DEC Office Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 23/00878/B Applicant: Mr Nigel & Mrs Natasha Sharp Proposal: Erection of a fence (retrospective) Site Address: Kerrocoar Lezayre Road Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 2TD Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Photo Taken: 12.09.2023 Site Visit: 12.09.2023 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 09.11.2023

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

C 1. Within three months of the approval becoming final, the fence shall be modified strictly in accordance with the plans received on 13 October 2023, and thereafter be permanently retained and maintained as such.

Reason: The proposal has been assessed on the submitted drawings and any changes may have a different visual impact and/or highway safety impact.

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

It is considered the proposal complies with General Policy 2 and the relevant aspects of the Residential Design Guide, as it would not result in detrimental visual impacts or adverse impacts on public and private amenity, and would have acceptable impacts on Highway safety.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the submitted documents and drawings received on 25 July 2023, and additional documents received 13 October 2023.

_______________________________________________________________ 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):

Chowrassie, Lezayre Road, Ramsey;

'Drummoyne', Lezayre Road, Ramsey; 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 APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of the dwelling known as 'Kerrocoar', Lezayre Road, Ramsey, which is located on the southern side of the highway with access situated about 38m west of the vehicular access to the Ramsey Grammar School. The application dwelling is a semi-detached dwelling with pebbledash rendered walls painted white, with hipped roof finished red tiles. - 1.2 Some mature trees are to the front of the site, which are set behind a low stone garden wall about 800mm tall. Access to the site is immediately off Lezayre Road, via two timber gates which open into the site. On the boundary with the neighbouring semi-detached dwelling 'Drummoyne' sits a hedge which rises to about 1.4m and longs along the entire stretch of this boundary. The boundary to the west comprises a timber fence which is about 1.8m tall. - 1.3 There is a variety of boundary treatments in the immediate vicinity, with most of the dwellings having their boundary adjoining the highway and site frontage comprising boundary walls, hedging or mature landscaping, most of which stretch to the boundary of the highway. The topography here is flat.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Planning approval is sought for Erection of a fence (retrospective). The fence which is a Side-by-Side timber fencing shall be erected along the western boundary of the site with a section closing up the gap between the boundary fence and the dwelling. This replacement fencing which is 1.8m tall is to replace the fencing that was on this part of the property. - 2.2 The applicants have also submitted a number of photos which seek to show the historic fencing on this boundary. - 2.3 The works will not result in the removal of any trees or mature planting on site. Also there would be no site level changes as a result of the proposal.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 In terms of local plan policy, the application site is within an area recognised as being within predominantly residential use under the Ramsey Local Plan Order 1998. The site is not within a Conservation Area and not recognised as being at any flood risk on recent maps. There are no registered trees on site and the site is not within a registered tree area. - 3.2 Given the site location and nature of proposed development, the relevant Strategic Plan policies are as follows: - 3.3 General Policy 2 states: "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;

• (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;

• (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space, and
• (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways".

3.4 Strategic Policy 3 and Environment Policy 42 both focus on the visual design of developments, and state that the design of new development should take account of the local materials, character and identity of its immediate locality, including landscape features. - 3.5 Other policies within the Strategic Plan which are considered relevant in the assessment of the proposal are; Infrastructure Policy 5, and Community Policies 7 and 10.

- 4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS - 4.1 RESIDENTIAL DESIGN GUIDE 2021

• 4.1.1 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 3.1 on Local Distinctiveness, and 7.0 which deal with impact on neighbouring properties are considered relevant to the current scheme.
• 5.0 PLANNING HISTORY

5.1 The application site has not been the subject of any previous planning applications considered relevant to the determination of the current application. - 5.2 Whilst there is no historical planning record regarding the fence as it was probably not erected under permitted development given that the fence was positioned nearer than the dwellinghouse to any highway which bounds the curtilage, the previous fence was likely immune from enforcement action, as it appears from historic imagery to have been in place since at least 2010.

• 5.2.1 From historical imagery available on Google street view for the site, it is evident that fencing had existed on this boundary since 2010.

• o The April and October 2010 images show that the fencing was lower than the proposed fence (between 1m to 1.2m) and was positioned about 500 to 700mm away from the boundary wall along the site frontage, so that its impact on visibility would be reduced.
• o The June 2022 imagery shows the fence to be on the edge of the boundary wall on the site frontage and raised to 1.8m. However, the first 1m to 1.2m section was tapered to the level of the boundary wall to enable visibility.
• o The current fence on the site boundary observed during the site visit on 12 September 2023 is set at 1.8m high. However, the tapered section has been removed with the fence maintaining the same height as far as the edge of the boundary wall.

