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Application No.: 19/00262/C Applicant: Mr Michael Mason Proposal: Additional use of residential dwelling as tourist living accommodation Site Address: 41 Castlemona Avenue Douglas Isle of Man IM2 4EB Senior Planning Officer: Mr Thomas O'Connor Photo Taken: 10.04.2019 Site Visit: 10.04.2019 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 01.05.2019 _________________________________________________________________
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.
This decision relates to drawings reference 19/2762/01 - Site Plan and Location Plan and 19/2762/02 - Existing/Proposed Floor Plans submitted to the Department and dated stamped 7th March 2019.
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should be given Interested Person Status as they are considered to have sufficient interest in the subject matter of the application to take part in any subsequent proceedings and are not mentioned in Article 6(4):
In respect of interested party status, the resident lives within 20 metres of the site across the street and relates to a diminution of living conditions of other residents and a decrease
highway safety generated by a perceived adverse impact upon in highway safety. This objection meets the criteria a, b and c laid out in Operational Policy and Interested Person Status, dated July 2018 sufficient for this person to be afforded interested party status. _____________________________________________________________________________
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site consists of a three storey Victorian terrace dwelling with original ground floor bay window and more recent roof dormers located on the front elevation. - 1.2 The front entrance faces directly onto the street via a flight of steps with the rear facing over a shared rear access lane onto an overgrown curtilage. The site is not within a conservation area.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 This application seeks to utilise the building in its entirety for tourist living accommodation with no internal alterations to the fabric of the dwelling.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 04/01674/B - replacement white upvc casement windows to front elevation and white upvc door - permitted.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The Douglas Local Plan 1998 - 4.2 In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application: - 4.3 General Policy 2 states: "Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development:
highways;
4.4 Business Policy 13 - This states that permission will generally be given for the use of private residential properties as tourist accommodation provided that it can be demonstrated that such use would not compromise the amenities of neighbouring residents.
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 Highway Services, 21.04.2019. The proposals should not increase the site traffic and parking demand provided that the building would not be used for both residential and tourist use at the same time. Highway Services does not oppose the application subject to a planning condition for the building not to be used as both a residential dwelling and tourist accommodation at the same time to limit the site parking demand to reflect the current usage. - 5.2 Douglas Borough Council, 1st April 2019: No objections
5.3 Neighbours: One letter has been received from the occupant of 28 Castlemona Avenue objecting to the proposal on the grounds of highway management. They state that parking in Castlemona Avenue is currently very limited and that this would become even more of an issue when the parking spaces on the prom are removed. They therefore argue that a further tourist dwelling would require more parking particularly in the evenings and at weekends resulting in pedestrians having to walk on the road to their danger considering the speed cars travel up and down the road.
6.0 ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are;
6.2 No physical alterations to the building are proposed in order to change its use from a five bedroom residential dwelling to one that is used for tourism accommodation. Internal configuration remains the same with living rooms and kitchen on the ground floor and with bedrooms and bathrooms located on the upper floors. - 6.3 One letter has been received objecting to the proposal from a local resident in respect of increased pressure that may be placed in respect of loss of parking spaces within the street from the change of use from residential to tourist accommodation, loss of residential amenity and highway safety. The resident who lives within 20m of the application site also raised issues of on street parking necessitating pedestrians having to walk on the street in danger of speeding traffic and based his objection around highway management. - 6.4 There are no restrictions in place in respect of on-street parking in Castlemona Avenue and, with the availability of alternative parking available nearby on the promenade, the use of the proposal as tourism accommodation is unlikely to generate sufficient additional parking pressure within the street. The use of the site for tourism, as proposed, would therefore have a neutral impact upon the residential amenities of other occupiers of the street. As already indicated above, Business Policy 13 allows for the use of private residential properties as tourist accommodation provided that the residential amenities of neighbours are not compromised. - 6.5 Similarly, Highway Services raises no objection to this proposal but seeks to differentiate between the use of the building for full time residential and for tourism. However, a planning approval would serve this purpose and opportunities for traffic generation are potentially the same for what are basically similar uses and as such any condition in this respect would be unnecessary. - 6.6 Overall, it is concluded that the planning application is in accordance with General Policy
7.0 RECOMMENDATION That planning permission be granted. 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:
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 15.05.2019 Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
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