Officer Report

Application No.: 18/01279/B Applicant: Mr John & Mrs Anne Lee Proposal: Removal of part wall to widen existing vehicular access (in association with 18/01282/CON) Site Address: Crofton Mews The Crofts Castletown Isle of Man IM9 1LW Planning Officer: Miss Lucy Kinrade Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 24.01.2019 _________________________________________________________________

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.

Plans/Drawings/Information:

This approval relates to drawing numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 all date stamped and received 05/12/2018. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

none _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the curtilage of Crofton Mews, an existing detached two storey property located on the eastern side of The Croft, Castletown. The existing property has a 12m frontage along the highway this frontage comprises am 8m stone boundary wall and a 4m wide vehicle access fitted with timber gates.

1.2 The existing property is set back from the road and beyond a large area of off road handstanding. - 1.3 North of the site is neighbouring property Kenmure an end terrace dwelling which has a 4.5m wide vehicle access directly adjacent to the site. South of the site and also under the ownership of the applicant is Crofton, an existing registered building No. 261. This dwelling has a front boundary comprising a small wall with railings above which has at either end a gated vehicle access and pedestrian access. - 1.4 The site is located within the Castletown Conservation Area.

- 2.0 PROPOSAL

2.0 The application for Crofton Mews proposes to demolish the existing gate pillar and 800mm of the existing wall and the rebuilding of the pillar creating a 5.5m wide vehicle access into the site. The application also includes the installation of new hardwood timber gates to fit the widened access. - 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The application runs contemporaneously with PA 18/01282/CON for the registered building consent for demotion works in a Conservation Area. - 4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site is located within an areas designated on the Area Plan for the South 2013 as 'residential', the site is also within the Castletown Conservation Area.

4.2 The following policies of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are considered to be relevant in the assessment of the current proposal -

• o General Policy 2 (GP2) - particularly parts (h) and (i)
• o Environment Policy 35

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS Copies of representations received can be viewed on the Government's website. This report contains summaries only.

5.1 Castletown Commissioners - no comments received at the time of writing the report (dated 23/01/2019) - 5.2 Department of Infrastructure (DOI) Highways Services -no comments received at the time of writing the report (dated 23/01/2019)

6.0 ASSESSMENT 6.1 The streetscene along The Crofts is characterised by the traditional Manx properties lining both sides of the road either directly fronting on to the pedestrian footpath or are set back from the road and behind a boundary of stone or small wall with railings. Along the entire stretch of the road there are varies punctures within these boundaries providing pedestrian or vehicles access into each of the sites and as such each varies slightly in its size and width.

6.2 In the case of this application the existing property has a 4m wide access. The agent has explained within the application that the need for the increase width of the access is as a result of parking and parking restriction on the main road. These restrictions making turning into and out of the access difficult.

6.3 The Crofts is a 4.5m road which facilitates two-way traffic and there are areas designated for on-street parking (reserved parking) along some sections. While turning into and out of the access from the northern direction is likely to be easily achieved given the

• designated yellow lines opposite, it is the entering and exiting in a southerly direction that is likely to be obstructed or made difficult due to the designated on street parking and reserved space opposite.
• 6.4 The existing driveway is already in use and any alterations to its width are expected to help facilitate an improved access and egress without resulting in any new highway issues or any impacts on the existing parking provision. The test of the application in this case will fall to whether or not the demolition and removal of park of the wall and the rebuilding of the pillar to create a 5.5m wide access results in any adverse visual impact on the character and appearance of the designated Conservation Area.
• 6.5 The proposal will result in the overall loss of 1.5m of the stone boundary wall, given that there is a mix of vehicle access widths along here and that 6.5m of the stone boundary wall is to remain unchanged, it's expected that the proposal will likely result in a neutral impact on the overall appearance of the streetscene and therefore preserving the overall character of the Castletown Conversation Area.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The application is not to result in any new highway issues and as such is considered to comply with GP2 (h) and (i) and given the neutral visual impact expected as a result of the loss of the wall, it's likely that the character and appearance of the streetscene is to be preserved in line with EP 35. - 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 a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 24.01.2019 Determining officer

Signed : S CORLETT Sarah Corlett Principal Planner

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