Officer Planning Report Recommendation

Application No.: 10/00041/B Applicant: Mr & Mrs Nigel Wood Proposal: Erection of a building to provide gym, garage and boat store for use incidental to main dwelling and creation of a new access road Site Address: - Ballavale Barns - Ballavale Road - Santon - Isle Of Man - IM4 1EH ### Considerations Case Officer: Mr Steve Stanley Photo Taken: - Site Visit: - Expected Decision Level: Senior Planning Officer ### Written Representations ### Consultations Consultee: Manx Electricity Authority Notes: Comments received Consultee: Highways Division Notes: Objection 08.3.10 - do not oppose has no traffic management, parking or road safety implications, note. amended plans received showing visibility splays. Consultee: Santon Commissioners Notes:**

Officer's Report

The Site

The application relates to the curtilage of a complex of former barns which have been converted to a single residence (see planning history below). The site lies on the southern side of a lane which runs eastward from the Ballavale Road which links the Old and New Castletown Roads (A5 and A25). Opposite the site is Ballavale Cottage - a traditionally styled newly built cottage (as a replacement for the previous cottage on the site - PA 04/0531) and to the east lies Ballavale Farm - a more modern dwelling whose agricultural tie was not complied with and a Certificate of Lawfulness granted in respect of the residential use of the property and site (PA 06/0299). The barns are substantial in area - forming a square of around 35m each side, the western part of which is formed by a dilapidated cottage with brick walling running to the north. The cottage is a very modest building having an area of around 6m by 4m and truly single storey with no accommodation available in the roofspace.

Planning Status

The site lies within an area designated on the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982 as Woodland within a wider area of an Area of High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance .

Within the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, the following policies are judged to be relevant: Environmental Policy 1; Environmental Policy 2; Housing Policy 11.

Planning History

PA 01/01130/A - Approval in principle for conversion of barn to dwelling. Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. This approval is in principle only and will remain valid for a period of two years within which time no development may take place until such time as details of the reserved matters (siting, design, external appearance, internal layout, means of access, landscaping) have been approved by the Planning Authority. Such reserved matters should form the subject of a single application.
2. Prior to the submission of detailed plans, the applicant is advised to consult with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry with regard to the carrying out of a bat check survey.
3. The detailed plans must demonstrate that the building is to be converted so that its existing appearance and character is retained. No approval is hereby granted or implied to any extensions or to the reconstruction of all or any of the existing fabric.

PA 02/01228/B - Conversion of barns to dwelling. Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
2. This approval relates to drawing nos. 52.1.02, 53.2.02, 54.3.02 and 55.4.02.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, all windows and doors must be of timber construction and all windows sliding sash unless otherwise indicated.
4. The roof(s) must be finished in dark natural slate.
5. All plumbing stacks must be constructed internally.
6. The building may only be used as a private residence.
7. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005 (or any Order revoking or re-enacting that Order) no extensions, greenhouses, walls, gates, fences, garden sheds, summerhouses, flag poles, decking, garages, or tanks for the storage of oil for domestic heating shall be erected (other than those expressly authorised by this approval.)
8. Prior to the commencement of the development, a plan must be submitted to indicate the extent of the residential/domestic curtilage, for consideration and approval by the Planning Authority. Following approval by the Planning Authority, such a curtilage shall remain the extent of the residential curtilage in perpetuity.

1. The granting of approval does not sanction in any way the reconstruction of any part of the building, unless otherwise indicated on the approved plan(s).

PA 04/00624/B - Amendments to approved conversion of barns to a dwelling (02/01228B) including creation of a revised vehicular entrance and a staff cottage. Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

1. This approval relates to the plans and information submitted as part of this application, date stamped 29th March 2004 and 6th July 2004.

1. The exterior stonework must be of a traditional nature.

NOTE: Split stone on a backing render is not acceptable as an external finish.

1. The roof(s) must be finished in dark natural slate.

1. All plumbing stacks must be constructed internally.

1. All existing stonework must be retained as such and must not be rendered, painted or similarly treated.

1. The staff accommodation hereby approved may be occupied in association with the main dwelling only and not as a separate and independent unit of residential accommodation.

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005 (or any Order revoking or re-enacting that Order) no extensions, greenhouses, walls, gates, fences, garden sheds, summerhouses, flag poles, decking, garages, or tanks for the storage of oil for domestic heating shall be erected (other than those expressly authorised by this approval.)

1. For the avoidance of doubt, prior to the commencement of the development on site, a plan must be submitted indicating clearly the extent of the residential curtilage of the proposed dwelling.

PA 05/01006/B - Further amendments to approved conversion of barns to a dwelling (02/01228B and 04/00624B). Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

1. This permission relates to the conversion of the existing building to residential accommodation as shown in drawings 2005/020/001, -002 and -003 and the location plan all received on 26th May, 2005 and 2005/020/002 Rev A received on 12th July, 2005.

PA 06/00205/B - Amendments to approved conversion of barns to a dwelling (05/01006B) to incorporate partial demolition and reconstruction. Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.

1. This permission relates to the conversion of the existing buildings to residential accommodation as shown in drawings reference SC946/P/10-01, -10-03 and -12-01 all received on 7th February, 2006 and SC946/P/10-02A and -12-02A.

