DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 19/00366/B Applicant: Mr Stuart & Mrs Janet Jukes Proposal: Erection of first floor dormer extension Site Address: 16 Cooil Breryk Ramsey Isle of Man IM8 3HJ Planning Officer: Mr Nick Salt Photo Taken: 16.04.2019 Site Visit: 16.04.2019 Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 12.06.2019 _________________________________________________________________

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 decision relates to drawings CB/01/2 and CB/03/2 date stamped received on 29th March 2019 and amended plan CB/03/2A date stamped as received on 22nd May 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):

8 Cooil Breryk, Ramsey as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status (July 2018). _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

- 1.0 SITE

1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of 16 Cooil Breryk in Ramsey, a detached bungalow in a typical 1970's style residential culdesac. The site is at the end of the culdesac, and the dwelling features a steeply pitched roof with small extensions either side and a double flat roofed garage adjoined to the east side elevation. There is a small flat roofed dormer window (around 3.3m across) on the east elevation - one similar in size to many in Cooil Breryk.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed is for an extension to the existing dormer to provide additional living space either side. Initially, the new dormer was proposed to sit the same height above eaves level and below ridge level but measure approximately 0.2m from the eaves on either side, the dormer would stretch for the length of the east elevation roof. However, the applicant since agreed to bring the dormer further in from the gables by a total distance of 0.75mon either side. The dormer extension is shown as featuring cladding on the face and cheeks matching the existing, and two additional small high level windows either side of the existing dormer window.

3.0 PLANNING POLICY - 3.1 The proposal site is situated in an area covered by the Ramsey Local Plan 1998. Within this plan it is zoned as Predominantly Residential (Map 1, North). - 3.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 sets out some general policies which should be considered when assessing an application in an area zoned as such. General Policy 2 (in part) is key to this application; "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."

3.3 Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Strategic Plan (IOMSP) is also useful when it comes to assessing this application: "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."

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 Alterations and a ground floor extension were permitted on this site previously (13/91330/B).

5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 DoI Highways have stated that there is no highways interest in the application (16.04.19). - 5.2 Ramsey Town Commissioners have no objection to the application (23.04.19). - 5.3 8 Cooil Breryk have stated that they have no objection to the application (13.04.19).

6.0 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 Character and Appearance

• 6.2.1 The size and mass of the dormer is significant, compared with the area of roof. Flat roofed dormers are not generally welcomed as positive additions to a roof but can be considered acceptable where the dormer is of modest size and does not completely change the character of the property as is the case in this application. The existing dormer, similar to many in Cooil Breryk is of no architectural merit although is regarded as acceptable given the prevalence of these in the area and the ability to utilise the large attic space. The extension would not have a greater visual impact when viewed from the side from Cooil Breryk however, and the front of the dormer would not be publicly visible.
• 6.2.2 Paragraph 4.6.3 of the Residential Design Guide (March 2019) states: "The position within the roof plane, size and proportion are also important aspects to consider. The size of any dormer should be secondary to the size of the roof in which it will be positioned. Therefore, dormers that would be as wide as the house and run flush or close to the elevations/roof ridge of the house will not normally be supported." It is considered that, whilst the dormer covers a large area of the roof, it is set in from the gables and down from the ridge which give it a secondary appearance. In this respect, impact would not be considered significantly different from the current situation.
• 6.3 Neighbour Amenity

• 6.3.1 It is also important to assess any potential loss of amenity from the perspective of neighbours, in this case No.18 and 20 are the properties regarded as most likely to be affected. Referring to the recently published DEFA Residential Design Guidance (March 2019), the main consideration around this would be loss of privacy and overlooking - particularly on dwellings or gardens within 20 metres of the extension.
• 6.3.2 The additional windows would be high level and small - not likely to provide much in the way of views into and out of the dwelling. It is not regarded that there would be any increased loss of privacy on the neighbouring dwellings both because of this, and the existence of a much larger window in the dormer extension at present. In respect of the amenity of local residents, the proposal accords with GP2 (g).

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 In summary, the proposal accords on balance with the aforementioned policies and is recommended for approval on that basis.

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: 17.06.2019 Determining officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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