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Application No.: 10/00866/B Applicant: Captain Jim James Proposal: Alterations and extensions to dwelling and erection of a detached garage Site Address: Ecklands Corlea Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3BA ### Considerations Case Officer : Mrs Jade Craig Photo Taken: 29.06.2010 Expected Decision Level: Senior Planning Officer ### Written Representations ### Consultations Consultee : Highways Division Notes: Do not oppose has no traffic management, parking or road safety impliactions. Consultee : Malew Parish Commissioners Notes: do not object.
The application site comprises the curtilage of an existing residential dwelling, plus a field to the rear (field no. 430280). The dwelling is a detached modern bungalow located on Corlea Road in Malew. Also within the site is a former stables block, which is now used as tourist accommodation.
This application proposes various alterations and extensions to the dwelling house, plus the erection of a detached double garage. The proposed alterations to the house include an extension to the lounge on the rear or south elevation, the erection of a porch extension on the side or west elevation, the enclosure of the outside covered porch on the front or north elevation, the addition of a first floor to the dwelling (including dormer windows) and the conversion of the existing garage into living accommodation.
The following previous planning applications are considered relevant in the assessment and determination of this application;
94/01229/B - Permitted 02/02/95 Temporary conversion of stables to living accommodation, The Ranch, Ronague Road, Malew. 94/01292/B - Permitted 27/02/95 Reconstruction of fire destroyed dwelling, The Ranch, Ronague Road, Malew. 95/01257/C - Approved at Appeal 03/09/96 Change of use from living accommodation to tourist accommodations, existing stable block, The Ranch, Ronague Road, Malew.
98/02225/B - Permitted 18/05/99 Alteration to condition of approval for tourist accommodation for longer term lets, Former Stables, Ecklands, Ronague Road, Malew.
98/01511/C - Refused 04/02/99 Additional use of tourist accommodation for permanent residential use, former stables, Ecklands, Ronague Road, Malew.
In terms of local plan policy, the application site is located within a wider area designated as white land, not designated for development. The site is not within a Conservation Area, nor within an area zoned as High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance. On the Draft Area Plan for the South published on 23rd October 2009, the site lies within an area of Incised Slopes, where the Draft Written Plan states;
Landscape Character Area 2 - Ballamodha, Earystane, and St Mark's: This is a fairly resilient landscape which has accommodated incursions of modern built development without severe detriment. However, some of the larger-scale residential developments lack either the topographical setting or the groups of trees which might have mitigated their visual impact.
Environment Policy 4: Extensions of, or additions to, existing residential developments should be so designed, and so landscaped, as to mitigate the landscape impact of both the existing and the proposed development.
The following section is from Draft Planning Policy Statement PPS 2-09, The Role of Landscape Character in Development;
The overall strategy for the protection and enhancement of the Incised Slopes Landscape Character Type is to conserve and enhance: the remote and rural character; the relatively sparse settlement pattern of traditional hamlets and scattered farm buildings; the network of sunken and enclosed rural roads; and the substantial hedgerows and sod banks dividing irregularly-shaped pastoral fields. Key landscape planning considerations in relation to the protection and enhancement of this Landscape Character Type are as follows:-
Due to the land use zoning and as the dwelling already exists, it is considered reasonable to say that in terms of planning policy, the application site represents a detached dwelling in the countryside.
Bearing this in mind, the following policies and paragraphs from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 are considered material to the assessment of the planning application; 7.5.1 Areas of open countryside fall both inside and outside the existing landscape classification system. It is important however that this openness is not detrimentally affected by inappropriate development. Where areas of countryside fall outside the designation of 'High Landscape or Coastal Value and Scenic Significance' or are not recognised within any category contained within any revised landscape assessment in the future, this does not imply that these land areas are poor in appearance or quality. It is recognised that all of the countryside across the Island is generally of a good quality and where development proposals are permitted by other policies of the plan, they should be designed in such a way which helps preserve the rural character of the open countryside. Accordingly, the following general policy is adopted.
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 over-riding 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.
As there is a general policy against development in the Island's countryside, it is important that where development exists, either in an historic or recently approved form, it should not, when altered or extended detract from the amenities of the countryside. Care therefore, must be taken to control the size and form of extensions to property in the countryside. In the case of traditional properties, the proportion and form of the building is sensitively balanced and extensions of inappropriate size or proportions will not be acceptable where these destroy the existing character of the property. In the case of non-traditional properties, where these are of poor or unsympathetic appearance, extensions which would increase the impact of the property will generally not be acceptable. It may be preferable to consider the redevelopment of non-traditional dwellings or properties of poor form with buildings of a more traditional style and in these cases, the Department may consider an increase in size of the replacement property over and above the size of the building to be replaced, where improvements to the appearance of the property would justify this.
Housing Policy 16; The extension of non-traditional dwellings or those of poor or inappropriate form will not generally be permitted where this would increase the impact of the building as viewed by the public.
The Department of Infrastructure's Highways Division do not oppose this application as there are no traffic management, parking or road safety implications.
