DEC Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Application No.: 24/00323/B Applicant: Mr David Thomas Proposal: Erection of a garden room to the rear of the property (part retrospective) Site Address: Deansgate Lucerne Court Douglas Isle Of Man IM2 6BJ Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 30.08.2024

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. The garden room hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.

• C 2. No development in relation to the garden room shall be commenced until a soft landscaping scheme has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. Such a scheme shall include details of all trees, hedgerows and other planting which are to be retained; details of all other boundary treatment and finished ground levels ; a planting specification to include numbers, density, size, species and positions of all new trees and shrubs; the location of grassed areas and a programme of implementation.

All soft landscaping works shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details. The works shall be carried out in full accordance with the programme approved in writing by the Department and retained thereafter. Any trees or plants indicated on the approved scheme which, within a period of five years from the date of planting, die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced during the next planting season with other trees or plants of a species and size to be first approved in writing by the Department.

Reason: To ensure the provision of an appropriate landscape setting to the development.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

On balance the proposal as a whole is deemed to be acceptable from a character and appearance point of view and is judged not to harm the neighbouring amenity above and beyond what is currently in place. As such the proposal is deemed to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 4 and Environment Policy 22.

Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 15th March 2024; o Drawing No. FP01 This decision also relates to Drawing No. 100 Rev A, Drawing No. 102 and covering letter dated received 12th August 2024. _______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons None _____________________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the residential curtilage of Deansgate, Lucerne Court, Douglas, which is a two storey detached property situated to the Northern side of Lucerne Court which is a three way cul-de-sac, with the application site being situated within the Eastern side. - 1.2 To the Western side of the property is the driveway for the property situated to the rear (Fairhaven). The overall streetscene where the proposed property is situated is high walling to the front of the properties, to the Northern side the properties are large with small gardens and to the other sides the properties are large with large gardens. - 1.3 Due to the orientation of the properties is the streetscene, there is some overlooking from the windows in the application site and the neighbouring properties. It should also be noted that Fairhaven, the property situated to the rear of the site is situated at a higher level than the application site and No. 9 & 10 Montreux Court are situated to a lower level than the application site. - 1.4 There is a decorative red brick wall to approximately a metre high and mature hedging situated to the Eastern side of the property, a high red brick wall, due to the ground level being higher on the driveway side than the application site side, situated to Western elevation and during the officers site visit there was no boundary wall situated to the Northern side as works has started on the property. THE PROPOSAL

2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the alterations to change the ground level of the rear garden by approximately 1m in depth (retrospective) and the erection of a detached very slight slanted roof structure which is to measure approximately 8.382m by

• 4.648m with an approximate height of 2.757, at it's highest point.

2.2 The proposed extension is to have and overhang of approximately 3.961m, four solar panels to the roof and an air conditioning unit and a telsa storage cell to the rear of the structure. - 2.3 The plans also indicate that the boundary is to be moved but the use of the land remains the same and as such while the planning unit is changing there is no need for planning approval. PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The following are relevant applications upon the site;

• 3.1.1 PA05/02013/B - Amendment to previously approved dwelling (03/01688B) to form a triple garage - Permitted
• 3.1.2 PA17/01087/B - Single storey extension to rear of property - Permitted
• 3.1.3 PA24/00007/B - Dining room extension at rear of property (revision to previously approved PA 17/01087/B) - Permitted
• 3.1.4 PA24/00394/B - Orangery extension to replace existing conservatory & summerhouse including installation of 2no air sourced heat pumps and 2no air conditioning units externally Pending
• 3.1.5 PA24/00488/B - Erection of two Bay window extensions with roof balconies above to front elevation - Permitted
• 3.1.6 PA24/90978/B - Erection of two Bay window extensions with roof balconies above to front elevation - Pending PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Area Plan for the East, Map 4 - Douglas. The site is not situated within a Conservation Area nor a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 Given the nature of the proposal and the land paragraph 8.12.1 and General Policy 2 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are most relevant to its assessment which set out the general standards towards acceptable development, which is followed by Environment Policy 22 which seeks to protect the environment and quality of life of neighbouring properties and Energy Policy 4 which states that alternative sources of energy supply will be judged against environmental objectives set out in the Strategic Plan. The recently released Residential Design Guidance 2021 is also a material consideration particularly those parts in respect of good neighbourliness and overlooking. REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "No Highways Interest." (02.04.24)

5.3 Douglas Corporation have considered the application and state, "No Objections." (16.04.24)

5.4 The Ecosystem Policy Officer has considered the application and requested that a prior to condition be attached for a soft landscaping plan. (18.04.24)

• ASSESSMENT
• 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are;

• - principle (GP2, EP4)
• - character and appearance of the area (GP2)
• - living conditions of those in adjacent properties (GP2, EP22)
• - Landscaping

- 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 When looking at the principle of the proposal, in the first instance there is a general presumption in favour of extensions or alterations to existing properties as per Paragraph 8.12.1 of the isle of man Strategic Plan, where such works would not have an adverse impact on either adjacenet properies or the surrounding area in general.

