Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No.: 25/00225/LAW Applicant: Mr Adrian Chan Proposal: Certificate of Lawfulness for erection of decking in rear garden Site Address: 23 St Catherines Close Douglas Isle Of Man IM1 4JA Planning Officer: Peiran Shen Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date of Recommendation: 09.05.2025 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions C 1. There is sufficient evidence demonstrating that the decking has been in situ since 2010. Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the documents, location plan, site plan, Google StreetView photo and other photos, which have all been received on 4th November 2024, and the photo which had been received on 17th March 2025.

_________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report

1.0 INTRODUCTION - 1.1 The application seeks a Certificate of Lawful Development in respect of the erection of a decking. The application seeking the Certificate of Lawfulness was submitted on 17th March

1. It means the relevant 4 years for consideration are from 17th March 2021.

1.2 In accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4, Part 1, paragraph 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 ("the Act"), a development carried out in breach of planning control shall become immune from enforcement action after a certain period of time, provided that formal enforcement action has not already been taken. The relevant time periods are set out below:

• a) in respect of a breach of planning control consisting of the carrying out without planning approval of the building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, after the end of the period of 4 years beginning with the date on which the operations were substantially completed;

• b) in respect of a breach of planning control consisting of the change of use of any building to use as a single dwelling house, after the end of the period of 4 years beginning with the date of the breach;
• c) in respect of any other breach of planning control, after the end of the period of 10 years beginning with the date of the breach.

1.3 Section 24 of the Act makes provision for the submission and issuing of a Certificate of Lawfulness to establish the lawfulness of a breach of planning control. - 1.4 An application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is determined based on fact. Unlike an application for planning approval, it is not concerned with land-use planning considerations or the impacts of the development upon the public realm. - 1.5 The principal test is whether, on the balance of probabilities, the breach of planning control occurred in excess of four years ago. If the Planning Authority has no evidence of its own to contradict that provided by the applicant, then provided if the applicant's evidence is sufficiently precise and unambiguous, a Certificate of Lawfulness may be issued. It is not usually necessary for the Planning Authority to corroborate the applicant's evidence.

2.0 THE SITE - 2.1 The application site is 23 St Catherines Close, Douglas.

3.0 THE PROPOSAL - 3.1 The application seeks a Certificate of Lawful Development for the erection of a decking.

4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 There is no previous application considered materially relevant to this application.

5.0 REPRESENTATION - 5.1 Douglas Borough Council has no objection to this application (08.04.2025).

6.0 ASSESSMENT / SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE PROVIDED - 6.1 In terms of whether the erection of a decking has taken place for more than 4 years from the date of submission, the Department considers that they have. The most relevant evidence is the Google StreetView Photo taken in 2010 and the real estate agent photos. Within these, it is clear that the erection of the decking was completed by 2010. Hence, the erection of the decking took place longer than the required 4-year period.

7.0 CONCLUSION - 7.1 On the balance of probabilities, the evidence demonstrates that the decking was in situ for more than 4 years. As such, the Department may not issue an enforcement notice due to the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 Schedule 4 Part 1 paragraph 3(a), and it is recommended that a Certificate of Lawful Development is granted.

8.0 RECOMMENDATION - 8.1 It is recommended that the application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is agreed.

9.0 INTERESTED PARTY STATUS - 9.1 As the application is for a CLD, it is not required to be assessed.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner 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 : Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date: 13.05.2025 Determining Officer

Signed : C BALMER Chris Balmer Principal Planner

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