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Demolition of Existing Dwelling, Attached Storage Barn & Outbuildings known as ‘Cronk-ny-Geayee’, Corlea Road Ballasalla, Isle of Man and Erection of Replacement Earth Sheltered Eco-Dwelling & Workshop/Store.
For
Dr Andrew Marsh & Ms Caroline Raines
July 2010
Kay Associates Ltd Chartered Architects
1.0 Introduction 2.0 Planning Policy Statement 3.0 Relevant Planning History 4.0 Architect's Design Statement
1.1 The application site covers approximately $4,373.4$ square metres $(0.43734$ Hectares) ( 1.08 Acres) and is bounded in Red on the application drawings, representing the proposed residential curtilage of the property known as Cronk-nyGeayee. The proposed residential curtilage sits adjacent to a further area of land (Field No. 434550) under the ownership of the property which extends in total to an area of $7,391.2$ square metres ( 0.73912 Hectares) ( 1.83 Acres) and which is bounded in Blue on the application drawings. 1.2 The site as a whole is situated adjacent to the B39 road to Ronague approx. 150 m West of its' junction with the main Foxdale Road at the top of the Ballamodha Straight. 1.3 A topographical survey has been carried out on the site, and is included in the package of application drawings. From this survey it can be seen that the existing site ranges in level from approximately 100.00 metres at its North- Western boundary to a level of 91.5 metres at its South-Eastern boundary. A fall of approximately 8.50 metres over the length of the site, the aspect being generally a South-East facing slope. The adjacent land falls form this 91.5 m level at its NorthWest boundary to a level of 81.75 m at its South-Eastern boundary, a further fall of 10.25 m . 1.4 Vehicular access to the application site is via new gates and boundary treatment formed along the North Western boundary, the existing vehicular access point from the B39 Ronague Road remaining unchanged within this application, but with visibility splays formed in accordance with the requirements of the Dept. of Infrastructure - Highways Division. 1.5 The foul water drainage from the proposed property will connect to a new Klargester 'Bio-Disc' system, whilst it is proposed that the surface water drainage from the proposed property will partially be mitigated by the earth sheltering, and partly by the use of rainwater harvesting and re-cycling to provide 'Grey-Water' for use in the property for flushing W.C.'s etc. The storage tank, which will be buried beneath the ground level, will have an overflow system to allow discharge of any excess water at peak rainfall periods to a soak-away system. 1.6 The application site currently houses a cottage with attached two storey stone building which has variously been used as storage and additional residential accommodation/garaging. There are a number of smaller detached buildings which had been used for agricultural and storage purposes. The use of the application site from a planning application viewpoint is therefore established as residential.
2.1 The site is not covered by any local plan as it falls outside any main settlement area, and is currently situated within a wide area designated as open countryside on the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Order 1982. This designation has also been maintained in the Draft Southern Area Plan. There is no site specific policy or brief, but due to the presence of the existing dwelling, the site has an established residential status, set within a larger ownership curtilage which is designated as open space/agricultural use within the plan.
There are a number of policies within the Strategic Plan which are relevant to the proposals, the first of these being General Policy 3, and more specifically sections (c) and (d) of this policy, which allows development to be permitted outside of land zoned for development under certain conditions. Section (c) of general Policy 3 states; (c) Previously developed land which contains a significant amount of building; where the continued use is redundant; where redevelopment would reduce the impact of the current situation on the landscape or the wider environment; and where the development proposed would result in improvements to the landscape or wider environment;
The existing site contains both an existing residential dwelling with attached mixed storage and accommodation building, together with detached redundant agricultural sheds and animal houses. The existing group of buildings are generally of poor condition and are visually unattractive and have a detrimental impact on the surrounding landscape.
The applicants believe the application proposals comply fully with section (c) of General Policy 3, the proposals significantly reducing the visual impact of residential development on the site and its surrounding landscape due to its earth sheltered form, whilst significantly reducing the impact of residential development on the wider environment as a result of the range of eco-friendly technologies being employed in its construction and servicing.
Section (d) of General Policy 3 states; (d) The replacement of existing rural dwellings; (Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14);
Therefore replacement dwellings in the countryside should be subject to Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14. Housing Policy 12 states that replacement of an existing dwelling in the countryside will generally be permitted unless it has lost its residential status by abandonment or is of architectural or historic interest. As the existing building was in residential use until mid 2009 it has not lost its residential status, and the existing buildings are not of any architectural or historic interest, then the proposals comply with Housing Policy 12.
Housing Policy 13 relates to rural dwellings which have lost their residential status, which is not the case with the application site and therefore housing Policy 13 does not apply in this case.
