**Document:** DEC Officer Report
**Application:** 21/00741/B — Erection of a replacement double garage
**Decision:** Permitted
**Decision Date:** 2021-11-25
**Parish:** Malew
**Document Type:** report / officer_report
**Source:** https://planningportal.im/a/7715-malew-7-arbory-replacement-garage/documents/934829

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# DEC Officer Report

**Application No.:** 21/00741/B
**Applicant:** Mr James Dean
**Proposal:** Erection of a replacement double garage
**Site Address:** 7 Arbory Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1NA
**Planning Officer:** Mr Paul Visigah
**Photo Taken:** 28.09.2021
**Site Visit:** 28.09.2021
**Expected Decision Level:** Officer Delegation
**Recommended Decision:** Permitted
**Date of Recommendation:** 19.11.2021 _________________________________________________________________

## 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.

- C 2. All external facing and roofing materials shall remain as shown on the plans and specified within the list of external finishes on the submitted Drawing No. 3061/C/050/1 rev. A received 5 October 2021. No new types of materials shall be added to the external elevations of the development, hereby approved. Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area.
- C 3. Prior to the commencement of the development hereby approved a tree protection plan shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. Tree protection measures shall be shown on a layout plan accompanied by descriptive text which includes but is not limited to details of;

- a) The location of the trees to be retained and their canopy spreads;
- b) The location of a 'construction exclusion zone'
- c) The position of protective fencing and/or other protective measures required to prevent damage to retained trees.
- d) An appropriate specification for the protective measures proposed. The development must be carried out in accordance with the approved details. No alterations or variations to the approved tree protection scheme or working methods shall be made without prior written consent of the Department.

Reason: required prior to commencement to ensure that all trees to be retained are adequately protected from damage to health and stability throughout the construction period to protect and enhance the appearance and character of the site and locality.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The proposal meets the tests of Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999; General Policy 2 and Environment Policies 34 and 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, as well as Planning Policy Statement 1/01.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the Design Statement received 6 July 2021; and Covering Letter and Drawing Nos. 3061/C/010 rev. A, 3061/C/020/1 rev. A, 3061/C/050/1 rev A all dated as received 5 October 2021.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 4(2):

The Workshop, Farrants Way Corner, Castletown, as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status. _____________________________________________________________________________

## Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 7, Arbory Road which sits on the southern side of the road. The curtilage extends to Farrant's Way to the south and also around the rear of 9, 13, 15 and 17, Arbory Road. The entire rear garden of this property which is situated along Farrants Way is completely enclosed by a brick wall about 2m high with the only opening being the garage doors for the existing flat roofed garage and pitched roofed garage by the neighbouring property on the northwest boundary. There is a thick cluster of trees along the entire stretch of the boundary wall.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application seeks approval for the erection of replacement double garage over the footprint of the existing garages. The proposed garage would be 6.9m wide, 12.1m long and

- 5.2m high (2.5m high to the eaves). This pitch roofed structure which would be set back 900mm from the neighbouring stone building at the closest point would have its external walls finished in painted render. The garage would have two charcoal grey roller shutter doors facing the street to the rear. The garage would have four velux roof lights on the rear roof slope (three small sized and one larger). There would be a vehicular access door to the rear of one of the garages, while the other would have a window and pedestrian access door. The store attached to the garage would have a centralised double door and two windows on both sides of the rear elevation, as well as window on the south elevation. The roof would be finished in new bluegrey reconstituted slate tile to match existing slate. All the windows and doors would be grey finish UPVC windows. The new garage would have a footprint of 83.4sqm which would result in an increase of 20sqm over the existing.

2.2 Other works proposed include:

- i. Installing a new painted timber gate on the boundary between the garage and the adjacent stone building.

- ii. Five trees would be felled to facilitate the erection of the garage.

