Preliminary Officer Report April 2004

Preliminary Report 7th April 2004 Brough Jairg House is accessed via a lane which extends westwards from Ballaugh Village opposite St Mary's Church. The building group, which is made up of a house and a number of stone outbuildings and an agricultural shed, is not visible from the Village but is discernible in the landscape from the public footpath which follows the route of the lane before it splits off away from the drive to the house. The route described as 'driveway' on the plans is a grass track. The application describes the building as an existing 'pair of cottages'. The proposal is to renovate the cottages to form a single dwelling. The information submitted is not persuasive enough to allow one to judge that these 'cottages' have not lost their residential status. The application should have been described as an application to reinstate the residential status of two former cottages and renovation works to allow use as a single dwelling. Ballaugh Commissioners have pointed out that there is no justification for this dwelling given approval for other farm workers' dwellings in the area in recent years in association with Brough Jairg. ### History - 88/1448 - AiP erection of 2 semi-detached dwellings - approved at Review - 91/979 - Erection of 2 semi-detached dwellings - approved - 95/1248 - Erection of 2 semi-detached dwellings - refused at review - no need - 96/791 - Erection of farmworker's dwelling - approved The building which is subject to this application is the most northerly sited building in the group. In terms of its features: - Earth is banked up against the western and northern elevations - Part of the southern half of the building has been used as a garage/store area and is open along this southern gable. - The roof is largely intact but is showing signs of failure and undulates along its entire length. - The site is overgrown and whilst the building may have been using as cottages in the past, this use has long since lapsed. Planning Circular 3/89 'Renovation of buildings in the countryside' states that buildings should be Registered or worthy of such, have particular architectural historic or social interest or contribute beneficially to the character of the countryside as viewed from highways footpaths or other places accessible to the public. The Circular requires that the building is substantially intact and structurally capable of renovation. The building may just be visible from the public footpath but in its current state it would not be readily seen. The building could probably be judged to be substantially intact but it is not immediately obvious that the building is structurally capable of renovation. mortar appears to be sandy soil and I am concerned about the implications of excavating the land to the rear of the building which has been shown on the section drawing. Whilst the works required to the roof have not been shown I suspect that the building and part of the upper walls will have to be rebuilt. There is not indication of whether the propped dwelling is to be sold off separately or used in association with the main house/farm. Whilst there is probably sufficient reason to refuse this application is its current form, perhaps the agent should be given the opportunity to respond to the concerns highlighted above. In respect of the Ballaugh Commissioners' concerns, only one farm worker's house was permitted and as no agricultural case has been made the application should be considered in accordance with Planning Circular 3/89 only.