DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/00620/B Applicant: Mr Niall Killey Proposal: Removal of existing external door and installation of patio to rear of dwelling Site Address: 118 Ballabrooie Drive Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4HQ Planning and Enforcement Assistant: Miss Vanessa Wilson Photo Taken: 11.07.2019 Site Visit: 11.07.2019 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 14.10.2019 _________________________________________________________________

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.

• C 2. Prior to the creation of the decking hereby approved, details of the appearance and materials of the privacy screen shown in drawing 272-01A must be approved by the Department and prior to the use of the decked area as hereby approved, the privacy screen must be in place and retained as such thereafter.

Reason: to ensure the living conditions of those in 116, Ballabrooie Drive are not adversely affected by the proposed development.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the amended drawing, date stamped received on 13th September 2019 only. _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 118 Ballabrooie Drive, Douglas, which is situated to north of Ballabrooie Drive, 4 houses down from the Ballabrooie Drive cul-de-sac and where Ballabrooie Drive meets Ballabrooie Way. - 1.2 The existing property is two storeys high and is built on a substantial hill which goes east to west, front to back. To the rear of the property there is a garage with a store room underneath. - 1.3 The property is also directly next to a public footpath with runs from Ballabrooie Drive to Peel Road. - 1.4 To the rear of the property there is currently substantial decking for which Planning Permission has not been sought but which is the subject of this current application. - 1.5 The site was incorrectly shown on the originally submitted plans and amended plans were submitted which also addressed issues raised regarding overlooking. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval in two parts, firstly for the erection of a large terraced area to the rear, with an alteration to the rear window to door and secondly to block up a side door. - 2.2 Rear terraced area

• 2.2.1 The proposed application seeks to erect new terraced area to the rear which will go from the current driveway to the boundary fence of No. 116 Ballabrooie Drive. The terraced area is to measure 9m wide x 4.1/4.5m lengthways. The paved area is to have stairs going down to the garden via the current footpath entrance into the garage. The proposed paved area is to be between 1.05m to 800m above "ground" level with a retaining wall when viewed from west to south.
• 2.2.2 There is also to be an alteration to the rear elevation kitchen window to create a rear entrance onto the terraced area. This entrance will be elevated by 1.12m from the terrace area and 1.92m from the "ground" level. The new entrance will replace a window with a window and door combination which will be within the same aperture.
• 2.3 Side Door

• 2.3.1 To the eastern elevation the property currently has a side entrance which and a door to a boiler room. This application seeks to block up both entrances to create a larger open plan kitchen living room. PLANNING HISTORY
• 3.1 The previous planning application is not considered to be specifically material in the assessment of the current application. PLANNING POLICY
• 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Douglas Local Plan 1998, Map 2. Given the nature of the application it is appropriate to consider General Policy 2 and Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.

4.2 General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 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:

• b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;

4.3 Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Isle of Man strategic Plan states, "As a general policy, in built up areas not controlled by Conservation Area or Registered Building policies, there will be a general presumption in favour of extensions to existing property where such extensions would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent property or the surrounding area in general." - 4.4 The Department's Residential Design Guidance makes specific reference to decking as follows:

• 4.7.4 Raised decking, terraces or patios that are higher than 0.3 metres require a specific planning approval. It is a requirement to ensure that neighbours' privacy is maintained by installing screening (fence, hedge etc.) that reaches the height of 1.8m above ground level. Screening will only be appropriate if it does not cause loss of light and/or be overbearing to an adjoining property. These areas should be designed sensibly in order to avoid dominance at the front boundary of a property. Large areas of decking are unlikely to be supported at the side or front of a property. REPRESENTATIONS
• 5.1 Highway Services have No Highways Interest in this application (25.09.2019).

5.2 Douglas Corporation have considered the proposal and have no objection (27.09.19). ASSESSMENT 6.1 The key considerations in the assessment of this application are the potential impacts of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site dwelling and wider street scene and the amenity of the neighbours.

6.2 Side door

• 6.2.1 The blocking up of the side door and the door to the boiler room will not alter the way the property is viewed with regards to the character and appearance. Both doors can be seen from the public vantage point of the footpath between No.118 and No.122 Ballabrooie Drive and as such the removal of both of these items will make a more consistent appearance throughout the eastern elevation.

6.3 Raised Paved Area - Character and Appearance

6.3.1 In terms of the impact of the proposed raised paved area on the visual amenity of the street scene, the proposed raised paved area will be seen from a public vantage point of the main road and also from the public footpath.

• 6.3.2 The proposed raised paved area is likely to provide a constant and unbroken appearance throughout the lower rear garden which should enhance the overall appearance of the property from the public vantage points. It is unlikely that there will be any adverse impact on how the proposed raised paved area will look within the streetscene.

6.4 Raised Paved Area - Neighbouring Amenity

• 6.4.1 The Department has recently published the Residential Design Guidance (March 2019) which addresses the issue of overlooking and concerns that may arise with applications for balconies or decked areas (4.7 of the guidance referred to above).

• 6.4.2 With regards to the paved terraced area there is the potential for this to provide additional overlooking opportunities. Due to the way the rear garden slopes substantially the current raised decking creates substantial overlooking within the whole of the garden at No. 116 Ballabrooie Drive.

• 6.4.3 Overlooking within these properties already has a direct relationship in the garden at No.116 Ballabrooie Drive from No.118 due to the way the properties have been built and the way the garden slopes. No.116 Ballabrooie Drive does overlook No.118 Ballabrooie Drivey due to No.116 Ballabrooie Drive not having a raised decking/paved area. This doesn't necessarily mean that the proposed raised paved area will create more overlooking of No.116 Ballabrooie Drive.
• 6.4.4 The newest amended drawing dated 13th September 2019, shows a 1.8m high privacy screen which should take up the whole width of the raised paved area. From my site visit it could be seen that there is no such privacy screen in place at the moment, as such adding a privacy screen will add some much needed privacy to the upper part of garden at No.116 Ballabrooie Drive.

• 6.5.1 Creation of rear entrance

• 6.5.2 The main issue with the creation of the rear entranceway is the possible additional overlooking the raised area might provide. The new entranceway is to be far south of the rear elevation as such it is a distance away from the boundary line at where No.116 and No.118 Ballabrooie Drive meet. The additional height could provide slightly more overlooking than what is currently there at the moment but it is deemed that due to the proposed raised paved area being put in place that the likelihood that someone would stand directly outside the door to overlook No.116 Ballabrooie Drive is minimal.

CONCLUSION

7.1 In summary, the proposal would not adversely impact the neighbours' residential amenity insomuch as to warrant a reason for refusal, and no adverse visual impact would result, thus complying with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016. For this reason, the application is recommended for approval. 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: 14.10.2019 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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