• 6.2.2 Turning towards the principle of the air conditioning unit and solar panels. The Strategic Plan and the Climate Change Strategy Bill encourages the provision of renewable energy as such the solar panels would be supported within General Policy 2 and Environment Policy 4. The air conditioning unit whilst not dissimilar to an ASHP in terms of appearance, noise level and energy efficiency rating they are not renewable energy as such, it would fail under Environment Policy 4. Whilst this is the case, the unit would be acceptable from a principle point of view and would meet the provisions of General Policy 2.
• 6.3 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.3.1 The proposed garden room is deemed acceptable by not resulting in an overdevelopment of the site in built form Whilst the alteration of the boundary would be altering Deansgate's planning it, it is deemed that the proposal would not be impacting the overall amount of outdoor space that "Fairhaven" has. The garden room by reasoning of its size would be in keeping with the existing dwelling and whilst the materials would match. Due to the proposed garden rooms location it is unlikely to be seen from a public vantage point. The extension retains a subordinate appearance to the main dwelling and there are to be no adverse impacts on the streetscene from the works.
• 6.3.2 Turning towards the proposed air conditioning unit which is situated upon the garden room, it is within the rear garden of the property, which is situated within an area that is hidden from a public vantage point, as such the proposed air condition unit will minimally affect the character and appearance of the area and is deemed acceptable.

- 6.4 LIVING CONDITIONS OF THOSE IN ADJACENT PROPERTIES

• 6.4.1 There are no neighbouring properties considered to be adversely affected as a result of the development through light or privacy impacts, and there are to be no new issues in respect of parking or highway safety beyond the existing arrangement with the widening of the driveway.
• 6.4.2 Turning towards the air conditioning unit, when looking at potential noise impact, the sound pressure level of the proposed air conditioning unit is the same as an air sourced heat pump, which would be expected to be between 45-58 dBA. When putting this into retrospect similar noise generated by light traffic comes in at 50dB, 60dB is noise impact of a normal conversation or a washing machine. Whilst everyone is different most people will not be annoyed by activities with LAeg levels below 55dB, however sound pressure levels during the evening and night should be 5-10 dB lower than during the day.

• 6.4.3 During the night the units could potentially be a noise nuisance, especially due to background noise levels being lower. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has guidance for noise and the disturbance it can cause and states that both continuous and intermittent noise can lead to sleep disturbances and the more intense the background noise the, the more disturbing is its effect on sleep with the measurable effects on sleep starting at a background noise level of about 30 dB LAeq.
• 6.4.4 The WHO guidelines further state that, "In dwellings, the critical effects of noise are on sleep, annoyance and speech interference. To avoid sleep disturbance, indoor guideline values for bedrooms are 30 dB LAeq for continuous noise and 45 dB LAmax for single sound events. Lower levels may be annoying, depending on the nature of the noise source….. At night, sound pressure levels at the outside façades of the living spaces should not exceed 45 dB LAeq and 60 dB LAmax, so that people may sleep with bedroom windows open. These values have been obtained by assuming that the noise reduction from outside to inside with the window partly open is 15 dB."
• 6.4.5 When looking at the possible noise disturbance raised by the neighbouring property, whilst there is no guidance or standards within the Isle of Man Legislation that cover noise level matters from equipment such as air conditioning units, Permitted Development has been approved for air source heat pumps and as such an applicant could install an air source heat pump without formal planning permission if the unit does not result in an noise level exceeding 42 dB LAeq 5 mins (with conditions). This is the same as the permitted development within England and Scotland.
• 6.4.6 The Permitted Development Amendment Order 2020 states, "LAeq 5 mins means the A weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level over 5 minutes when measured at 1 metre external to the centre point of any relevant door or window to any neighbouring building as measured perpendicular to the plane of the relevant door or window." To better understand what the LAeq 5 mins for the neighbouring property would be guidance was sought from the English and Scottish Permitted Development which must comply with the conditions within the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standards (MCS020).
• 6.4.7 Whilst it is noted that the proposal is to install an air conditioning unit and not an air source heat pump, the sound dB(A) is generally the same. As such noting the already existing ambient noise by dint of the property's location and the already existing air condioning units/ air source heat pumps it is deemed that the proposed air condition unit here would not cause an impact the neighbouring amenity of the surrounding properties enough to warrant refusal.

- 6.5 LANDSCAPING

• 6.5.1 Having visited the site, there were groundworks which had been done retrospectively to reduced the height of the rear garden. Having discussed this with the applicant on site, this was done to reduce the overall height of the proposed garden room on the neighbouring property. With this reduction in height, there was the removal of soil, which was taken to Turkeylands, which was acceptable. With regards to the removal of the soil, to aid a net biodiversity a request from the Ecosystems Policy Officer for a soft landscaping plan, in this instance is deemed acceptable and warranted for the application. CONCLUSION
• 7.1 On balance the proposal as a whole is deemed to be acceptable from a character and appearance point of view and is judged not to harm the neighbouring amenity above and beyond what is currently in place. As such the proposal is deemed to comply with General Policy 2, Environment Policy 4 and Environment Policy 22. INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material. 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 above who should be given Interested Person Status

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Acting Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 30.08.2024 Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development Management

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