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Application No.: 25/90549/C Applicant: Mr & Mrs Roger Davies Proposal: Additional use of home gym (former garage) as gym business. Site Address: Crofton Mews The Crofts Castletown Isle Of Man IM9 1LW Senior Planning Officer: Mrs Louise Phillips Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 28.07.2025 _________________________________________________________________
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
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.
Reason: In the interest of protecting neighbouring living conditions and to protect the residential character of the area.
Reason: The specific details of this application have been deemed acceptable but any future change to the operation of the business should be reassessed given the residential character of the area.
The proposed development would preserve the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and protect the setting of the adjacent Registered Building. It would have no significant detrimental impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring residential occupiers or upon highway safety. It would therefore comply with the Development Plan and with relevant legislation.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to the following drawings:
Right to Appeal It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: o Highways Services - No objection.
_________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site lies on the east side of The Crofts, an attractive residential street in the Castletown Conservation Area comprising terraced, semi-detached and detached houses. It is occupied by a two-storey stone building belonging to "Crofton", a large detached house to the immediate south. The site has its own access from the road and a large forecourt with parking space for at least four vehicles. The building currently provides garaging on the ground floor with a one-bedroom flat above accessed by an external staircase. Planning permission was granted in January 2024 to convert the ground floor garage to a home gym, but this use has not yet commenced.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposed development is to allow the home gym previously approved under 23/01237/B to also be used as part of the applicant's gym business. No conditions were attached to that permission other than the 4-year commencement condition and no further physical changes to the building are now sought. - 2.2 At present, the gym business operates from the applicant's additional home in Douglas (approved subject to conditions under 21/01343/C), but that will cease upon the sale of the property which is now in progress. Consequently, the applicant seeks to transfer the business to the approved home gym at Crofton Mews on much the same terms. Those are:
3.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific - 3.1 The site lies within the Castletown Conservation Area. Crofton Mews is not itself a Registered Building but the main house adjacent to the south, "Crofton", is. There are no Registered Trees or Registered Tree Areas which would be affected by the proposal and the site is not at risk of flooding. Area Plan for the South 2013 - 3.2 The site is within the settlement boundary in a predominantly residential area. Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 - 3.3 Strategic Policy 1 encourages the use of existing buildings. - 3.4 Strategic Policy 4 requires development to protect or enhance the fabric and setting of Registered Buildings and Conservation Areas; and Environment Policy 35 requires development in Conservation Areas to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area. - 3.5 General Policy 2 provides that development in accordance with land use zoning and other relevant proposals and policies of the Development Plan will normally be permitted subject to certain criteria, including those below which are relevant to this proposal. The development should: (c) not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape;
3.6 Transport Policy 7 requires new development to meet current parking standards.
4.0 OTHER MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Legislation - 4.1 Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) states, "(4) Where any area is for the time being a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any buildings or other land in the area, of any powers under this Act". Planning Policy Statements - 4.2 Planning Policy Statement 1/01, Policy CA/2 states, "When considering proposals for the possible development of any land or buildings which fall within the conservation area, the impact of such proposals upon the special character of the area, will be a material consideration when assessing the application". Guidance
4.1 Manual for Manx Roads.
5.1 The following planning history for the site is relevant to the current proposal: o 23/01237/B: Conversion of existing garage into home gym - Permitted on 26/1/24. - 5.2 The other planning history associated with the application site concerns the widening the vehicular access, but this is not relevant to the current proposal. The history for the main house adjacent to the site, "Crofton", is similarly not relevant. - 5.3 The following grant of planning permission concerns the applicant's current home gym business in Douglas and, consequently, it has some relevance:
6.1 Highways Services - "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and/or parking" (5/6/25).
6.2 The following organisations were consulted on 4 June 2025 but, at the time of writing this report, no comments had been received:
7.1 The main issues for consideration are the effect of the proposed development upon the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and the setting of the adjacent Registered Building; its effect upon the living conditions of neighbouring residential occupiers; and upon road safety.
Conservation Area and Registered Building
7.2 As stated above, the Crofts is a residential street and the application building presently contributes to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area as the garaging for Crofton, a Registered Building (house).
7.3 The proposed development would introduce a business use to the residential area, but there would be no external changes to the building (other than those previously approved) or signage to advertise this; and the modest number of client visits per week are unlikely to be noticeable in the context of the general comings and goings in the street. This is particularly so because the site has its own access and off-road parking, separate to Crofton. - 7.4 Therefore, the additional use of the building for business purposes would have no significant impact upon either the character and appearance of the Conservation Area, or upon the setting of the Registered Building. The proposal would therefore comply with Strategic Policy 4 and Environment Policy 35 of the Strategic Plan and with Policy CA/2 of Planning Policy Statement 1/01. Living Conditions
7.5 Working hours and the nature of client visits could be controlled by planning conditions and, as discussed above, these would be modest and unlikely to cause inconvenience. It is possible that occupiers of the first floor flat might be aware of the activity below, but the flat is not a principal residence and any issues would be for the applicant/owner to deal with. - 7.6 Otherwise, the gym is well contained within its own site and its thick stone walls would keep noise to a minimum. Neighbouring occupiers are unlikely to experience any significant detriment to their living conditions and so the proposal would comply with Strategic Policy 2(g) of the Strategic Plan. Highway Safety - 7.7 The site has off road parking for at least four vehicles, which should be more than sufficient to accommodate one car belonging to a visiting client in addition to any others parked by occupiers of the one-bedroomed first floor flat. The business owner resides next door, and so would not need to drive to the site. - 7.8 The proposed development would therefore cause no harm to road safety in respect of parking and no other concerns have been raised. Thus it would comply with General Policy 2(h) and (i) of the Strategic Plan and with Transport Policy 7.
8.1 For the reasons given above, the proposed development would preserve the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and protect the setting of the adjacent Registered Building. It would have no significant detrimental impact upon the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers or upon highway safety. It would therefore comply with the Development Plan and relevant legislation and, consequently, is recommended for approval. - 9.0 RIGHT TO APPEAL AND RIGHT TO GIVE EVIDENCE
9.1 The Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 sets out the process for determining planning applications (including appeals). It sets out a Right to Appeal (i.e. to submit an appeal against a planning decision) and a Right to Give Evidence at Appeals (i.e. to participate in an appeal if one is submitted).
9.2 Article A10 sets out that the right to appeal is available to:
9.3 Article 8(2)(a) requires that in determining an application, the Department must decide who has a right to appeal, in accordance with the criteria set out in article A10. - 9.4 The Order automatically affords the Right to Give Evidence to the following (no determination is required):
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the 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, and/or rights to appeal.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 28.07.2025 Determining Officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
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