2.3 The applicants have provided a Planning Statement which articulates the justifications for the scheme, as well as the sensitive design choice to ensure the scheme fits within the site context. They consider that the new garage would impact on some trees within the site but note that they would follow the advice of the Arboricultural Officer with regard to new planting on the site.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Predominantly Residential and within the Castletown Conservation Area where Environment Policy 35 and Planning Policy Statement 1/01 require development to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the area and to take into account in any decision, the special character of the area. The eastern section of the site is prone to flood risk, although the proposed site area is considered to have low likelihood of flood risk. The site is also not within a Registered Tree Area, and there are no protected trees on site. As such, the following Strategic Plan policies are relevant: - 3.2 General Policy 2: 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; and (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality; (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways;

- (m) takes account of community and personal safety and security in the design of buildings and the spaces around them; and
- (n) is designed having due regard to best practice in reducing energy consumption.

3.3 Strategic Policy 4: Proposals for development must: (a) Protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Ancient Monuments, Registered Buildings(1), Conservation Areas(2), buildings and structures within National Heritage Areas and sites of archaeological interest; - 3.4 Environment Policy 35: Within Conservation Areas, the Department will permit only development which would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area, and will ensure that the special features contributing to the character and quality are protected against inappropriate development. - 3.5 Environment Policy 34 expresses a preference for the use of traditional materials in the maintenance, extension or alteration of pre-1920 buildings. - 3.6 Transport Policy 7: The Department will require that in all new development, parking provision must be in accordance with the Department's current standards. "Typical Residential: 2 spaces per unit, at least one of which is retained within the curtilage and behind the front of the dwelling". - 3.7 Other policies within the Strategic Plan which are considered relevant in the assessment of the proposal are; Infrastructure Policy 5, Community Policy 11, Community Policy 7 and Community Policy 10.

## - 4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.1 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1999 S18 Designation of conservation areas

- Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act".
- 4.2 Planning Policy Statement 1/01 "POLICY CA/2: SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application. Where a development is proposed for land which, although not within the boundaries of the conservation area, would affect its context or setting, or views into or out of the area; such issues should be given special consideration where the character or appearance of a conservation area may be affected".
- 4.3 Whilst not adopted planning policy, DEFA's Residential Design Guidance is a material consideration in the assessment of this application as, "It is intended to apply to any residential development within existing villages and towns, including individual houses, conversions and householder extensions". Sections 2.0 on sustainable construction and 7.0 which deals with impact on neighbouring properties are considered relevant to the current scheme.

## - 5.0 PLANNING HISTORY

5.1 There have been applications for further development and use of the site but these are not relevant to the current proposal. - 6.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

6.1 The Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division who had initially requested that determination of the application be deferred pending further information with regard to drainage arrangements on 6 August 2021, have indicated that they do not oppose the proposal in a letter dated 6 October 2021.

6.2 DOI Highways Drainage have indicated that the amended plans submitted by the applicants have satisfies their concern with regard to surface water runoff onto the public highway (4 November 2021).

6.3 DEFA's Senior Arboricultural Officer has stated that the trees marked for removal are either smaller than licensable size, or are not covered by the Tree Preservation Act by virtue of them being fruit trees, or of poor specimens not worthy of consideration as material constraints, as such does not object to the application. A condition seeking details of how the retained trees would be protected during the construction process has, however, been recommended should approval be granted (21 July 2021). - 6.4 There has been no written representation made regarding the current planning application by the Castletown Commissioners at the time of writing this report, although they were consulted on 14 July 2021. - 6.5 The owners/occupiers of The Workshop, Farrants Way Corner, Castletown have made the following comments regarding the application (9 August 2021):

- o They have no objection to the principle of the removal of the existing garages and the replacement with a new garage but feel this should be detached from their property.
- o The integrity of their traditional stone building may be compromised by the construction
- of an abutting building.
- o They object to this development for the following reasons:

- - Concern of undermining of existing gable walls.
- - Concern of impact roof flashings and waterproofing arrangement of the integrity of the stone structure.

- o They note that they would amenable to accepting an amended scheme where the proposed building was detached from their property.

