Equestrian Shed Planning Statement

1600471

Garry Rawlins

Marbeg

Old Castletown Rd.

Port Sodderick

IM4 Ibd

April 18 2016

Dear Sirs,

I have recently purchased the above residential property. The property is a small bungalow of non-traditional construction, sitting on a four acre plot with a small, two stall stable block of brick and flat roof construction.

The main house, being of brick and pebble dashed finish is considered "non Traditional" and is very unattractive and does not sit well in its country surroundings. The stable block is too small, in poor repair and again, is not pleasing to the eye being built of brick which doesn't even match the house, and having a flat felt roof.

My intention is to extend and improve upon the existing buildings with a view to providing a modern, attractive home for my young family which will offer spacious modern living as well as provide for our equestrian interests.

If approved, in time, I intend to extend the house and will look to also remove the pebble dashing and give the property a more traditional look and also introduce some natural materials such as wood and stone.

Also, with approval, my aim is to remove the stable block and replace it with a single, agricultural barn typed building in roughly the same position as the submitted plans will show.

The property sits on four acres of mainly grazing land, again in quite poor condition. Using a general rule of thumb, this can easily support five horses with enough land to rotate grazing and so keep grass in good condition.

We currently own three horses but would like extra stabling as my daughter now wishes to start competing and my wife would like to bread from her old mare as she is getting old, but as old horses become part of the family, there is no chance of letting them go.

As the plans show, the barn has been designed to house five stalls, three with direct access to grazing land and two loose foaling boxes inside with indirect access to the fields.

I also need to house, inside, all the round balls of bedding, feed materials, tack which is necessary to maintain up to five horses all year round but mainly through the winter. There is space also provided in the scheme for indoor parking of our farm tractor and trailer which is essential for handling muck and tending the land. We also have a variety of tractor implements to be stored again inside out of the elements, which I believe to be common practice on most farms. We also have a large horse

wagon which we would need to park inside, out of the weather as this vehicle does not get used on a daily basis and as are most, susceptible to corrosion and mechanical problems when left out in the elements.

I have chosen to construct, with approval, one large shed and incorporate the various elements inside rather than applying to build more stables and a smaller, barn/ store as I believe it to be a more compact and attractive option which fits in with the surrounding farm structures. There are two larger wooden barns, similar in appearance just one field across to the north. Rather than a cluster of smaller units dotted around the property.

I have spoken to both of my neighbours to the north who's houses look directly south at the back of the existing stables. I have presented them with both options in the form of scaled drawings. Both agreed that the wooden clad single structure would be a better option. One commented that what ever I did could only be an improvement on the current structure and both would be in full support of my proposals. There is also a sod hedge partially shielding their view of the northern elevation.

The final design of the building has evolved over a few months, taking into account, comments from the planning office, neighbours and policy documents as well as our own wishes as we have to look at the structure from the living house daily.

I believe that the use of wooden cladding rather than more usual metal sheets is a softer look than the more industrial appearance of metal as well as being the same as the two shed across the field as mentioned before. We have kept the roof level as low as possible but is limited by our wish to put the horse wagon inside and doesn't even allow for us replacing our current truck with a larger vehicle at a later date.

I believe that the construction of a canopy over the external stable doors is an attractive addition and gives the more traditional look of stables from our viewpoint from the living area of the house.

I hope that the planners look favourably on our proposal. As mentioned before the barn element is only one part of a longer term plan to improve the whole site and the properties equestrian element, as well as schools and proximity to Douglas, was the main reason for purchasing this property. After scouring the island this was the only one which although doesn't at the moment, could be made to fit our family requirements. With personal budget in mind it also leant it's self to, with minor modernisation which is nearly complete, living in as improvements are carried out. Demolishing the house wholesale and replacing with a larger structure which was considered is simply out of our financial reach.

Thank you for your consideration Yours sincerely

Gher

Garry Rawlins