6.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

6.1 Representation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Division confirms the following (7 August 2023): The plans and photographs show proposals impacting highway related issues but alterations are required for Highway Services HDC to not object to the proposals. These are summarised as follows:

• o The fence being the same across the whole boundary causes vehicular access visibility issues onto the main road for the two adjacent properties to the detriment of highway safety. The fence should be reduced in height for the first 2-2.4m from the adopted highway (previous

• 2010 and 2022 street view images showed the boundary fence being reduced in height for the first few metres).
• o The following alterations are required to ensure it is acceptable in relation to highway safety:

• Alterations to the fence height for the first 2m from the adopted highway (maximum 1m in height). Preferably, should be first 2.4m from the adopted highway should be no more than 1m in height.

6.2 Ramsey Town Commissioners have not made any comments on the application although they were consulted on 2 August 2023. - 6.3 The owners/occupiers of Chowrassie, Lezayre Road, Ramsey, object to the application on the following grounds (15 August 2023/17 August 2023):

• o Impact on highway safety as it impedes visibility.
• o The current fence is not an exact replacement of the previous fence in terms of height and extent.

6.4 The owners/occupiers of 'Drummoyne', Lezayre Road, Ramsey, have made the following comments regarding the application (7 August 2023):

• o The new fence is a great improvement on the old one.
• o It is lower than the shrubs next door and does not impede our visibility when exiting
• our drive.

- 7.0 ASSESSMENT

7.1 The fundamental issues to consider in the assessment of the current application are:

• a. The Visual impact of the proposed development; and
• b. The impact on Highway Safety

7.2 Visual Impact (GP2, STP 3, EP 42 & RDG 2021)

• 7.2.1 The erection of the fencing would undoubtedly result in a clear visual change to the front of the property, given that it would be different from the fence that existed on the boundary of the property. It is, however noteworthy that fencing along site frontages and along boundaries by the highway are a common feature of the street scene. In this context therefore, the staggered fencing which is now represented in the revised drawings is considered to be generally acceptable from a visual perspective and indeed ties in well with the character of this part of Lezayre Road.
• 7.2.2 Moreover, this type and style of fencing is not out of keeping within a residential area, with the design and appearance considered to be appropriate for the existing residential setting. It is also considered that the overall height which is staggered as it approaches the highway would be appropriate for the existing site context. In this instance the visual impact of fencing of this height is not unduly obtrusive within the street scene.
• 7.2.3 On balance therefore, the development is considered to be acceptable from a visual standpoint, and would fit with the existing site character and context of the adjoining street scene and wider locality. The proposal is, therefore deemed to align with General Policy 2 (b) and (c) of the Strategic Plan.

7.3 Impact on Highway Safety (GP2)

• 7.3.1 In terms of impacts on highway safety, it is necessary to assess whether the fencing would harm the use of and access onto the highway. In terms of this the fencing does not unduly affect either visibility along the highway or access onto the highway. Whilst there was concern with the previous scheme as it had the potential to obstruct views for occupants of the adjacent dwellings as they exit their sites onto the adjoining highway, the changes to the proposal via staggering of the fence, such that the fence section close to the highway (last 2.1m section) would be set at 1m above the ground and road level, such that views for drivers would not be obstructed. As such, it is concluded that the proposed fencing would not result in

• adverse impacts on highway safety. It should be noted that the altered scheme has been designed in response to comments from DOI Highways dated 7 August 2023, which set out how the fence should be designed to ensure that vehicular access visibility was not impeded by the development.
• 7.3.2 The comments made by the occupants of the neighbour at Chowrassie, Lezayre Road, Ramsey, regarding potential impacts on visibility is noted. However, as the scheme has been changed to reflect the requirements of DOI Highways, which should improve visibility from the application site and neighbouring dwellings, it is considered that this concern has been addressed within the scheme.

- 8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 Overall, It is considered the proposal complies with General Policy 2 and the relevant aspects of the Residential Design Guide and therefore, the application is recommend for an 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 in Article 6(4) who should 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 : 14.11.2023 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

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