DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00404/C Applicant: Mr John Cowley Proposal: Additional use of holiday accomodation as residential use Site Address: Edd Gollan Geayee Cordeman Road St Marks Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AJ Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 12.09.2023

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. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification) no extension, enlargement or other alteration of the dwelling(s) hereby approved, other than that expressly authorised by this approval, shall be carried out, without the prior written approval of the Department. Reason: To control development in the interests of the amenities of the surrounding area.

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

It is deemed that the planning application would not harm the character of the streetscene or that of the countryside and would accord with General Policy 2 & 3, Environment Policy 1, Housing Policy 11 and Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 28th March 2023; o Location Plan

This decision also relates to the Existing & Proposed elevations and the Parking and Access Plan, both dated received 10th August 2023 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status

Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The overall site is within the curtilage of Thallow Vell, Cordeman Road, St Marks which is a property, garage, outhouses and Edd Gollan Geayee, within a courtyard setting. - 1.2 The application site is Edd Gollan Geayee which is a two storey traditional barn which has been converted into holiday accommodation under PA00/00502/B. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the additional use of the existing tourist unit for residential use. - 2.2 The building provides two bedrooms with a bathroom to ground floor level and an open plan living, kitchen and dining room to first floor level. There is also an attached but separate entrance utility room to ground floor level. - 2.3 After requesting further information, the amenity space provided to the site is situated to the South East of the site and there is parking for three cars directly in front of the site, though this parking would be in tandem.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There is only one previous application upon Edd Gollan Geayee which is PA00/00502/B which was for the "Conversion of barn to holiday accommodation," which was Permitted. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as "Not for Development" on the Area Plan for the South. The site is not within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 As the land is not zoned for development General Policy 3 would be the most applicable, this is then followed by Housing Policy 11 which sets out the conversion of existing rural buildings into residential accommodation. The following Strategic Policies are also applicable to the assessment of this application; Strategic Policy 5 which seeks that new development should make a positive contribution to the environment of the Island General Policy 2 which seeks general development considerations Housing Policy 4b which sets out exceptional circumstances for the conversion of redundant rural buildings Environmental Policy 1 which seeks to protect the countryside for its own sake Transport Policy 4 related to highway safety and pedestrians Transport Policy 7 which seeks that parking provisions must be in accordance with Appendix 7. - 4.3 Other material considerations for this application is the Residential Design Guidance (2021) which, although focused on dwellings within settlements, does offer advice in relation to the impact on neighbours and also Planning Policy Statement 3/91 which provides guidance on the design of residential development in the countryside.

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summery;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal 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. The Applicant is advised that to consider installing cycle parking storage and an electric vehicle charging point to aid Active Travel and net zero objectives." (13.04.23). - 5.3 Malew Parish Commissioners have considered the application and state no objections. (05.04.23)

ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - principle
• - loss of tourism
• - character and appearance
• - neighbouring amenity
• - highway safety

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 No physical alterations have been proposed as part of this application therefore the starting point for the application is the land use designation, which identifies the site as an area not zoned for development, whilst this is the case, the site has been used as a tourist unit since its change of use application in 2000. It should be noted that there are no specific planning policies which relate to the change of use of an existing tourist use to a tourist and residential use within the strategic Plan.
• 6.2.2 Whilst this is the case, there are policies within the Strategic Plan which allow for exceptions for development in the countryside and specifically for the conversion of rural buildings into residential dwellings, specifically General Policy 3(b) and Housing Policy 4(b). Both of which point to Housing Policy 11 as the main policy.
• 6.2.3 Whilst the common theme with the Policies is the test of redundancy, which cannot be the case of this application cannot be said to be redundant as the tourist use is still available, as it's for an additional use. This is not strictly a reason for refusal, as when assessed against the remaining aspects of Housing Policy 11, the proposal would deem to satisfy the criteria and the integrity/ appearance of the overall streetscene.
• 6.2.4 In terms of practicality for the additional change of use, the unit is large enough to provide a standard of living, with there being more than two car parking spaces available. The property could operate independently from "Thallow Vell" without having a detrimental impact on each other's living conditions. The outlook from the site is either into the courtyard of the overall site or to the rural landscape, which means that there is an acceptable clear and pleasant outlook.
• 6.2.5 Overall whilst not fully in accordance with Housing Policy 11, on balance the overall principle of the additional residential use would be acceptable.

- 6.3 LOSS OF TOURISM

• 6.3.1 In terms of the potential loss of tourism provisions in terms of bed spaces and variety of accommodation, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan falls silent on this and mainly seeks to promote conversion of buildings subject to appropriate criteria and additional uses of private residential properties within Chapter 9 and the relevant Business Policies.

• 6.3.2 The written statement which accompanies the Area plan for the South states that historically tourism was largely within the seafront hotels in Port Erin and Port St Mary, with the demand for this being in decline. Whilst this has resulted with a reduction of bed spaces in the South of the Island, the Department of Economic Development is in support of the retention of and development of tourist accommodation but will generally agree to the loss of tourist premises, where it is clearly demonstrated that they are no longer commercially viable. The written statement then goes on to discuss the retention of hotels being vital to the continued attraction of the area.
• 6.3.3 The main part of this application is the fact that the proposal is for additional use as residential. Generally when receiving applications for tourist use, they are additional to an already existing residential use. Proposals such as this are generally so that the property can be rented out during the winter months when tourism to the Island is less likely.
• 6.3.4 Whilst this application has not defined when they would want to use the site for tourism and when they would like to use it as residential, the additional use would mean that there would not be a loss of tourism as the property can still be used in this way and as such the proposal would not be read as contrary to the general tourism provisions within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan.

- 6.4 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.4.1 With regards to character and appearance, it is noted that the proposal does not include any material alterations to the building or its appearance, as such the character and appearance of the building would be retained as part of the overall streetscene.
• 6.4.2 Due to the sites location to the roadside and its overall appearance in the streetscene, a condition should be attached to remove permitted development to keep residential paraphernalia to a minimum.

- 6.5 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

• 6.5.1 When looking at neighbouring amenity, tourist would generally occupy the property on a short term basis and as such would likely not require the same level of privacy and amenity that a permanent residential dwelling should have in order to be satisfactory. Tourist accommodation also generates many different occupiers who due to not knowing an area particularly well, may generate more disturbance than a full time resident.
• 6.5.2 This may be manifested by inappropriate parking, greater vehicular movements to and from a property and a reduced level of care when making noise. These distinctions are more operational activity but help identify the difference between the two uses and the level of impact on the main farmhouse and the cottage and their amenity.
• 6.5.3 As such it is considered in this case, that there would not be any adverse impact on the closest neighbouring property, "Thallow Vell," in terms of use, and from this aspect of the proposal, it would comply with General Policy 2(g).

- 6.6 HIGHWAY SAFETY

• 6.6.1 Turning towards highway safety, the original application did not provide any allocated parking areas with the application, of which a consultation from Highway Safety at this time did not object to the proposal and it is considered that from a Highway Safety point of view the existing entrance is safe and that the parking/manoeuvring on site is acceptable.
• 6.6.2 Further to this, confirmation was received which showed the parking available to the site being situated in front of the property within the courtyard area. The detail provided states that there is space for three cars, which would be acceptable as per General Policy 2 (h&i) and Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7.

CONCLUSION

7.1 For the above reasons, it is concluded that the planning application would not harm the character of the streetscene or that of the countryside and would accord with General Policy 2 & 3, Environment Policy 1, Housing Policy 11 and Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including Wan 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. 8.2 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

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.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 19.09.2023 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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