Officer Report

Application No.: 17/01043/B Applicant: Mr & Mrs Greg Wright Proposal: Re-alignment driveway access erection of gateway piers/pillars Site Address: Copper Top Booilushag Ballajora Ramsey Isle Of Man IM7 1BD Principal Planner: Mr Chris Balmer Photo Taken: 25.01.2018 Site Visit: 25.01.2018 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 19.06.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No2) Order 2013 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. Within one month of the new access hereby approved being completed, the existing access must be blocked up, in a manner to match the existing boundary hedgerow along the northern boundary of the site. All landscaping must be carried out in the first planting and seeding seasons following the completion of the development. Any trees or plants which within a period of five years from the completion of the development die, are removed, or become seriously damaged or diseased must be replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species. Reason: To ensure the provision of an appropriate landscape setting to the development.
• C 3. The visibility splay(s) identified on drawing 7 shall be constructed in accordance with the approved plans and thereafter kept permanently clear of any obstruction exceeding 1050 mm in height above adjoining carriageway level. Reason: In the interests of highway safety.

• C 4. Prior to the commencement of any works, a scheme to accommodate surface water and prevention thereof of running onto the highway, should be submitted for approval by the Department and the development implemented in accordance with the approved details with the drainage work completed prior to the use of the access and the drainage provision retained thereafter.

Reason: To ensure adequate measures are in place to reduce the level of surface water run off onto the estate road.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This approval relates to drawings reference numbers 4A received on 3rd October 2017 and 01 & 7 received on 18th June 2018.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

It is recommended that the owners of the following property 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 6(4):

Rosemerryn, Booilushag, Ballajora, Ramsey _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THE PLANNING APPLICATION IS BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF THE HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application is the curtilage of a detached dwelling known as Copper Top located on the eastern side of the Booilushag Estate, a 1990s estate of detached properties located on the eastern side of Maughold. - 1.2 The Booilushag Estate is characterised by a mix of dwellings of different form, layouts and appearance, along this road the majority of the dwellings are detached bungalows. Set onto the hillside the estate slopes down towards the coastline and Port Mooar. The estate benefits from mature planting in the rear gardens and along the roads. - 1.3 Copper Top, along with its neighbour, Sea Point, is unique in the area due to its roof materials being copper, which has through the passage of time undergone a series of chemical reactions and now has a pale green outer layer called a patina. It has white UPVC windows and a cream render finish. - 1.4 The estate itself is visible when approaching from the Maughold Road. The green roof does make it easier to identify the application property and its neighbour, Sea Point.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 This application seeks approval for the re-alignment of the driveway access and the erection of gateway piers/pillars. The works also involve the blocking up of the existing vehicular access which is located in the north-western corner of the site. The new access would be located to the easternmost corner of the site.

- 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The following previous application is considered relevant in the determination of this application: - 3.2 Alterations and erection of extension to provide replacement garaging and additional living accommodation - 16/00383/B - APPROVED

4.0 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES - 4.1 The application site is located within an area identified 'Predominantly Residential' n the Isle of Man Development Plan 1982. The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policy is considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application: - 4.2 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”.

#5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 DOI Highways Services initially made the following comments (15.01.18):

"From what I can see on the drawings the visibility to the right from the proposed access is 700mm. This is completely unacceptable. Although the existing access has restricted visibility, this could be improved as your client has control of the land to the right of the access.

Unless you can provide a drawing indicating safe access to the property we will have to recommend refusal of the application."

5.2 Following an amended plan being produced Highways made the following comments (27.04.18):

"As Booilushag is a private road it does not appear to be subject to a particular speed limit. It is anticipated that traffic would travel at around 30mph along it and the 'Manual for Streets' (MfS) design guidance requires visibility splays of 2.4m x 43m in both directions for 30mph traffic. It is acknowledged that this is not currently achieved at the existing access which is sub-standard. However, there is land within the applicant's ownership in both directions which could potentially be used to significantly improve the visibility.

The proposed site plan shows a visibility splay of 2m x 17m to the left which would require the reduction of all vegetation and any structure, including one of the proposed 1.8m high pillars, to a maximum height of 1.05m. If the proposed pillar was to be 1.8m high and/or the existing vegetation not reduced in height then the length of the splay area would be reduced. The visibility splay to the right is 2m x 8m measured 0.7m into the carriageway.

The MfS states that the 'x' distance should be 2.4m, although it can be reduced to 2m where the front of the car can overhang the adjacent road when exiting a site. The relaxation to 2m is therefore unsafe and inappropriate in most circumstances, however on a private road which only provides access to a limited number of properties it may be deemed acceptable.

The MfS requires the 'y' distance to be 43m for 30mph traffic and measured to the kerbline/edge of carriageway. Alternatively, the 'y' distance can be measured into the carriageway at the position of the wheel tracks. The position of the wheel tracks will vary depending on the size of the vehicle (which includes cycles and motorcycles), and on a fairly narrow road as is the case here the wheels are likely to be close to the road edge. Based on the site photos submitted, it is considered likely that the wheels would be closer than 0.7m to the road edge for the majority of vehicles. In addition, it would be difficult to view child cyclists within a visibility splay that has an offset of 0.7m into the carriageway.

