29 March 2016 · Committee
Knocksharry Farm, Ramsey Road, Knocksharry, Peel, Isle Of Man, IM5 2af
The application concerned Knocksharry Farmhouse, a substantial property set within around 8 acres of land in the German parish. The agricultural occupancy condition had been attached when the dwelling was reconstructed under an earlier permission, but officers found no evidence that the original house it replaced had ever carried such a restriction. The farmhouse no longer has any farm outbuildings associated with it, the land is not managed by its occupants, and neither of the farmers interested in purchasing the surrounding land had any interest in the dwelling itself. The asking price for the house — over £600,000 — was considered well beyond what an agricultural worker could realistically afford, further undermining any case for retaining the restriction. While policy normally resists removing agricultural occupancy conditions to protect the supply of rural worker housing, officers concluded that the absence of any original justification for the condition, combined with a clear lack of local need, made removal acceptable. A condition was imposed restricting the residential curtilage to defined areas east and west of the house, preventing the full 8-acre site from becoming residential curtilage and retaining the remainder for agricultural use.
The Planning Committee approved the removal because the agricultural occupancy condition lacked a clear original justification, there was no evidence of local demand for agricultural worker dwellings, and the property's value placed it well beyond the reach of agricultural workers. To prevent the large landholding from acquiring residential permitted development rights, a condition was attached limiting the residential curtilage to specified areas around the house.
Strategic Plan
Such a condition will not usually be removed on subsequent applications unless it is shown that the long-term need for dwellings for agricultural workers, both on the particular farm and in the locality, no longer warrants reserving the dwelling for that purpose.
Condition 1
No approval is hereby granted to the status of all of the area edged red in the submitted plans as residential. Prior to the occupation of the dwelling as a private residence, the Department shall have approved a further plan depicting a smaller residential curtilage appropriate to the dwelling and thereafter the status of the land outwith this area shall remain agricultural/open space.
