Officer Report

Application No.: 17/00774/B Applicant: Nicola McDowell Proposal: Erection of timber stable block Site Address: Mines Cottage Ballakilpheric Road Colby Isle Of Man Case Officer : Mr Edmond Riley Photo Taken: 21.06.2017 Site Visit: 21.06.2017 Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 29.08.2017 _________________________________________________________________

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. The equestrian building hereby approved shall, within three months of the need for its use ceasing, be removed and the ground restored to its former condition in the event that it is no longer used or required for equestrian-related purposes.

Reason: The building has been exceptionally approved solely to meet equestrian need and its subsequent retention would result in an unwarranted intrusion in the countryside.

• C 3. The equestrian building hereby approved shall not be used on a commercial basis, and shall at all times be used in association with the dwelling currently known as Mines Cottage.

Reason: The assessment has been based on personal use. Any alternative use may require fresh consideration with respect to the adequacy of the existing highway access and also the impact that any additional, associated vehicle movements may have on neighbour residents.

• C 4. No more than two weeks prior to the commencement of the construction of the stable block hereby approved, there shall be erected temporary safety fencing around a Construction Exclusion Zone, both as shown on the submitted drawing attached to an email of 11th July 2017 from the Arboricultural Officer, and which was date-stamped as having been received on both 18th July 2017 and 20th July 2017. The fencing shall be removed within one week of the stable block comes into use.

Reason: In order to protect nearby tree protection areas, and in order to ensure a limited visual impact during the construction period.

N . For the avoidance of doubt the approval of the stable block in no way confers on the area outlined in red, on Location Plan 1:2000 date stamped 20 July 2017, its use as residential curtilage.

The Plans on which this recommendation is based are;

The development hereby approved relates to the Site Plan, the Location Plan, Drawing NM1/17 and the two photograph sheets, all date-stamped as having been received 20th July 2017.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status

INTERESTED PERSON STATUS By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• o The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
• o 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;
• o Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material, which in this case includes Highway Services of the Department of Infrastructure, and
• o The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.

With effect from 1 June 2015, the Transfer of Planning & Building Control Functions Order 2015 amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to give effect to the meaning of the word 'Department' to be the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture unless

• otherwise directed by that Order. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE APPLICATION SITE - 1.1 The application site is a large area of land that, apparently, represents the entire land ownership associated with Mines Cottage, a somewhat isolated dwelling located near to the Ballakilpheric Road in the Colby area.

1.2 Aside from the house itself, which remains without a very clearly defined residential curtilage, the remainder of the land is given over to grassland, pasture, trees and also some limited hardstanding and the access path into the dwelling. - 1.3 The dwelling itself obscures much of the land to the west that might generally be considered to be the most residential-like area of land. There is some masonry walling, a dilapidated masonry shed (that has lost both roof and fenestration) and also a more modern storage unit that is too small to be properly considered a shed. These cannot be seen from the Ballakilpheric Road, which is the nearest highway to the site. - 1.4 It is understood that the applicant owns two horses and a pony, the latter currently being pregnant.

2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION - 2.1 Full planning approval is sought for the erection of a stable building, which would be sited alongside the masonry wall, which is to remain. The stable building would provide three separate stables along with a feed and tack room. It would have a pitched roof with overhang: the apex would be 3.0m above ground level with the eaves 2.1m above ground level. It would have a footprint of 12.81m by 3.66m, with a further 0.92m sitting forward beneath the canopy overhang. - 2.2 The building would be wholly timber in finish with the exception of the roof, which would be finished in black-coloured 'onduline' sheeting. (A photo of a similar building is provided within the application). There would be three doors, one per stable, and a fourth for a pedestrian to provide access to the feed / tack room.

3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 PA 14/01451/B sought and gained planning approval for a significant extension to the dwelling, with a contemporary architectural finish connecting the old and the new elements. This remains unimplemented. It is material to this assessment inasmuch as it carries the following conditions:

C2 "Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking or re-enacting that Order) no extensions, greenhouses, walls, gates, fences, garden sheds, summerhouses, flagpoles, decking, garages, or tanks for the storage of oil for domestic heating shall be erected (other than those expressly authorised by the Planning Authority).