Housing Policy 14 States; Where a replacement dwelling is permitted, it must not be substantially different to the existing in terms of siting and size, unless changes of siting or size would result in an overall environmental improvement; the new building should therefore generally be sited on the footprint of the existing, and should have a floor area which is not more than $50 \%$ greater than that of the original building (floor areas should be measured externally and should not include attic space or outbuildings). Generally, the design of the new building should be in accordance with Policies 2-7 of the present Planning Circular 3/91, (which will be revised and issued as a Planning Policy Statement).
Exceptionally, permission may be granted for buildings of innovative, modern design where this is of high quality and would not result in adverse visual impact; designs should incorporate the re-use of such stone and slate as are still in place on the site, and in general, new fabric should be finished to match the materials of the original building.
Consideration may be given to proposals which result in a larger dwelling where this involves the replacement of an existing dwelling of poor form with one of more traditional character, or where, by its design or siting, there would be less visual impact.
The existing dwelling and attached building measure 185.5 Sq.m. in plan area and are on two storeys, giving a total floor area of 371 Square Metres. The outbuilding is a further 43.5 Sq.m. in area, but would normally be excluded from area calculations. The existing dwelling and attached building is located to the North-West corner of the site very close to the B39 road, and as such is readily visible in the area. It is also close to the adjacent dwelling, and were the proposed dwelling to be sited in the same place, the need to remove the overgrown vegetation in front of the existing dwelling in order to provide sufficient natural daylight, would open up the area with a consequential loss of privacy to the residents of the adjacent property known as 'Ecklands'.
It is proposed that the replacement dwelling will therefore be situated further to the South-East of the existing property. Whilst this may not be fully in accordance with HP14, there are a number of reasons for doing this which can be summarised as follows;
The proposed dwelling covers an area of 584 Sq.m. However, as the dwelling is substantially earth sheltered, the visual impact of the proposal is significantly less than that of the existing dwelling. It is noted that were the calculation method for earth sheltered accommodation to be applied, counting $50 \%$ of the actual floor area for developmental size, the floor area of the proposal would equate to an area of 292 Sq.m. which is substantially below the area of the existing dwelling. Coupled to this earth sheltering, the proposal is not visible from other roads within the area, the nearest visibility point being some 500 m away, and the design of the proposal, utilising earth sheltering, Manx stone walling and planted green walls creates a minimal visual impact. Accordingly, the applicants believe the proposal to be an innovative modern design which has a significantly reduced impact from that of the existing dwelling, and therefore is in accordance with Housing Policy 14.
3.1 The applicants are not aware of any planning applications on the site in the past.
During the design process, the applicants architect has carried out consultations with;
Ms Sarah Corlett - Dept. Of Infrastructure - Planning Officer, \& Ms Andrea Georgeson - Dept. Of Infrastructure - Highways Design Engineer. The advice given within these pre-application consultations has been incorporated into the drawings and information which form the basis of this application.
The proposals take the form of a two-storey residential dwelling which utilises the natural slope of the site via cut and fill excavations to earth shelter the majority of the dwelling. The upper storey is formed at ground level and is generally L-shaped accommodating the garage, utility, lounge/dining/kitchen area and the master bedroom suite together with the main entrance to the dwelling. A staircase leads down from this level to the lower ground floor area which houses a multi-function gym/games/cinema room and the bedroom and guest accommodation with associated bathroom facilities. This lower ground floor is substantially earth sheltered, the window cill levels matching the natural ground level externally, the internal finished floor level being approx. 800 mm below external ground level.
The dwelling is earth sheltered by bringing the natural slope of the ground from the Northern boundary with the B39 road up onto the roof of the ground floor accommodation. This earth sheltering is continued around the Eastern side of the dwelling utilising 'Deltalok' bank stabilisation techniques to provide planted slopes which are structurally stable. The roof and the sloping 'Deltalok' walls will be planted with native Manx wildflower and plant species to ensure that the building blends with the natural landscape.
The South facing elevation is non earth sheltered, and contains larger openings which contain a significant amount of glazing, the upper ground floor accommodation having a higher proportion of glazing than the lower ground floor. This South facing glazing maximises the potential benefits of passive solar gain to the dwelling and this, coupled to the earth sheltering and thermal mass of the structure of the dwelling, minimises the heating requirement. It is proposed that the dwelling will be super insulated, all glazing will be triple glazed and the building will be constructed to high levels of air tightness. Ventilation will be provided by a whole house ventilation system which will provide extraction from cooking and bathing areas which will be passed through a heat exchanger to pre-heat fresh air being drawn in from outside and which will be distributed throughout the building.
Whilst this South facing elevation has large areas of glazing, the elevation to the upper floor is constructed from Manx stone, whilst the wall of the lower ground floor is to be clad in 'elt living wall' system, which again will be planted with native Manx plant and grass species. The result is an elevation which will have very little visual impact on the surrounding area, and which will blend in with the natural landscape.
