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Application No.: 25/90289/B Applicant: Mr Mark Cringle Proposal: Create proposed 2no. off-street parking spaces Site Address: 8 Ballakermeen Avenue Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4HW Planning Officer: Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 04.08.2025 _________________________________________________________________
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 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.
N. Allowing surface water runoff onto a public highway would contravene Section 58 of the Highway Act 1986 and guidance contained in section 11.3.11 of the Manual for Manx Roads
The proposed driveway has no negative impact on the character of the area. The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and the Residential Design Guide July 2021.
This approval relates to the documents and drawing no. 101, 102, which have been received on 21st March 2025.
_________________________________________________________________ Right to Appeal
It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: Douglas Borough Council - No objection DoI Highway Services - No objection DoI Highway Drainage - Objection does not relate to material planning considerations
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1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is 8 Ballakermeen Avenue, Douglas, a semi-detached house located on the southwest of Ballakermeen Avenue. - 1.2 Ballakermeen Avenue has a south end. It consists of semi-detached houses with a short front boundary wall and hedges behind the wall. Some houses have converted their front garden into parking spaces.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The proposal is the creation of two off-road parking spaces. The proposal is to remove the front boundary wall and hedges completely.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY While not being direct material considerations to the current application, the following applications are on the same road. - 3.1 Creation of driveway and vehicular access to front elevation at 10 Ballakermeen Avenue was APPROVED under PA 15/00673/B. This site is on the east boundary of the site. The proposal converted half of the front garden into a parking space. - 3.2 Creation of vehicular access and off road parking in front garden at 16 Ballakermeen Avenue was APPROVED under PA 13/00604/B. This site is to the east of the site. The proposal converted about two-thirds of the front garden into a parking area.
4.0 PLANNING POLICY Site Specific - 4.1 The site is within an area designated as Predominantly Residential in the Area Plan for the East. 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: o General Policy 2 (b), (c), (g), (h), (i) 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 The Residential Design Guide (July 2021) contains the following guidance that are considered particularly of material relevance to the assessment of this current planning application: o Section 6.3 Front Gardens and Driveways - 5.2 Manual for Manx Roads provides best practices and technical details for ensuring highways are accessible, safe, inclusive and serviceable.
6.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 6.1 Douglas City Council does not object to this application (08.04.2025). - 6.2 DoI Highway Services has no objection to this application (01.04.2025)
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6.3 DoI Highway Drainage writes in (06.05.2025) to inform the applicant that no surface water should be discharged onto a public highway. - 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 and highway safety. Principle of the Development - 7.2 As the development is to increase parking spaces, the foundation of such development is the net increase of parking spaces for the street as a whole, as indicated in the RDG. This means that after development, the sum of the number of off-street parking spaces created and the number of on-street parking spaces remaining should be greater than the number of existing parking spaces available on the street. - 7.3 The road is available for parking. The road length available for on-street parking in front of the existing lawn is approx. 6.2m, which is about the same as the recommended 6m length specified in the Manual for Manx Road. Since the proposal removes this section entirely, the proposal is considered to reduce one public parking space. - 7.4 The proposal will create two additional parking spaces. The proposed parking space satisfies the recommendation in the Manual for Manx Roads. Therefore, it is considered that there is an increase of one space in the total number of parking spaces available within the area. It is also worth noticing that the proposed parking space is only available to the applicant. - 7.5 The area is residential. In the meantime, moving parked cars off-road also helps with traffic flow and safety. Therefore, converting one public parking space to two private parking spaces is acceptable. - 7.6 The next test is whether over 50% of the existing front lawn/landscaped garden will be lost. After the proposal, the lawn is less than 50% of the existing front garden, failing this requirement. Visual Amenities - 7.7 RDG also states that for the replacement of the front garden with a parking space, there is a need to weigh the benefit created to the applicant against the impact of the changed surface on the property and its surroundings. Such replacement should only be allowed when there is little negative impact or the benefits overwhelm the negative impacts created, as "front gardens provide an important physical boundary between a dwelling and the public realm". - 7.8 The most important consideration for such a proposal is whether it will shift the boundary of the public realm. If so, is such a shift acceptable? This transition is clear for this application: road - boundary all - hedges - house. Removing the boundary wall and hedges means no transition from the road to the house. Therefore, the proposal is considered to harm the streetscene of the area. Highway Safety - 7.9 As there is no objection from highway services, the impact on the highway is considered acceptable. Planning Balance Assessment - 7.10 The proposal would increase one parking space within the area but is considered to harm the streetscene. - 7.11 This being said, a few houses on the road have converted their front garden into driveways. Although the previous approval was granted before the Residential Design Guide
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was released in 2019, the existing driveways along the road have altered the area's character. Therefore, the proposal is not considered to harm the character of the area, and the harm to the the streetscene is not considered sufficient for recommending refusal.
8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 The proposed driveway has no negative impact on the character of the area. The proposal is considered to comply with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and the Residential Design Guide July 2021. Therefore, it is recommended for an 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 : 22.08.2025 Determining Officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
Customer note This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the office copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online service/ customers and archive record.
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