Officer Report

Application No.: 18/01134/B Applicant: Vicci Laslett Proposal: Widening of existing vehicular access and two storey extension to rear of property. Site Address: 29 The Park Onchan Isle of Man IM3 1HR Planning Officer: Mr Nick Salt Photo Taken: 13.11.2018 Site Visit: 13.11.2018 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 05.12.2018 _________________________________________________________________

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. All external facing and roofing materials to be used shall match those of the existing building in respect of type, colour and texture. Reason: In the interests of the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area.
• C 3. The proposed window on the first floor south west facing elevation of the extension shall be installed with obscure glazing and retained as such thereafter.

Reason: In the interests of preserving the residential amenity of the neighbouring dwelling at No.30 The Park, Onchan, and to prevent loss of privacy in order to satisfy the requirements of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan General Policy 2 (g).

Plans/Drawings/Information:

This permission relates to the following plans and drawings date stamped received 29th October 2018:

• o 18/23/01 - Existing elevations, floor plans, site plan and location plan. Photographs of front and rear elevations
• o 18/23/03 - Proposed Floor Plans, Elevations and Site Plan.

18/01134/B Page 1 of 6

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 SITE - 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of 29 The Park, Onchan. The site dwelling is a detached, two storey dwelling. It is finished in brown render and red tile hipped roof with white framed uPVC windows and doors. At the south west of the site curtilage there is a driveway, with a garden at both the front and the rear (bounded by high vegetation). There is also a garage at the south west boundary, adjacent to a patio area at the rear. - 1.2 At present, there is a two storey, flat roofed annex 3.6m across and 5.1m deep which contains the dining room on the ground floor and ensuite area on the first floor, it features two large windows which face towards the site garage and No.30 The Park to the south west. - 1.3 The existing paved driveway is 2.6m wide at the side of the dwelling, with potential to accommodate 2 vehicles. - 1.4 The Park in general is characterised by medium to large detached dwellings such as this site, with Onchan Park at the other side of the street, and tree lined residential roads. At the rear of the site is an informal access lane.

2.0 PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is an expansion to the south west of the existing two storey annex on the rear elevation of the dwelling. The extension would be a continuation of the general form and height of the existing annex, also featuring a flat roof, and brown render finish. - 2.2 The extension would measure an additional 5.4m in length and 5m in depth marginally less than the existing. The extension would occupy space on site which is currently a patio area. There would be additional patio doors on the north west facing (rear) elevation, to match those on the existing annex, a large window on the first floor above this and two smaller side windows on both the ground floor and first floor at the rear. On the south west elevation there would be a reduction in glazing, with two smaller windows - one on each floor, and a door on the ground floor for access into the proposed utility room. A Velux curved roof light is also proposed to be installed on the flat roof. All windows proposed are white uPVC to match the existing dwelling. - 2.3 Also proposed is the expansion and widening of the driveway at the front of the dwelling through the removal of part of the garden there. This would provide an additional parking space. The relocation of a palm tree to the north east is proposed to accommodate these changes.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There is no planning history for the site or surrounding area which is recorded.

4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The Onchan Local Plan 2000 designates the site as within an area zoned for Residential use (Map 1 - Village). - 4.2 Due to the land use designation, General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 applies (in part).

18/01134/B Page 2 of 6

"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;"

4.3 It is also important to have regard to Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Strategic Plan: "As a general policy, in built up areas not controlled by Conservation Area or Registered Building policies, there will be a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general." - 4.4 The Onchan Local Plan 2000 contains Policy O/RES/P/21 which states that "extensions and alterations to existing residential property will generally not be opposed where such proposals are appropriate in terms of scale, massing, design, appearance and impact on adjacent property".

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Onchan District Commissioners requested that the application be deferred until further written notification following the next meeting of the Commissioners on 26.11.18. (13.11.18). Subsequently, Onchan Commissioners recommend that the application be approved (27.11.18). - 5.2 No comment was received from the Senior Forester (DEFA) as of the time of writing (05.12.18).

6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 In considering an extension such as this in a residential area, it important to have specific regard to potential impacts on neighbours and their amenity, parking, and the appearance of both the site itself and the street scene or character of the area. - 6.2 Neighbour Amenity

• 6.2.1 The key considerations in terms of impact on neighbours are risks of overshadowing and/or overlooking and loss of privacy to dwellings within 20 metres.
• 6.2.2 As the proposed extension would be joined on the south elevation of the existing annex, it is not considered that there would be any impact on the owners/occupiers of No.28 The Park.
• 6.2.3 With regard to the properties to the rear - particularly 66 and 68 Summer Hill Road, a large window would be situated closer to their rear gardens. That being said, the window would be in place of 2 existing windows, and the reduction in separating distance would not be more than 5 metres. The houses to the rear are set higher than the site, and bounded by a good degree of hedging and shrubbery. Overlooking impact on these properties would be minimal.
• 6.2.4 Where overlooking is more likely to occur is on No.30 due to the proximity of the first floor window on the south west elevation of the proposed extension. The applicant has suggested, during the case officers site visit on 13th November 2018, suggested installing frosted glazing in this window to reduce impact. This should be ensured via a condition to preserve the residential amenity of the owner/occupiers at 30 The Park.
• 6.2.5 Overshadowing is not likely to be an issue from the proposed extension given the angle and direction of neighbouring dwellings - No.30 sits to the south west and a garage currently sits between the two.

18/01134/B Page 3 of 6

6.3 Parking Provision

• 6.3.1 Parking provision on the site is expected to be improved with addition of an additional space - bringing it into line with Isle of Man Strategic Plan parking standards included in Appendix 7 (2 spaces for standard residential dwellings). This would reduce dependence on on-street parking thus improving the area in terms of highway safety and visual amenity.

6.4 Impact on Appearance/ Street Scene

• 6.4.1 The proposed extension would be minimally, if at all, visible from the public thoroughfare of The Park and would not be visible from Onchan Park. Any impact on the character and the street scene would not be sufficient as to give reason for refusal. With regard to the impact on the property itself - there is an existing two storey flat roof extension to the rear. The addition of further extension in this case would not detract from the buildings appearance insomuch as to render it incompatible with General Policy 2.

• 6.4.2 The expansion of the paved driveway would retain over 50% of the grassed area of front garden and thus not severely impact the front of the site visually. The continuation of the paved hard surface would also constitute an attractive feature on the property. The retention and relocation of the tree as proposed would also further the visual amenity.
• 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 In summary, the proposal meets the requirements of the aforementioned policies in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and Onchan Local Plan 2000 and is acceptable. - 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 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.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 07.12.2018 Determining officer Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management 18/01134/B Page 4 of 6

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.

18/01134/B Page 5 of 6

18/01134/B Page 6 of 6