Officer Recommendation Memo

Department Of Local Government And The Environment ### Memorandum To: Senior Planning Officer From: Miss Sarah Corlett, Planning Officer Subject: PAs 03/1202 and 1203 - Ballaveare, Port Soderick, Braddan Date: 21st April, 2008 The above two applications proposed the following: - PA 03/1202 - erection of an outbuilding to provide garaging, workshop/store and additional living accommodation and - PA 03/1203 - alterations and extensions to dwelling. Both applications were permitted on appeal after having been refused initially and at review. - PA 03/1202 was permitted on the basis that the site was not located in an open countryside area and whilst a sizeable building, would not be harmful to the area and some of its uses would be ancillary to the occupation of the main dwelling on the site. - PA 03/1203 was permitted despite the concern expressed by the Planning Committee about the size of the resultant dwelling. The Inspector noted that whilst policies to protect the expansion of existing properties in the countryside were reasonable and appropriate, that it was not so appropriate to apply these policies with the same rigor when a development is within a settlement limit and on land zoned residentially. This reference to residential designation referred to the draft Braddan Area Plan which, at the time had been the subject of a public inquiry and the Inspector's report, all of which redefined the hamlet from Open Space to Residential. The Braddan Local Plan of 1991 designated the hamlet as Open Space with a reference to a number of hamlets in the plan area which warranted study to investigate whether further development should be permitted. These studies were not undertaken, however, the draft Area Plan considered the settlements referred to in the Local Plan and made recommendations as to whether they should be expanded or not and if so, in what form. These permissions were granted on 9th July, 2004 for a period of 4 years each. The applicant now seeks an extension of the permissions for a further two years. Her personal circumstances have changed considerably since then and she has tried to sell another property whose sale would have funded the approved works. Since the approval, the status of the draft Braddan Area Plan has changed in that it has been withdrawn and policy guidance for the parish reverts back to the provisions of the Local Plan of 1991. As such the site is no longer designated as Residential but there is provision for the consideration of Ballaveare for further development if appropriate, under the provisions of Planning Circular 2/92. Since the identification of the hamlet as an area for further study and since the adoption of Planning Circular 2/92, a number of developments have been permitted within the hamlet - a new dwelling has been permitted alongside Fuchsia Cottage (PA 05/00244), a new dwelling to the rear of another. Ballaveare (PA 00/0769), a new dwelling adjacent to Sunnyside (PA 94/00344). As such, significant development which is more prominent than what is proposed here has been permitted. Since the approval of this scheme, the Strategic Plan has been adopted which sets out policy guidance on the alteration and extension of existing traditional properties in the countryside. These policies require that generally such extensions are not excessive in size and do not exceed 50% of the size of the original dwelling. However, the Inspector concluded that the site does not lie in the countryside and as such the general concern about the size of extensions in such areas should not be applied in this case. The physical context of the site has changed in that there are more dwellings and the hamlet is even more built-up than it was when the approvals were granted. As such, there would not appear to be any changes in policy which would not justify a refusal of these applications and as such it is recommended that an extension to the permissions which were granted should be allowed. Signed ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................