It is proposed that where possible the natural landscape of the site will be retained. However, in order to site the dwelling in the most appropriate location for passive and active solar gains, and to provide safe sight lines for vehicular traffic entering or exiting from the site, it is proposed that some trees and existing fuscia hedging will need to be removed. It is proposed to replace these mostly non-native trees and hedges that are to be removed with new trees and hedges that are more native to the Island, and in greater numbers than those being removed. These will be positioned to provide screening of the proposal from the road boundary, and between the proposed dwelling and the two adjacent residential properties, both to guard the privacy of the future occupants of the proposed dwelling, and that of the adjoining residents.
The residential curtilage of the existing dwelling is not sufficiently large to allow comfortable siting of the proposed dwelling, making use of the natural contours of the site to provide earth sheltering, and to accommodate the various ground source heat pump trenching pipe work, grey water harvesting tank, bio-disc and soakaways etc. It is proposed therefore to slightly enlarge the residential curtilage of the proposal to accommodate all these elements, maintaining a separation from the adjacent open field situated to the South-East. The red line boundary of the proposal therefore delineates the proposed revised residential curtilage, which the applicants note still does not protrude further south than that of the adjacent dwelling to the West of the application site.
In addition to earth sheltering, super-insulation, thermal mass, passive solar gain and the control of air tightness, the proposal will employ a variety of environmentally friendly technologies to service the dwelling. These can be summarised as follows;
Solar Panels - Solar panels are to be mounted on the planted roof of the dwelling to provide hot water heating. This will provide the majority of the hot water heating requirements for the dwelling for the year, minimising the need for fossil fuels.
Ground Source Heat Pump - A ground source heat pump is to be used as the back-up boiler system for space heating for the dwelling, a system which utilises ground 'slinkies' buried within trenches to generate heat via an electrical compressor system. This form of heat production is extremely efficient, developing 4.5 Kw of heat output for each 1 Kw of electricity used in powering the system. The ground source heat pump is to be linked to an under-floor heating system which provides space heating at significantly lower input temperatures than traditional boiler and radiator systems, typically using less than half the energy to produce the same internal temperature.
Wind Turbine - It is proposed that electricity will be generated for use within the proposed dwelling using a 6 Kw 'Proven' wind turbine on a reciprocal metering system. It should be noted that the turbine is not being submitted as part of the planning application for the dwelling, but is the subject of a separate planning application which has been submitted at the same time for consideration by the planning authority.
Rainwater Harvesting - It is proposed that in addition to attenuating the rainwater run-off from the roof by the use of a planted roof system, which mitigates approx. $30 \%$ of the rainfall which lands on it, any remaining rainwater run-off from the roof and from hard-standings will be discharged to a 'K largester' rainwater harvesting tank which will be situated below ground.
This tank, together with its filtration system, will utilise the rainwater and after filtering will pump it back into the dwelling as 'Grey Water' for use in the flushing of W.C.'s, clothes washing etc. The rainwater storage tank will also have an over-flow discharge to a soak-away to deal with excess water in times of storm conditions.
Foul Water Bio-Disc - In order to deal with the foul water drainage from the dwelling it is proposed to utilise a 'Klargester Bio-Disc' which is essentially an individual packaged sewage treatment plant which takes domestic effluent, and after treating it, produces a cleaned effluent which can safely be discharged to a tail drain soak-away or in some circumstances to a water course. The bio-disc will be sized to suit the maximum effluent output from the dwelling.
The need to provide adequate space for the inclusion of these technologies, including separation distances between the dwelling and the bio-disc, the dwelling and the water storage tank and associated soak-away, and between each of these items from each other has necessitated the defining of a slightly enlarged residential boundary for the dwelling which has been clearly denoted on the application drawings, it being bounded in red on the site plan.
Whilst the proposal is uncompromisingly modern in its form, the materials used and the utilisation of earth-sheltering and a variety of sustainable technologies significantly reduces both the visual and environmental impact of the dwelling, which whilst it has a larger floor area than the existing dwelling and other buildings on the site, results in a significantly reduced impact than that which currently exists. The proposal will be substantially carbon neutral, the development generating the majority of the electricity required to run its' heating and ventilation systems, whilst minimising the levels of heating required due to the earth sheltering, superinsulation and air tightness, and making maximum use of passive solar gains. This means that in addition to a lower visual impact on the immediate area, the proposal addresses its' responsibilities on a wider national and international level to reduce the carbon footprint of its occupants.
3D visualisations of the proposed replacement dwellings are included in Appendix B of this design statement, which demonstrate that although the application proposals are for a dwelling with a larger footprint than the existing dwelling, the visual impact of the proposals are minimal, the adjacent rendered and painted dwellings being significantly more visible and therefore having more visual impact.
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