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3.7 Onchan Stadium provides a wide variety of facilities which are available for local residents as well as visitors. The Park has informal play facilities such as swings, a slide, climbing frame etc as well as organised activities such as the karting, boats, crazy golf, putting, squash, tennis, football and bowls. There is also an amusement arcade, café and licensed function room available. The land to the north of the Birch Hill estate has previously had permission granted in principle for the creation of a golf course (PA 87/1043) and of course there is the existing golf course at the King Edward Bay Country Club. 3.8 The Department is aware of a general concern that there is a shortfall in the amount of space available for children's play. Birch Hill has provided a great deal of dwellings with a disproportionate amount of space provided for play facilities. Similarly Lakeside Gardens has one play area which is considered by some to be inadequate for the amount of housing which surrounds it. Ballachurry (from Governor's Road to Heywood Park) has limited play facilities immediately available to the children who live there. 3.9 It is difficult to provide retrospectively for areas which have already been developed as the available land has often already been used for building. This is particularly difficult if the potential for further expansion of residential development into open areas is to be resisted as further residential development could present an opportunity to provide play facilities for areas which have previously had inadequate play areas provided. Expansion of recreational facilities or the provision of such facilities on agricultural land adjoining the housing areas is one option, and in the case of Birch Hill, Lakeside and Ballachurry, land is certainly there into which to expand if it is felt appropriate. However, access to such land is often problematical and the availability of the land in terms of whether it is for sale, is seldom straightforward.
3.10 The Department has embraced a number of policies within its various plans to support the development of tourism on the Island and in this respect Onchan is no exception. However, it is essential to ensure that development is not detrimental to the amenities of the area by virtue of noise, nuisance to adjacent land users, traffic movements, parking provision or visual intrusion where the facilities themselves may destroy or undermine the very landscape or opportunity which attracted the visitors there in the first place. The Department has considered the issue of designating land which may be suitable for new tourist developments and has concluded that the only sites which are suitable for new tourist developments are:
3.11 The Douglas Bay Hotel site (Area 3) has had planning approval for the erection of a large corporate headquarters but this has not been executed to date. The site has clearly been used for tourism-related purposes in the past and is considered suitable for such purposes now. Any building or buildings to be built upon the site must however acknowledge the prominent position of the site. 3.12 The Majestic Hotel site (Area 4) has also previously been used for tourismrelated purposes and is considered suitable for such uses now. 3.13 The Howstrake Holiday Camp (Area 5) has a previous history as having been used for tourism and is in dire need of attention and restoration. The 1989 Onchan Local Plan provided for the development of the site for tourism with some residential: however this policy was accompanied by a provision which permitted a five year period for an application to be approved in detail for such a development: failing this the site would revert to having an accepted use as Open Space where development would not be approved. Since that five year rule became applicable the site has remained derelict with the buildings falling further into disrepair and the site remaining as unattractive as it has been for the previous decade and before. The Department initially considered that rather than the site remaining derelict and unattended, some development may achieve the restoration of the site for the benefit of all who may view it. However, after careful reconsideration, the Department considers that the benefits of restoring some of the site would be outweighed by the permanent presence of buildings on the site, in a position where such buildings have not been for some considerable time. The Department is aware this is one of the few headlands in Onchan which has not been subject to development and as such, the Department would wish to continue with the policy contained in the previous Onchan Local Plan that, having failed to secure a detailed approval for a sympathetic development on the site within the five year life of the previous local plan, that the site return to Open Space. The Department would encourage the possible future use of the site for purposes of Public Open Space with provision of a public right of way through the site to Groudle Beach and Glen. 3.14 Existing facilities may require expansion or additional facilities, including the Groudle Glen Railway and Glen Dhoo Camp site and policies should be included to provide for appropriate expansion in these cases. There are existing facilities available at the King Edward Bay Golf Course and Country Club which may require expansion and/or alteration and provided that these do not interfere with the amenities of the area in visual or ecological terms or the amenities of adjacent residents, these will generally not be opposed where they are of an appropriate scale and design.
3.15 The Department recognises the importance to tourists and locals alike of the Manx Electric Railway which operates within the study area. As such, the Department would wish to provide for the appropriate expansion and improvement of these facilities. In order to promote walking within the area, the Department would wish to encourage the Department of Transport in the provision of further footpaths in Onchan if this is considered appropriate.
O/TRT/P/3 3.21 THE PROVISION OF TOURIST ACCOMMODATION MAY BE PERMITTED WITHIN THE STUDY AREA WHERE THIS IS EITHER:
O/TRT/P/4 3.22 THE DEPARTMENT WILL NOT OPPOSE PROPOSALS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF FACILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH EITHER THE GROUDLE GLEN OR MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAYS WHERE THESE ARE APPROPRIATE IN SIZE, SCALE AND APPEARANCE TO THEIR LOCATION AND PURPOSE.
THE DEPARTMENT WOULD ENCOURAGE THE APPLICANT IN THE PREPARATION OF SCHEMES IN ACCORDANCE WITH POLICIES O/RES/P/15, O/RES/P/16 AND O/RES/P/17 TO CONSIDER THE INTRODUCTION OF A PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY THROUGH THE SITE FROM THE BALLACOTTIER ROAD TO THE CREG-NYBAA.
O/RES/P/19
THE ERECTION OF NEW RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES MAY BE PERMITTED WITHIN AREAS DESIGNATED FOR RESIDENTIAL USE WHERE THESE WOULD FIT IN WITH THE DENSITY, MASSING, DESIGN AND CHARACTER OF EXISTING ADJACENT DWELLINGS.
O/RES/P/20 4.65 EXCEPT WHERE REQUIRED OTHERWISE BY THE LOCAL PLAN, CAR PARKING STANDARDS OF AT LEAST THREE SPACES PER DWELLING WHICH MAY INCLUDE A GARAGE WILL BE APPLIED TO ALL NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE LOCAL PLAN AREA. PERMISSION WILL NOT GENERALLY BE FORTHCOMING FOR EXTENSIONS OR CONVERSIONS WHICH RESULT IN A LOSS OF PARKING SPACE BEHIND THE BUILDING LINE.
O/RES/P/21 4.66 EXTENSIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY WILL GENERALLY NOT BE OPPOSED WHERE SUCH PROPOSALS ARE APPROPRIATE IN TERMS OF SCALE, MASSING, DESIGN, APPEARANCE AND IMPACT ON ADJACENT PROPERTY.
O/RES/P/22 4.67 OUTSIDE THOSE AREAS DESIGNATED FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT NEW DWELLINGS WILL GENERALLY NOT BE PERMITTED WITHIN THE LOCAL PLAN AREA. THIS APPLIES PARTICULARLY TO THE RURAL PART OF THE DISTRICT WHERE THE COUNTRYSIDE IS ALREADY PROTECTED BY PLANNING CIRCULAR 1/88 THE PROVISIONS OF WHICH WILL
CONTINUE TO BE APPLIED. IN ADDITION IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE COUNTRYSIDE IN ITS ENTIRETY WITHIN THE DISTRICT IS DESIGNATED BY THE LOCAL PLAN AS OF HIGH LANDSCAPE VALUE AND SCENIC SIGNIFICANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE ISLAND STRATEGIC PLAN EASTERN SECTOR (PLANNING CIRCULAR 9/91).
4.68 ALL NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT MUST COMPLY WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT'S BOOKLET, "MANX ROADS".
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