The position of the proposed site access is significantly worse than the existing access as it is directly adjacent to the boundary of the neighbouring property, and therefore adequate visibility cannot be provided over the frontage of the adjacent land as it is not within the applicant's ownership. Highway Services could not support the relocation of a site access where visibility, and therefore highway safety, is reduced compared to the current scenario. In addition, where the visibility of the existing access could be increased to improve highway safety there would be no benefit in highway terms for supporting an alternative access in a worse position. For these reasons it is unlikely that Highway Services could support the proposed alternative site access."

5.2 Maughold Parish Commissioners have no object (28.10.17). - 5.3 The owner/occupiers of Rosemerryn, Booilushag, Ballajora (01.11.17) comment on the application which can be summarised as;

• - our driveway is almost directly opposite the proposed gateway; concerns of surface water runoff owning to the lack of drainage in the estate road would lead to additional water running down their driveway; - we have already gone to considerable expense to control the existing flow of water of heavy downpours to prevent water into our garage and further erosion of driveway;
• - therefore we suggest that a soak away to cope with the rainwater runoff from a new driveway to be inadequate and simply pushes further drainage challenges onto use; and perhaps a French drain or similar could be built into the driveway entrance to prevent further runoff.

5.4 They submit a further letter on 25.06.18, noting that the amended information has done nothing to address their concerns about drainage and suggest that a site visit may illustrate the problem. Drainage is currently a significant problem in times of heavy rainfall. They are also concerned that the position of their driveway is not shown in the plans

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 There are considered to be three key considerations, firstly the potential impact upon character and appearance of the area; secondly the potential highway safety impacts; and finally, drainage issues. THE POTENTIAL IMPACT UPON CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE OF THE AREA

6.2 The application site is in area zoned as Predominantly Residential where there is a general presumption in favour of development. The proposal is essentially re-positing the existing access within the site. There is a visual benefit of the works, being moved further into the site rather site at the main junction within the estate. The design, size, siting and finish of the entrance are considered in keeping and an appropriate form of development within the area. THE POTENTIAL HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPACTS - 6.3 It is accepted that the proposed need entrance does not meet the required visibility standards of 2.4m x 43m in both directions for 30mph traffic. The proposal could provide 2m x

• 17m to the left and 2m x 8m measured 0.7m into the carriageway. Accordingly, the proposal could be considered unacceptable for highway safety grounds due to not meeting the required standards.
• 6.4 However, there are arguments in favour of the proposed new entrance within a private estate and onto an unadopted highway. Firstly, the existing entrance has visibility splays which are substandard and worse than what is being proposed. Furthermore, the junction of the existing entrance is located at the busiest junction of the estate road, being adjacent to the junction where the estate road branches into two separate estate roads, serving a total of 25 dwellings. All traffic travelling into the Booilushag Estate have to pass this existing access. This is compared to the proposed access which is located approximately 40m to the east, which is located on one of the two branches of the estate road, but this section of road only serves a total of ten dwellings (including application site). Accordingly, it is considered that the amount of traffic which would pass the new access on a daily basis would be halved.
• 6.5 It is also noted, that speeds of 30pmh along this section of the private estate road are unlikely, given the bends in the estate road at this point, landscaping either side of the road and due to narrowness of the road.
• 6.6 The proposal would be located adjacent to the neighbouring existing access (Sea Point) and Highway Services have raise concerns that; "adequate visibility cannot be provided over the frontage of the adjacent land as it is not within the applicant's ownership". While this is correct, the neighbouring property access is constructed of concrete hardstanding and is open, and unlikely to change. Therefore, there is the potential for mutual visibility splays i.e. this current proposal is likely to improve visibility for Sea Point, and the applicants will benefit of being able to share the visibility of Sea Point as well. Accordingly, the 2m x 8m splay (available when exiting the site and looking right) is likely to be greater than this figure.
• 6.7 Overall, while the concerns of Highway Services are understandable, in this case it is considered the proposal would be of benefit to all users of this section of the private estate road. The new entrance is larger, with better visibility than the existing and is located away from the main junction within the estate. This will be of benefit to the users of and visitors to the site. Drainage Issues
• 6.8 Concerns of the neighbouring property are understandable and material, as the proposal has the potential to increase surface water runoff from the site onto the estate road and potentially downwards to the neighbouring driveway/s. Accordingly, in agreement with the applicants’ agent, a condition is proposed which requires a drainage scheme to accommodate surface water should be submitted for approval by the Department prior to any works commencing.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 It is recommended that the planning application be approved. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 (Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
• (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
• (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
• (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated. 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 in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.

I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.

Decision Made : …Permitted……….... Committee Meeting Date:…02.07.2018

Signed :………C BALMER……….. Presenting Officer

Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).

YES/NO

Customer note

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