1. All new stonework must match the existing in terms of the stones themselves and render.

13 May 2010

10/00041/B

1. The roof(s) must be finished in dark natural slate.
2. All plumbing stacks must be constructed internally.
3. All existing stonework must be retained as such and must not be rendered, painted or similarly treated.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2005 (or any Order revoking or re-enacting that Order) no extensions, greenhouses, walls, gates, fences, garden sheds, summerhouses, flag poles, decking, garages, or tanks for the storage of oil for domestic heating shall be erected (other than those expressly authorised by this approval.)

PA 06/02243/B - Necessary demolition of further limited areas of existing structure (Amendments to approved 06/00205/B). Permitted with the following conditions attached:

1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
2. This permission relates to the conversion of the barns to living accommodation as permitted under PA 06/0205 including the re-building of those areas shown in purple and green on plan reference SC946/P/10-01 received on 22nd December, 2006.

The various applications submitted following the granting of detailed permission for the conversion of the barns sought progressively more demolition and rebuilding of the existing fabric as the approved works were commenced and the true condition of the fabric was discovered and Building Regulation approval sought.

PA 08/2324/B - Erection of an annexe to provide ancillary living accommodation. Refused.

The Proposal

Now proposed is the demolition of the redundant cottage and its replacement by a new building to provide a gym, garage and boat store and revisions to the access.

The application includes a structural report which states that the recommendations are based upon a visual inspection of the building. There are "pronounced" steps within the concrete floor within the building, the roof has decayed rafters and the roof on the western pitch has partially collapsed. The walls exhibit some lean with some walling in brick and some in stone, a tree is presently growing from the north gable wall. The report concludes that the work required to convert the building and restore the defective parts would involve the removal of the roof, north and eastern gable walls which are likely to destabilise the remaining walls and as such the building is not considered to be able to be converted practicably or feasibly.

The new building would have a more steeply pitched roof ( 38 degrees compared with 30 degrees) and the walls would be between 200 - 400 mm higher than the existing.

The only application of those approved as set out above, which proposed the use of the building which is the subject of this application, was PA 04/0624 which proposed the use of the cottage and the building alongside as accommodation for staff. The building was to be refurbished and retained and with some rebuilding of the existing walling at the rear of the building alongside the cottage. The building which is in place at present is more dilapidated than at the time of the 2004 approval.

The foot print of the building would be the same as that of the refused ancillary accommodation and would have a similar although not identical external appearance. The driveway would be altered slightly providing improved visibility.

Representations

Department of Transport Highways and Traffic Division raise no objection to this application. The Manx Electricity Authority has provided an advisory note. Santon Commissioners do not object to this application.

Assessment

The previously refused proposal ancillary accommodation and was judged against Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14 of the Strategic Plan as it represented a residential development. However, whilst the building now proposed would have a similar outward appearance, its proposed use as additional facilities to serve the existing house is quite different, representing an extension to the existing dwelling rather than separate residential accommodation in itself. This application should be judged with respect to the present character and appearance of the buildings alongside which form the residential curtilage of a single dwelling formed from the converted and rebuilt barns.

The cottage is not a stand-alone building and it sits as very much part of a complex of buildings, many of which have been substantially re-built. The existing development would not, if proposed now, comply with the provisions of the Strategic Plan in terms of the amount of fabric which had to be re-built and a method statement would have been required which may have demonstrated the amount of walling to be re-built.

The existing redundant building which was at some point a small cottage, is of poor form and the brickwork detracts from the appearance of the remainder of the complex which has been completed to a high standard.

Housing Policy 11 sets out the criteria for assessing proposals for the conversion of existing rural buildings to dwellings. The most pertinent aspect of HP11 is the final paragraph which sets out the presumption against further extensions to such buildings as this would lead to the loss or reduction of the existing character. In this case, the existing situation is considered to detract from what is otherwise a pleasing development. It is judged that the proposed building would enhance the site and the surrounding area by replacing a structure of poor form and consolidating the courtyard layout of the building cluster.

The existing buildings form a three sided court yard with the small redundant cottage building occupying some of the open side of the square layout. It is judged that the construction of the proposed building, in place of the cottage would enhance the existing layout by consolidating the courtyard layout whilst being subordinate in size to the main house so not to detract from it. The use of materials and general design of the building would also compliment the existing buildings. It is considered that the character of the area would be protected in accordance with EP1 and the proposal would also comply with EP2 by not harming the character and quality of the landscape recognised as having High Landscape Value

It is concluded that the proposed development is acceptable and it is recommended that the application be approved. A condition should be attached requiring the building to remain incidental to the use of the main dwelling. It should also be noted that the building, being a new structure, would not comply with HP11 in terms of future applications to convert it to form a dwelling as it would not have social, historic or architectural interest to warrant such a conversion.

Party Status

The local authority is, by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5) (c) and (d), considered an "interested person" and as such should be afforded party status.

The following parties are not granted party status: The Manx Electricity Authority.

The Department of Transport Highways and Traffic Division is now part of the Department of Infrastructure of which the planning authority is part. As such, the Highways and Traffic Division cannot be afforded party status in this instance.

Recommendation

Recommended Decision: Permitted

Date of Recommendation:

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 relates to the erection of a building to provide gym, garage and boat store for use incidental to the main dwelling and creation of new access road as shown by SC946/P/100 01 A, SC946/P/100 03, SC946/P/100 04 and Structural Report all received 13th January 2010 and SC946/P/100 02 A received 2nd March 2010.

C 3.

The approved building shall remain incidental to the use and enjoyment of the residential property Ballavale Barns. I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to the Senior Planning Officer. Decision Made: Permitted Date: 2015/10 Signed: __________________________ Senior Planning Officer