"Reason: the site lies within an area where development is generally discouraged and there are also policies to limit the size and to control the design of development on this site."

C3 "Prior to the occupation of the property as extended by the scheme hereby approved, the applicant shall have approved by the Department a scheme for the introduction of a Manx sod hedge or other planting around the approved residential curtilage and the scheme must be implemented in accordance with the approved details at the latest in the first planting season following the occupation of the extended dwelling.

"Reason: to ensure that the residential curtilage is defined and in a manner which is sympathetic to the character of the area."

3.2 There was also a note attached:

• N1 "The application has been considered on the basis that the means of access to the site from a public carriageway is to the west from the Scholaby Road. No approval is hereby granted for the specific access from the application property to be from the east from the Ballakilpheric Road although the applicant or subsequent owner/occupier may have rights of access over this route. No approval is hereby granted to any works to upgrade either track, although as the access is shown from the Scholaby Road, proposals may be acceptable for the upgrading of this route, depending upon the nature of these works. Any material change to this access will require planning approval."
• 3.3 As the extension has yet to be completed (or even started), compliance with condition 3 is not required as yet. Condition 2, meanwhile, is relevant as it and condition 3 together clearly show the importance that the Planning Committee placed on retaining the natural, nonresidential nature of the landholding associated with Mines Cottage. The house very much stands on its own in unchanged and natural grounds.

4.0 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN - 4.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South 2013 as Open Space not designated for a particular purpose. As such, the application falls to be assessed against Environment Policies 19 and 21 of the Strategic Plan.

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Highway Services of the DoI offered no objection on 22.08.2017. - 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 As the proposed stable building is for private (non-commercial) use, the main issue arising from the application is the likely visual impact of the stable.

6.2 Being mindful of the Planning Committee's previous concern with respect to the protection of this site from inappropriate (additional) development that could be said to result in additional domestication of the dwelling and its setting. There needs to be some element of reasonableness because Mines Cottage is a dwelling and can be lawfully used as such. Therefore, to assume there will be no element of external expression of this use on the land associated with it is clearly unreasonable. The conditions attached to the approved extension scheme reflect the importance attached to ensuring that what works are undertaken are appropriate, not to provide a blanket 'ban' on any such development from taking place. - 6.3 In this case, it is to be noted that the applicant has proposed a building of form and materials appropriate to its rural location and intended use. It is also appropriately sized relative to the needs of the applicant and, moreover, would be kept significantly out of site from public positions. Indeed, such as it could be seen, its construction would help obscure the existing masonry wall that is not considered to be at all attractive or traditional to this largely unspoilt and rural location. In addition, any such views as could be achieved of the stable would be further obscured should the approved extension be built, and which is approved to run parallel with the proposed stable block. - 6.4 While the stable block location as proposed would prevent the access to Mines Cottage as per the approved extension, there is already an existing route to the dwelling. The note attached to the approved extension approval notice is not enforceable. As such, it is not considered that this can be a reason to object to the application as there is no mechanism within the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 to require the alternative access be laid out as shown on the approved drawings in 2014.

- 7.0 RECOMMENDATION

7.1 Although the stable block is considered to be acceptable for the reasons stated, it should still be required to be removed at such point as it is no longer required. This reflects the important fact that this remains an area of land not zoned for any particular kind of development. A condition preventing the use of the stables for commercial purposes is also necessary, as any such use may require fresh consideration with respect to the adequacy of the existing highway access and also the impact that any additional, associated vehicle movements may have on neighbour residents.

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 30.08.2017

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Director of Planning and Building Control/Head of Development Management/Senior Planning Officer in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Determining officer (delete as appropriate)

Signed :…………………………………….. Chris Balmer Senior Planning Officer Signed :……A MORGAN……….. Abigail Morgan Senior Planning Officer Signed :…………………………………….. Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer