Why Was This Refused?
- ✓Site is in open countryside, not within a sustainable location or existing settlement
- ✓20 timber cabins and associated development would cause adverse visual impact on the landscape by day and night
- ✓Insufficient information provided to justify national need or rule out alternative sites
- ✓Inadequate detail on passing places along Ballamenagh Road raised road safety concerns
- ✓Insufficient detail on site lighting and its impact on countryside character and local wildlife
- ✓character
- ✓highways
- ✓access
This application sought permission to change the use of part of a field at Ballamenagh Road, Groudle Glen, Baldrine, to a glamping site. The proposal included 20 timber tourist accommodation cabins, a modified cabin to serve as a welcome office, and 22 parking spaces. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture refused the application in March 2020. Four reasons were given. The site is not in a sustainable location or within an existing settlement, and the applicant did not provide enough information to show there was an overriding national need for the development or that no reasonable alternatives existed. The scale of built development on undesignated land was also found likely to cause significant visual harm to the character and appearance of the countryside, both during the day and at night.
The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture refused this application. The site sits outside any settlement and the applicant did not demonstrate an overriding need for the development or that no suitable alternatives existed. The proposal would also have caused significant visual harm to the open countryside, and insufficient detail was provided about road access and site lighting to show these could be managed safely and without environmental harm.
Refusal Reasons
- ✕The site is not within a sustainable location or an existing settlement. It is considered that insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that there is an overriding national need for the development and that there are no reasonably acceptable alternatives. It is therefore considered that the proposal would be contrary to the policies within the Strategic Plan which seek to protect the countryside for its own sake and to direct development to sustainable locations in order to reduce the need to travel by car and to support existing services (Strategic Policies 2 & 10, General Policy 3 and Business Policy 11 & 14 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016).
- ✕The development would result in a significant amount of built development on land which is not designated for development. It is therefore concluded that the proposal would result in an adverse visual impact (during both the day and at night) upon the on the character and appearance of the countryside, which should otherwise be protected for its own sake, and also harm the character and quality of the landscape. The proposal is therefore contrary to Environmental Policy 1 & 2 and Strategic Policy 5 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
- ✕Insufficient detail in relation to the passing places has been provided to demonstrate that the access onto the Ballamenagh Road will not have an unacceptable impact on road safety and the proposal is therefore contrary to Transport Policy 4 and Strategic Policy 10 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
- ✕Insufficient detail has been provided to demonstrate that lighting of the site (including cabins) would not have a significant adverse impact upon the visual amenities of the countryside/landscape or upon the wildlife on the site/surrounding area. Accordingly, it is considered the application would be contrary to Environmental Policy 1, 2, 4, 5 and 22 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.
