Ballaskelly Farm Mountain Road Onchan Isle Of Man IM4 5BL
Case Officer:
Miss Melissa McKnight
Photo Taken:
06.09.2012
Site Visit:
06.09.2012
Expected Decision Level:
Officer Delegation
The Application Site
The application site is Ballaskelly Farm, an existing working farm sited on the western side of the A18 Mountain Road, Onchan. Ballaskelly Farm is sited 75 metres from the highway and is accessed via a narrow track.
Ballaskelly Farm currently has a number of existing agricultural buildings on site that are used for animal storage, machine storage and feed stores. The application site also has some traditional stone buildings that are not occupied due to their deteriorated state.
The immediate surrounding area is open countryside with sparsely populated dwellings.
The Proposal
The planning application seeks the approval for the erection of an agricultural building.
The proposed agricultural building is to be erected next to two existing agricultural buildings and would cover an existing feed area. The proposed agricultural building would measure metres and would have a maximum height of 5.3 metres.
The new proposed agricultural building would be finished in a PVC coated box profile with a masonry finish to the base to match the existing with the roof finished in corrugated natural grey fibre cement sheets.
Planning History
The application site has been the subject of four previous planning applications, three of which are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:
PA 94/00310/B: Erection of agricultural building, Ballaskelly Farm, Hillberry, Onchan. This previous planning application was permitted.
PA 89/01491/B: Erection of agricultural building, Ballaskelly Farm, Hillberry, Onchan. This previous planning application was refused.
PA 89/01456/B: Erection of agricultural building, Ballaskelly Farm, Hillberry, Onchan. This previous planning application was refused.
Planning Policy
The application site is not designated for any site specific purpose but is located within an area of Open Space under the Onchan Local Plan Order 2000 Map No. 2. There are no policies within the written statement that accompanies the local plan that are considered materially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application.
In terms of strategic plan policy, the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 contains three policies that are considered specifically material to the assessment of this current planning application:
General Policy 3 states:
"Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of:
f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry."
Environment Policy 1 states:
"The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix 3 at A.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an overriding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative."
Environment Policy 15 states:
"Where the Department is satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building (including a dwelling), sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside, and that the impact of this development including buildings, accesses, servicing etc. is acceptable, such development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they form a part.
Only in exceptional circumstances will buildings be permitted in exposed or isolated areas or close to public highways and in all such cases will be subject to appropriate landscaping. The nature and materials of construction must also be appropriate to the purposes for which is it intended.
Where new agricultural buildings are proposed next to or close to existing residential properties care must be taken to ensure that there is no unacceptable adverse impact through any activity, although it must be borne in mind that many farming activities require buildings which are best sited, in landscape terms, close to existing building groups in the rural landscape."
Representations
Onchan District Commissioners has no objections to the current planning application.
Assessment
When determining any agricultural development within the countryside that is not zoned for development General Policy 3 paragraph F of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 is used to assess the application. This policy states that development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of those buildings which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry. Further to this policy, the first paragraph of Environment Policy 15 requires first the Planning Authority needs to be satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building, sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside.
To find whether the proposed cattle shed would have a sufficient justification to comply with General Policy 3 and the first aspect of Environment Policy 15, the Planning Authority has contacted the Agricultural Advisor from the Department of Environment, Food and Agricultural (DEFA) for their comments.
The Agricultural Advisor has stated that currently the farm enterprise is based on 350 acres, eight of which are cropped with cereals for forage. Of the 350 acres the applicant owns 80 acres with 103 acres rented on a long term tenancy and the remainder on well established and long running annual tenancies. The livestock enterprises on the holding include 100 suckler cows, 4 breeding bulls, 12 bulling heifers with all progeny sold at weaning (6 months old). The Advisor also indicates that the farm enterprise has a total labour requirement of 1.22 standard labour units.
The advisor states that there is a range of modern buildings utilised for the housing of cattle on the farm. The total available area is 875.06sq m. Excluding the feed passes leaves a total area of 693.4sq m available to be bedded for cattle. The proposed building will provide a further total area of 334.4 sq m less a feed pass of 82.3 sq m (27.43x3) resulting in an area of 251.1 sq m available for bedding. The housing of the cattle plus a work area currently requires an area of 833.6 sq m. The storage of winter bedding requires a further 191 sq m. Total area required for the housing of cattle and bedding is 1024 sq m plus 10% allowance results in a total requirement of 1035 sq m. There is a shortfall of 8 sq m. Based on the demand and the total area including the proposed building. The stone traditional stone buildings on site are not suitable for the housing of livestock for any real period of time, due to poor ventilation and inadequate access for cleaning by modern machinery. The advisor concludes that; "...the provision of an agricultural building is agriculturally justified and will allow this agricultural enterprise to develop and expand for the future"
With the agricultural justification being accepted it is necessary to consider the site specific impacts of the proposed development. In this regard it is necessary to take account of the provisions of Environment Policy 15. This policy states that development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new developments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they will form a part of. In this respect the proposed new agricultural building is within the main farm group and will not have an adverse visual impact on its surroundings and is associated with a working farm of some size. It is therefore considered that the location for development is acceptable. The proposed new building will be finished in materials to blend in with the other adjacent existing agricultural buildings. As such the proposal is considered to be acceptable and comply with the provisions set out in Environment Policy 15.
As previously identified, the application site is located within an area recognised as open space. It is imperative that these specific areas of openness are not detrimentally affected by inappropriate forms of development. It is important that proposed development within areas of open space and within the countryside are designed in such a way that helps preserve the rural character of the open countryside.
Heading northbound on the A18 towards Ramsey, Ballaskelly Farm is completely visible from the public thoroughfare. However, given the topography and significant screening present when one travels northbound roughly 360 metres along the A18, Ballaskelly Farm is no longer visible. Given that Ballaskelly Farm is an existing working farm and although the introduction of an additional agricultural building would increase the visual appearance of the site, it is not considered to be at a point where this proposal would cause any detrimental and damaging visual impacts.
The proposed new cattle shed is to be erected on land that is classed as Agriculture class 3 and therefore the proposed new agricultural building would not cause a loss to high class agricultural land through development.
Overall it is considered that the planning application is in accordance with General Policy 3, Environment Policy 1 and Environment Policy 15 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the planning application be permitted.
Party Status
The local authority, Onchan District Commissioners, is by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5)(d), considered "interested persons" and as such should be afforded party status.
Recommendation
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 25.09.2012
Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal
C: Conditions for approval N: Notes attached to conditions R: Reasons for refusal O: Notes attached to refusals
C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C 2. This approval for the erection of an agricultural building relates to Drawing No: 01 and 02 all date stamped 20th August 2012.
I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to Director of Planning and Building Control / Development Control Manager/ Senior Planning Officer.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 28.9.12
Determining officer (delete as appropriate)
Signed : _________________________ Anthony Holmes Senior Planning Officer
Signed : _________________________ Michael Gallagher Director of Planning and Building Control
Signed : Samuel Sarah Corlett Senior Planning Officer
Signed : _________________________ Jennifer Chance Development Control Manager
Copyright in submitted documents remains with their authors. Request removal
Source & Provenance
Official reference
12/01166/B
Source authority
Isle of Man Government Planning & Building Control
