2.4

Sites are areas of open land, in a rural area, on either side of the A25 at Oak Hill. They are both owned by Mr and Mrs C Atkinson. Site BH016, on the south side of the road, has an area of about 2.4ha. Its allocation was sought for development with a single dwelling. Site BH017, on the north side of the road, has an area of about 15ha. Its allocation was sought for the development of five dwellings.

444 My attention was drawn to Section 8.8 of the Strategic Plan, which concerns the possibility of adding to existing groups of houses in the countryside. I deal with that matter in paragraphs 237 to 240 above.

445 Strategic Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan states that new development will be located primarily within existing towns or villages, or, where appropriate, in sustainable extensions to those settlements. Development in the countryside will be permitted only in defined exceptional circumstances, none of which appear to apply in either of the present cases. In my view, the proposed allocation of Sites BH016 and BH017 would be contrary to this Strategic Plan policy, as they are neither in an existing settlement, nor in a sustainable extension to such a settlement. Development on either of these sites would detract from the rural character of this area. Prospective residents would have to travel some distance for a range of everyday activities, and would probably be heavily reliant on car transport, contrary to Strategic Policy 10 of the Strategic Plan. Accordingly, I recommend that no action be taken in response to these objections.

Site BH021 - Ballaveare Farm, Old Castletown Road, Port Soderick

446 This undeveloped site of about 1.15ha is zoned as open space (agricultural) in the Braddan Local Plan 1991. It is not within, or close to, any of the settlements listed in Spatial Policies 1 to 4 of the Strategic Plan. However, it is within a loose knit scatter of sporadic residential development along Old Castletown Road. I note that in the past, planning approvals have been granted for the replacement of dwellings in this area with larger residential buildings. The objector, Mrs G Kingston, sought the allocation of Site BH021 for residential development, citing Section 8.8 of the Strategic Plan, which deals with 'Groups of Houses in the Countryside'.

447 The draft Area Plan identifies no 'Groups of Houses in the Countryside' in which additional housing is proposed, and I set out my general conclusions and recommendation with regard to this matter in paragraphs 237 to 240 above. Strategic Policy 2, Spatial Policy 5 and Housing Policy 4 of the Strategic Plan each state that new housing will be permitted in the countryside only in specified exceptional circumstances, none of which apply to Site BH021. I consider this site to be in the countryside. Accordingly, I do not support its allocation for residential development. I recommend that no action be taken in response to this objection.

Site BH022 - Colooney's Road, Braddan

448 Site BH022 is an undeveloped area of about 1.7ha, lying to the west of the junction between Cooil Road and Colooney's Road. There is an existing dwelling, 'Glebe Cottage', immediately to the west of this crossroads. On its south-eastern side, the site has a frontage to Colooney's Road. On the opposite side of Colooney's Road, there are two or three residential properties, and then open fields. To the south-west and north-west the site abuts open countryside. To the north-east, it has a frontage to the A24, beyond which is open countryside. The site is outside the Existing Settlement Boundary of Douglas as shown in the draft Area Plan.

449 The promoters of this site, Ellis Brown, revised their original proposal and sought the allocation of plots for three dwellings, along part of the site's frontage to Colooney's Road, adjacent to 'Glebe Cottage'; and the extension of the settlement boundary to include these plots. They pointed out that residential development here would be close to public transport services; and would benefit from easy access, on foot of by bicycle, to the neighbouring employment areas in the Cooil Road and Nunnery corridors. It would also offer good access to Douglas, without the need to negotiate the congested Quarterbridge junction. It would be on the fringes of the existing Active Travel Zone, and would be within any future such zone, based on the Cooil Road employment area. Allocation of this site would provide an opportunity for the development of three individual, one-off houses, thereby adding to the choice of housing available.

450 These are cogent arguments. However, Site BH022 is in a rural area, and is not contiguous with the existing boundary of any settlement. Its development would consolidate a cluster of isolated buildings, rather than constitute the extension of an existing urban area. Strategic Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan states that new development will be located primarily within existing settlements, or in sustainable urban extensions to towns and villages; and that development in the countryside