Creation of new road from existing access

Why Was This Refused?

• ✓Access onto a fast road with poor visibility creates unacceptable road safety risk for commercial use
• ✓Required 120-metre visibility splay cannot be achieved — land not in applicant's control
• ✓Removal of vegetation and hard surfacing harms visual amenity and nature conservation designation
• ✓Loss of curragh habitat (marshy grassland and willow scrub) on a designated conservation site
• ✓Retrospective application — works already carried out without approval
• ✓highways
• ✓access
• ✓character
• ✓materials

This retrospective application sought approval for widening the entrance to Field 134801 on the eastern side of Clennagh Road, between Sandygate and Sulby, to 7 metres to allow safe commercial access. The site lies within a Nature Conservation Zone, Nature Reserve and Site of Ecological Importance under the Isle of Man Development Plan 1982. The required 120-metre visibility splay in both directions, as recommended by the Department of Transport, cannot be achieved because the land needed is not within the applicant's ownership or control. Additionally, the works — including removal of vegetation and creation of hard surfacing — have damaged the visual character of the area and harmed the site's nature conservation designation, with Manx National Heritage noting the loss of curragh habitat including marshy grassland and willow scrub.

The access was refused on three grounds: it creates an unacceptable road safety risk by increasing traffic on a fast road with poor visibility; the required 120-metre visibility splay cannot be achieved as the land is not in the applicant's control; and the removal of vegetation and hard surfacing has caused harm to the visual amenity and nature conservation designation of the site. The Highways Division concluded that the access cannot be improved to make it acceptable.

Policies Assessed (1)

Planning History (1)

Documents (21)