- 6.5.1 In view of these comments, the applicants have submitted amended plans to address these concerns.
- 6.5.2 No further comments have been received from this neighbour.

## - 7.0 ASSESSMENT

7.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are;

- i. Impact on the character and appearance of the area (including the Conservation Area)
- ii. Impact on Neighbours
- iii. Impact on Highway safety
- iv. The Loss of Trees

7.2 Character and appearance (EP 35, GP2 and EP34)

- 7.2.1 In assessing the impact of the proposed garage on the character and appearance of the area, it is noted that the new garage will be visible when entering Farrants Way from Arbory Street or when close to the dwelling, however the design is not considered to be inappropriate or out of place. Whilst it is noted that the brick finish would not be replicated in the new garage, the positioning of the roof slope to be in keeping with the neighbouring stone building is more in keeping with the area. Besides the new steeply pitch roof design, the slate roof finish (which reflects the traditional roof finish) and the painted render finish would be in keeping with the street scene and the locality. In light of these design attributes, the proposal is considered to comply with GP2 in relation to character and appearance. For the same reasons it is considered that the proposal will have a neutral impact on the proposed Conservation Area and compliant with EP's 34 and 35 of the Strategic Plan.

7.3 Impact on neighbours (GP2)

7.3.1 In terms of impacts on neighbours, the property most likely to be impacted would be The Workshop, Farrants Way Corner given the building was initially designed to be attached to a building within this property. The amended design would, however, remove any impacts as the new design of the roof would ensure that rain water doesn't drain towards the wall of this neighbouring building. The size and positioning of the new garage (which is now set at an offset distance of about 900mm from the neighbouring building), together with the orientation of the proposed windows, suggests that they would not result in any adverse impacts upon the living conditions of neighbouring residents.

- 7.3.2 Additionally, the proposed rooflights on the roof of the garage are not considered to result in any form overlooking given their orientation which is away from the neighbouring properties. It is also considered that there would be no overbearing impacts on the adjacent neighbours given the subdued nature of the new garage when assessed against the bulk and massing of the neighbouring building. Accordingly, it is considered that the proposal complies with GP2 in terms of impacts on neighbours.

### 7.4 Parking and Highway Safety

- 7.4.1 In considering the highway safety impacts of the scheme, it is noted that the proposed garage would provide sufficient amenity in itself and would not have an adverse impact upon highway safety given its proposed width and length which would enable vehicles easily enter and exit the site. As the garage would provide for a larger parking space that would provide enhanced access for users, without resulting in a reduction of the parking provisions for the main dwelling, the works are considered to be an improvement on the existing in highway safety terms.

- 7.4.2 It is also vital to note that the slightly recessed position of the new garage from the boundary has enabled the repositioning of the garage such that vehicles can easily enter and exit he garages; a condition that is a significant improvement over the existing which is somewhat angled and not easily assessable from the nearby highway. As well, the works would not diminish the number of parking available to the property. Based on the foregoing, it is considered that the proposed development is acceptable in the context of both GP 2 (h and i) and Appendix A.7.6 of the Strategic Plan, and as such, is acceptable.

### 7.5 The Loss of Trees

- 7.5.1 As the trees could be felled irrespective of the planning application it is not considered that their removal would weigh against the application. Besides, the Arboricultural Officer does not object to their removal as the affected trees are smaller than licensable size, with the trees being of poor specimens. Albeit, a condition would be applied to ensure that the trees marked for retention are protected during the construction process.

## - 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 Accordingly, given the nature of the proposed works and the fact that the proposed works would have limited impacts on the application site, the street scene or neighbouring amenity, it is considered that the proposed would not have detrimental impacts on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. The application is, therefore, recommended for approval. - 9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

- (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
- (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
- (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
- (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
- (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
- (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
- (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

9.2 The decision maker 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 above who should be given Interested Person Status

9.3 The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is responsible for the determination of planning applications. As a result, where officers within the Department make comments in a professional capacity they cannot 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 and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 24.11.2021

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/7715-malew-7-arbory-replacement-garage/documents/934829*