DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 23/00915/C Applicant: Mr Timothy Byrne Proposal: Part-retrospective change of use of Outhouse 2 from residential to commercial use in connection with a perfume business, including use as an office, workshop and for training/educational purposes Site Address: May Hill House Summerland Ramsey Isle Of Man IM8 2EF Planning Officer: Mr Toby Cowell Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 09.01.2024

Conditions and Notes for Approval

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.

• C 2. The use of the premises for educational and training purposes hereby permitted shall be limited to the accommodation of up to 4 people at any one time for no more than 3 hours per day at a frequency of no more than 2 times per calendar month.

Reason: The application has been assessed purely on the basis of the frequency of use described in the submission. Any intensification of use would require further assessment as to its wider highways and amenity impact.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

The use of the existing residential outbuilding for commercial purposes, including use as a workshop, office and for education/training purposes is considered to be acceptable in principle, without detriment to the amenities of surrounding residential amenities or the safety and convenience of the local highway network. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 2 and Transport Policies 4 and 7 of the Strategic Plan (2016).

Plans/Drawings/Information; This approval relates to drawings referenced; Site location plan Existing ground floor plan Covering letter Received 04.08.23 Amended proposed plans and elevations Revised covering letter Received 06.11.23 _______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The application site is the residential curtilage of May Hill House (formerly Cronk Brae), Summerland, Ramsey, a large, detached, two-storey property, built in a modem gothic style, with steep pitches and a tower. It is located in a prominent position on the eastern side of May Hill separated from Summerland by Queen's Pier Road. The property was Registered (RB 206) on 18th October 2002; the main dwelling itself is Registered, while the outbuildings and garden land and wall surrounding fall outside of the Registration.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Part-retrospective planning permission is sought for a change of use of one of the outbuildings serving the property, 'Outhouse 2', from residential to commercial in connection with a perfume business, including use as an office, workshop and for training/educational purposes. The supporting covering letter notes that the applicant makes perfumes and cosmetics within the outbuilding, and they would like to accommodate 1-4 people for education/training purposes in this building for approximately 2-3 hours during the day, once or twice a month. The letter states that no other employees work for the business, with no internal or external changes required to the main house or outbuilding/s as a result of the change of use. - 2.2 The application was originally submitted on the basis and understanding of the applicant that planning permission had previously been granted for a change of use in 2004 to the building to be used as a workshop/office in connection with the perfume business, with the proposals seeking an additional use of the building for training/educational purposes. In the absence of any planning permission present on record for such a change of use, the application has been amended to seek planning permission a change of use in connection with all elements of the business, including those which have been ongoing for some time (i.e. since 2004/5).

- 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 Planning Approval and Registered Building Consent was sought for the "demolition of existing boiler room and remodelling of existing pantry, construction of a new private dance studio and family room extension with balcony area and glazed link and remodelling of existing hard landscaping", both of which were allowed at appeal in 2015 (14/00767/CON and 14/00766/GB).

3.2 This follows the previous granted of planning permission and registered building consent for the "Demolition of existing outhouse and boiler room, creation of glazed link between existing kitchen and conservatory, re-roofing of existing pantry and extension of existing paved area", the decisions for which were issued in December 2014. Such applications had been submitted following the original refusal of planning permission and registered building consent for the previous iteration of the scheme which were subsequently allowed at appeal. It is unclear which of the two schemes were subsequently implemented. - 3.3 Planning Approval and Registered Building Consent were both previously issued in 2007 for the retention of the conservatory to the rear extension (07/01337/CON and 07/01338/GB).

- 4.0 PLANNING POLICY

4.1 The application site is identified in the Ramsey Local Plan as land zoned for 'predominantly residential' purposes within the defined settlement of Ramsey. The site is not within a Conservation Area however the main dwelling itself is Registered Building. A small portion of the site is subject to a 'low likelihood' or surface water flooding. - 4.2 The following policies from the 2016 Strategic Plan are considered pertinent in the assessment of this application;

Strategic Policy

• 2 Priority for new development to identified towns and villages
• 3 To respect the character of our towns and villages 5 Design and visual impact

Spatial Policy 2 Development in Service Centres General Policy 2b,c,g General Development Considerations Environment Policy 42 Designed to respect the character and identity of the locality Business Policy 7 Office development Transport Policy

• 4 Highways safety 7 Parking

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 Ramsey Town Commissioners - No objection to the amended plans. (16.11.23) - 5.2 Highways Services - The development would have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking, as the site is in a sustainable location, there's parking available on street and the proposals are relatively small in size. (11.08.23 and

• 07.11.23)

5.3 Manx Utilities Authority - No response received at the time of writing.

- 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The site relates to an existing single residential property, whereby one of the outbuildings has been used by the applicants in connection with their perfume business for nearly the last 20 years, albeit without the benefit of planning permission. The business

• appears to be of a low intensity which does not utilise any outside employment, and effectively comprises a modest home based business which presents little impact on the surrounding locality in terms of traffic generation or residential amenity impact. Indeed, the principle of 'home based' work or businesses is generally supported at para. 9.3.4 of the Strategic Plan (2016) where this would not result in the employment of staff or in day to day callers.
• 6.2 Whilst it is recognised that the proposals seek to introduce an educational/training element to the business which would result in outside visitors to the premises, this would be on a notably low level and largely infrequent as noted in the applicant's covering letter. In any case, the site is located in a highly sustainable location as noted by Highway Services with parking freely available on the surrounding streets to visitors.
• 6.3 The location of the existing business within the residential curtilage is further noted as being sited a sufficient distance from surrounding residential properties to ensure that their amenities would be sufficiently safeguarded. This is particularly acute in the context of the proposed low intensity use of the premises for educational/training purposes. It would however be necessary to limit the intensity of use to align with the premise on which the application was submitted by way of condition.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 The use of the existing residential outbuilding for commercial purposes, including use as a workshop, office and for education/training purposes is considered to be acceptable in principle, without detriment to the amenities of surrounding residential amenities or the safety and convenience of the local highway network. The proposals therefore are deemed to comply with Strategic Policy 5, Spatial Policy 2 and Transport Policies 4 and 7 of the Strategic Plan

(2016). The application is therefore recommended for approval.

- 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Acting 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

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 11.01.2024

Determining officer

Signed : A MORGAN Abigail Morgan Acting Head of Development Management

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