Allowed
16 September 2011 · Delegated
Field 321916, Cooil Road, Douglas, Isle Of Man, IM4 2ah
This decision was appealed
Appeal allowed
The application sought permission to erect a steel-framed agricultural shed measuring approximately 32 metres by 20 metres with a ridge height of 5 metres on a sloping field north of the A24, accessed via a publicly accessible lane known as a Greenway. The building was intended for housing animals and storing animal feed, with the ground level reduced by around 2 metres to partially sink the structure, and a hard-standing area running the full width of its southern elevation. The two decisive planning concerns were agricultural necessity and visual impact. Additionally, the building would sit in isolation from any existing building group, and the proposed landscaping was insufficient to screen or mitigate its visual impact, placing it in conflict with policy EP15 on agricultural building design and siting.
Refusal was based on two grounds: DEFA's assessment that the building was not essential to agriculture, meaning it could not qualify as an exceptional form of countryside development under GP3(f); and the building's isolated siting away from existing structures, combined with inadequate landscaping, which would cause unacceptable visual harm contrary to EP15.
General Policy 3
exceptions to the presumption against development in the countryside. At part (f) provision is made for development that is recognised as being essential to the conduct of forestry or agriculture.
General Policy 3: Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of: (a) essential housing for agricultural workers who have to live close to their place of work; (Housing Policies 7, 8, 9 and 10); (b) conversion of redundant rural buildings which are of architectural, historic, or social value and interest; (Housing Policy 11); (c) previously developed land (1) 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; (d) the replacement of existing rural dwellings; (Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14); (e) location-dependent development in connection with the working of minerals or the provision of necessary services; (f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry; (g) development recognised to be of overriding national need in land use planning terms and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative; and (h) buildings or works required for interpretation of the countryside, its wildlife or heritage. 6.4 Planning Agreements 6.4.1 Where development is acceptable and in accordance with the provisions of this Plan and the relevant Area Plan, but raises issues which cannot be addressed by the imposition of planning conditions, the Department will seek to conclude an Agreement with the developer under Section 13 of the 1999 Town and Country Planning Act.
Environment Policy 15
relates to new agricultural building and sets out the main criteria for assessing proposals for agricultural development. These are stated as being the siting, design and use of materials of the proposed building(s).
Environment Policy 15: Where the Department is satisfied that there is agricultural or horticultural need for a new building (including a dwelling), sufficient to outweigh the general policy against development in the countryside, and that the impact of this developme nt including buildings, accesses, servicing etc. is acceptable, such development must be sited as close as is practically possible to existing building groups and be appropriate in terms of scale, materials, colour, siting and form to ensure that all new d evelopments are sympathetic to the landscape and built environment of which they will form a part. Only in exceptional circumstances will buildings be permitted in exposed or isolated areas or close to public highways and in all such cases will be subject to appropriate landscaping. The nature and materials of construction must also be appropriate to t he purposes for which it is intended. Where new agricultural buildings are proposed next to or close to existing residential properties, care must be taken to ensure that there is no unacceptable adverse impact through any activity, although it must be b orne in mind that many farming activities require buildings which are best sited, in landscape terms, close to existing building groups in the rural landscape.
Allowed