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Applicant: Manx Utilities Authority Proposal Additional use of land for parking/storage of vehicles associated with Manx Utilities Site Address Castletown Primary Sub-Station Malew Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 4EA Case Officer : Peiran Shen Site Visit: Expected Decision Level Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation 05.09.2024 Reasons for Refusal R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons
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 4(2): Norville, Malew Road
as they satisfy all of the requirements of paragraph 2 of the Department's Operational Policy on Interested Person Status.
It is recommended that the owners/occupiers of the following properties should not be given Interested Person Status as they are not 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 4(2): 7 Malew Road Garage at rear, Roscavan, 7 Malew Road Gardenfield, Malew Road
as they do not refer to the relevant issues in accordance with paragraph 2C of the Policy and as they have not explained how the development would impact the lawful use of land owned or occupied by them and in relation to the relevant issues identified in paragraph 2C of the Policy, as is required by paragraph 2D of the Policy. ________________________________________________________________
THIS APPLICATION IS REFERRED TO THE PLANNING COMMITTEE AS IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITY HAS MADE WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS OBJECTION TO THE APPLICATION ON VALID PLANNING GROUNDS.
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is Castletown Primary Substation, off Malew Road, Castletown. The south end of Malew Road connects with Alexandra Road. The track lead from Malew Rod to the substation is a private road. This road also serves Gardenfield, a private residence, a few fields (including a football field) and the rear of a few residences on Malew Road.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal is the use of some areas within the substation for parking. - 2.2 The planning statement says that access to the substation is controlled by a gate. Employees of MUA may access the substation in their vehicles to access MUA's work vehicle and vice versa. The planning statement explains the location choice is to ensure service to the grid can be provided on time.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 There are no previous applications considered materially relevant to this application.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific - 4.1 The site is within any areas designated for development in the Area Plan for the South, meaning it is considered to be part of the countryside. Strategic Policy - 4.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains the following policies that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:
PPS and NPD
4.3 No Planning Policy Statement or National Policy Directive is applicable to this application.
5.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Strategy and Guidance - 5.1 Manual for Manx Roads provides best practices and technical details of how to ensure highways are accessible, safe, inclusive and serviceable.
6.0 REPRESENTATIONS This section is a summary. The original texts of the consultations and comments received are available on the Planning Application Search on the government website. - 6.1 Castletown Commissioners object to this application (20.08.2024). The comment states the lane is unsuitable for the passage of large vehicles in its current state and the proposal would harm the interest of residents who share the lane. The commissioners require improvements to the lane as a condition for them to remove their objections. - 6.2 DoI Highway Services does not oppose this application (26.07.2024). The comment states that there is no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking as the substation access and parking area is existing, providing the vehicles are conditioned only to be of Manx Utilities ownership or associated to Manx Utilities.
6.3 Seven neighbouring properties were notified. Four responses have been received from the public (24.07.2024 - 21.08.2024). Two do not object (but not supporting either) and two objects to the application. The comments are from the Owners and Occupiers of:
6.4 The material planning considerations raised by the comments are:
6.5 The non-material planning considerations raised by the comments and during the advertising period are: o maintenance and upkeep of the private road
7.0 ASSESSMENT - 7.1 The main considerations for this application are the principle of the development, its impact on the character and street scene of the area, neighbouring amenities and highway safety. Principle of the Development - 7.2 The proposal is within the countryside. However, it is additional parking used by Manx Utility within the boundary of an existing substation. Therefore, it is considered to comply with subsection (e) of General Policy 3. - 7.3 The proposal is for parking within an existing utility infrastructure for the operation of the utility company. The size of the parking area is small, and the nature of parking is for company and employees' vehicles. Therefore, it is considered that the additional parking space would not interfere with the substation itself and its principle is acceptable. Visual Amenities - 7.4 Although located within the countryside, the substation is of a practical character and the additional parked cars are not considered to have any adverse impact on the character of its surroundings. Traffic - 7.5 As there is no objection from highway services, it is considered that the impact on the highway is considered acceptable. Neighbouring Amenities - 7.6 The planning statement explained traffic generated is low volume and infrequent, so it is considered that the disturbance generated by additional traffic would not mount to a reason for recommending refusal. Other Matters - 7.7 The road has been identified as being in a poor condition and both the Commissioners and all comments highlight the road's poor condition as the main issue. While being sympathetic to the issue its maintenance and upkeep are not regulated by planning as it is not adopted highway.
8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 The proposed parking is only available to Manx Utilities and is for the benefit of maintaining critical national infrastructures. While there is a slight increase in traffic, including heavy goods vehicles, which may increase the risk to pedestrians, the stability of infrastructures
outweighs these potential harms, especially given their low probability. And the maintenance of the road is not regulated by planning. The proposed parking spaces have no negative impact on the operation of the substation, the character of the area and neighbouring amenities. The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 and General Policy 3 of the Strategic Plan. Therefore, it is recommended for an approval.
9.0 INTEREST PERSON STATUS - 9.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:
9.2 The decision-maker must determine:
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to the it by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Committee has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status.
Decision Made : …Refused……….... Committee Meeting Date:…16.09.2024
Signed :…………PEIREN SHEN………………………….. Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit
Application No 24/00854/C Applicant Manx Utilities Authority Proposal Additional use of land for parking/storage of vehicles associated with
Manx Utilities
Site Address Castletown Primary Sub-Station Malew Road Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 4EA Planning Officer Peiran Shen Presenting Officer As above Addendum to the Officer Report The Committee declined the recommendation of the Case Officer and the application was refused for the following reasons:
R1. The additional traffic generated by the proposal which requires the use of a private lane shared by a number of nearby residential properties would lead to an adverse impact upon the residential amenities contrary to General Policy 2 (g) of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016.
R 2. The use of the application site for the parking of additional vehicles as proposed and the use of the private lane which serves the site, are not considered suitable for the additional traffic which would be generated by the proposal, resulting in an over intensive use of the site, over and above the use that the site was originally approved for, contrary to General Policy 2 (g) and (h) of the IOM Strategic Plan 2016.
Party status was also extended to the occupants of Gardenfield.
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