and rail routes important for new development. Transport Policy 4 - New and existing highways which serve any new development must be designed so as to be capable of accommodating the vehicle and pedestrian journeys generated by that development in a safe and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the environmental objectives of this plan. Transport Policy 7 - Parking considerations/standards for development. Community Policies 7, 10 and 11 provide guidance in respect of minimising criminal activity and reducing spread of fire, while Infrastructure Policy 5 deals with methods for water conservation. ### 4.3 OTHER MATERIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS - 4.3.1 The Residential Design Guidance (2021) is also a material consideration and provides advice on the design of new houses and extensions to existing properties, as well as how to assess the impact of such development on the living conditions of those in adjacent residential properties and sustainable methods of construction. ## - 5. REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary; 5.2 Highway Services have considered the application and state, "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking as the proposals would have a similar parking and pedestrian demand to the existing situation." (11.02.26) 5.3 Arbory and Rushen Parish Commissioners have considered the application and are in support. (23.02.26) 5.4 DFE were consulted on the 5th February 2026 of which no consultation has been received at the time of writing this report. 5.5 The Owner/occupier of Balladuke Farm, Grenaby Road, have written in to object to the proposal on the basis of Highway Safety issues. (20.02.26 & 03.03.26) - 6. ## ASSESSMENT 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are; - - principle of the proposal (STP 1, SP2, HP4 & 6) - - highway safety, access and parking (GP2, TP4 & 7) - - amenity standard for future occupants ### 6.2 PRINCIPLE - 6.2.1 The application site is situated within the Ballabeg settlement boundary as provided under the Area Plan for the South, and as such the proposed residential use here would broadly align with Strategic Policy 1 and Housing Policy 4. - 6.2.2 Overall, in terms of the acceptability of the use of the site for residential, it is concluded that the proposal will align with the land zoning at the time, and the proposed use as - residential would be acceptable in principle. It is, however, worth noting that the factors highlighted above do not in any way denote automatic approval for residential use of the site, given that the proposed residential use would be acceptable for the site, and that the proposal would not have any impacts within regards to access, parking, highway safety nor neighbouring amenity. Therefore, it still remains necessary to assess the proposed residential use against other relevant planning policies and the physical constraints of the application site. ### 6.3 HIGHWAY SAFETY, ACCESS AND PARKING - 6.3.1 When looking at Highway Safety, the previous comments raised within PA17/00178/B needs to be raised, which was for the change of use of the ground floor retail unit to tourist and the change of use of the first floor apartment to tourist, of which Highway Services stated on the 17th March 2018, ""The proposal is to change the use of an empty shop unit and flat to tourist accommodation. There is car parking provided on site for 2 vehicles and a garage is provided for motorcycles or pushbikes. The existing use as a shop and apartment is likely to have a higher traffic generation than the proposed tourist use. Highway Services does not oppose this application." - 6.3.2 With the above in mind, and taking note of the objection with regards to Highway Safety, whilst there is not the required parking available on the site as per Transport Policy 7, the proposal within this application would not increase the need for additional parking above and beyond what was accepted within PA17/00178/B. It should also be noted that Highway Services are the professionals with regards to Highway Safety and they have assessed both the parking on site and the ingress/ egress from the site and have not objected to the proposal, as such the proposal is deemed to be acceptable from a Highway's point of view. ### 6.4 AMENITY STANDARDS FOR FUTURE OCCUPANTS - 6.4.1 When looking at the addition of residential use to the site, it is important to note that there is a difference in the amenity one might expect to be provided from a tourist unit and the amenity that one might expect that a residential dwelling should afford, such considerations include the level of privacy provided between properties, the amount of internal and external space allocated to the property, the convenience of the service space such as bin storage and car parking and the level of shared facilities with other properties. - 6.4.2 The site was originally built with a first floor apartment, whilst this was above a local shop and not a tourist unit, the overall amenity standards would be the same. The first floor apartment in terms of amenity standards for future occupants, would provide a pleasing outlook, with the internal amenity space being acceptable. - 6.4.3 Whilst the only outside amenity space provided for the site is the front apron, this would in this instance not be reason enough to refuse the application. The reasoning for this is that any future occupants would be made aware of the lack of outside amenity space prior to residing at the apartment, it is also noted that not everyone wants outdoor amenity space. ### 6.5 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY - 6.5.1 Business Policy 13 indicates that 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. The property is currently being used as a residential property of which the additional use of this application will enable the owners to part-rent the property for tourist accommodation. The flat is situated within a Mixed Use area and as such there is a certain level of noise disturbance by dint of its location and the surrounding shops. - 6.5.2 In the case of apartments like this, concern lies in the potential to cause disruptions to the immediate and adjoining neighbouring properties. In terms of differentiating a tourist and a permanent resident it is often difficult to define how each would behave. As a tourist, a person may be out a lot of the time, but may also have a greater number of late nights and be disruptive on return. On the other hand, permanent residents may be at home more, and could be more likely to invite friends or family over for dinner or parties that may be noisy. In general the majority of people tend to behave well and raise no concerns, although there will always be a percentage that may not behave. - 6.5.3 It is considered the use of the existing tourist use as additional residential use would have a similar impact, whether it is used for tourist or permanent residential use and therefore would not have a significant impact upon the residential amenities of the neighbouring properties. ## CONCLUSION 7.1 For these reasons the proposal is considered to comply with the relevant polices of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, with there being no demonstrable harm arising from the application. The living conditions of the neighbouring properties are not to be made worse as a result of the proposal and there is to be no impact on the designated Conservation Area, As such the application is recommended for approval. RIGHT TO APPEAL AND RIGHT TO GIVE EVIDENCE 8.1 The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 sets out the process for determining planning applications (including appeals). It sets out a Right to Appeal (i.e. to submit an appeal against a planning decision) and a Right to Give Evidence at Appeals (i.e. to participate in an appeal if one is submitted). 8.2 Article A10 sets out that the right to appeal is available to: - applicant (in all cases); - a Local Authority; Government Department; Manx Utilities; and Manx National Heritage that submit a relevant objection; and o any other person who has made an objection that meets specified criteria. 8.3 Article 8(2)(a) requires that in determining an application, the Department must decide who has a right to appeal, in accordance with the criteria set out in article A10. 8.4 The Order automatically affords the Right to Give Evidence to the following (no determination is required): - any appellant or potential appellant (which includes the applicant); - the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, the Department of Infrastructure and the local authority for the area; - any other person who has submitted written representations (this can include other Government Departments and Local Authorities); and - in the case of a petition, a single representative. I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded interested person status and/or rights to appeal. Decision Made : Permitted Date: 04.03.2026 Determining Officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the office copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online service/customers and archive record. --- *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/130614-arbory-the-friary-apartments-dwelling/documents/1592019*