Malew Parish Commissioners do not object to this application.
The existing bungalow is a non traditional dwelling in the countryside and therefore the proposed alterations and extensions to the dwelling shall be assessed against Housing Policy 16 in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, rather than Housing Policy 15 which is for traditionally styled houses.
As stated in Housing Policy 16, where development already exists in the countryside it is important that when altered or extended, the existing development does not detract from the amenities of the countryside. Care must therefore be taken to control the size and form of extensions to property in the countryside, whether of traditional appearance or not.
The existing dwelling is publicly visible from Corlea Road when approached from a westwards direction and perhaps more so during the winter months when there is less vegetation cover in the hedgerow (a site visit was undertaken on 29th June 2010).
The proposals include various alterations and extensions to the dwelling. There would be a glazed extension to the lounge on the rear or south elevation and a flat roofed porch extension to the side or west elevation. The existing covered porch entrance on the front or north elevation would be enclosed and the existing garage which is connected to the house would be converted to living accommodation. A first floor would be added, including two dormer windows. In addition to this, a detached double garage would be erected on the site, away from the main house and near to the former stable block which is now used as tourist accommodation. The external finishes to the alterations and extensions would match the existing dwelling.
The proposed extensions would be visible from Corlea Road and would therefore increase the visual impact of the dwelling. The extensions which would be visible include the lounge extension to the south elevation, the porch extension to the west elevation and the dormer windows to the north and south elevations. It is considered that due to the design, height and size of the dormer windows, they would increase the overall visual impact of the dwelling. The ridge of the dormer window to the rear would be the same height as the highest ridge of the main house and the dormer to the front elevation would only be slightly lower.
Given that the proposed alterations and extensions would increase the size of the dwelling, it is inevitable that its visual impact would therefore increase. Such an increase in impact of a non traditional dwelling in the countryside is contrary to Housing Policy 16 and would generally not be permitted. It is considered that there are no grounds for allowing this proposal to be permitted as an exception to the planning policy.
In addition to the alterations to the main house, it is also proposed to construct a double garage near to the former stables which are now used as tourist accommodation. The garage would be constructed with 250 mm cavity block work walls which would be rendered externally to match the main house. The roof over would be pitched and the roof covering would be concrete interlocking tiles to match the main house. The garage would be visible from Corlea Road and would have a length of 7 metres, a width of 9.5 metres and from measuring the plans provided, the overall height would be 5.4 metres on the front and side elevations and 4.85 metres on the rear elevation. The proposed garage would exceed the maximum permissible size in the Town and Country Permitted Development Order 2005, which allows a garage to measure a maximum of 6 metres wide, 6 metres long and 4 metres high.
In relation to the main house, the garage would be located approximately 16.5 metres away from the nearest point of the house, which is the south west corner, although it would only be 5 metres away from the former stable block, which is now used as tourist accommodation. It was noticed from both a site visit and an aerial photograph that there are tall hedgerows near to where the proposed garage would be, although these have not been included in the application, so it is not known if it is the intention to retain any of these. However, due to the size and position of the proposed garage, from examining the aerial photograph it appears that it would be necessary to remove some of the hedges which currently hide this part of the site from public view.
From measuring the drawings provided, on the front elevation of the main house, the overall height of the two side wings measures a maximum of 3 metres to eaves level and 5 metres to ridge height, so the height of the garage would be greater than these wings, although smaller than the main roof of the house, which is 6.3 metres by comparison. The ground level slopes away from the front of the house to the rear (the elevations provided show a drop in ground level of approximately 1.1 metres) and because the garage would be located more or less parallel to the rear of the house, the overall height of the garage would therefore appear to be lower than the two side wings of the main house. However, from visiting the site, it is apparent that the site on which the garage would be built is publicly visible from Corlea Road and it would be the initial view of the property when approached from a westwards direction. Overall, it is judged that the new garage would increase the impact of the site as viewed by the public from Corlea Road and it therefore does not comply with Environment Policy 1 in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007.
This proposal is considered to be contrary to Housing Policy 16 and Environment Policy 1 in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007 and it is therefore recommended that the planning application be refused.
It is considered that the following parties, who submitted comments, should be afforded Interested Party Status;
Malew Parish Commissioners. It is considered that the following parties, who submitted comments, should not be afforded Interested Party Status;
The Highways Division is now part of the Department of Infrastructure of which the planning authority is part. As such, the Highways Division cannot be afforded party status in this instance.
Recommended Decision: Refused Date of Recommendation: 16.07.2010 Conditions and Notes for Approval / Reasons and Notes for Refusal
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
R 1. This proposal is contrary to Housing Policy 16 in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, in that the extensions would enlarge a non-traditional dwelling in the countryside and increase the impact of the building as viewed by the public.
R 2. This proposal is contrary to Environment Policy 1 in the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2007, in that the proposed garage would create a new detached structure which would not preserve the rural character of the open countryside.
I confirm that this decision accords with the appropriate Government Circular delegating functions to Senior Planning Officer.
Decision Made : Refused Date : Signed : Senior Planning Officer
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