DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 21/00833/B Applicant: Mr Geoffrey & Mrs Elizabeth Christian Proposal: Creation of a parking space with associated vehicular access Site Address: 16 Ballamaddrell Port Erin Isle Of Man IM9 6BB Enforcement/Planning Assistant: Ms Charlotte Gatt Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 14.09.2021 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

C 1. Prior to the commencement of the development hereby approved, specification shall be submitted to and approved in writing, which details how the proposed driveway will be surfaced with drainage to prevent water run-off onto the highway. The development shall be undertaken in accordance with the approved details.

Reason: to avoid water run-off onto the highway, in the interests of highway safety. N 2. The developer would need to enter into a Section 109A Highway Agreement in order to undertake works on the existing highway. This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. It is considered that the proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, and is recommended for approval. Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision hereby approved relates to drawings and documents titled; Document Register, Cover and Support Letter, Existing Site and Location Plans, Proposed Site Plan and Visibility Splays all recorded as being received by the Department on 8th July 2021.

_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

None _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report

THE SITE

1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling - an end of terrace property which sits to the north east of Rushen United's football ground. - 1.2 The dwelling has no on-site parking and simply a pedestrian path from the south-east and grassed garden to the front, although it is noted that the applicants benefit from a reserved parking space. - 1.3 The dwelling is typical of those in Ballamaddrell - single storey, finished in stone cladding throughout and with large windows and a glazed door and side light. - 1.4 Immediately adjacent to the site is a row of flat roofed garages, just south west of this is a large car parking area. At the time of the site visit there were a number of vehicles parked on the street with little opportunity for additional parking.

2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 Proposed is the creation of vehicular access into the front garden. The access and driveway will effectively take up just over 50% of the front garden. Plans have been provided to 43m sight lines to the south-west of the property and 43m sight lines to the north-east of the property.

2.3 The proposal would create a hardstanding are for the parking of vehicles approximately

• 7.4m in width and 7.3m in length at its shortest point.

- 3.0 PLANNING POLICY

3.1 The site is zoned as predominantly residential on the Area Plan for the South 2013. The site is not within a Conservation Area. The Isle of Man Indicative Flood Maps - Surface Water Flood Risk classifies the area as having no risk of flooding. - 3.2 The Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 contains General Policy 2 which states in part; " Development which is in accordance with the land-use zoning and proposals in the appropriate Area Plan and with other policies of this Strategic Plan will normally be permitted, provided that the development: …

• (b) respects the site and surroundings in terms of the siting, layout, scale, form, design and landscaping of buildings and the spaces around them;
• (c) does not affect adversely the character of the surrounding landscape or townscape; …

• (g) does not affect adversely the amenity of local residents or the character of the locality;
• (h) provides satisfactory amenity standards in itself, including where appropriate safe and convenient access for all highway users, together with adequate parking, servicing and manoeuvring space;
• (i) does not have an unacceptable effect on road safety or traffic flows on the local highways…"

3.3 The Residential Design Guide contains guidance in relation to the creation of off-street parking and preserving gardens. - 3.4 The Manual for Manx Road Stipulates; 11.6.3 If the driveway is to be used as both vehicular and pedestrian access to the dwelling, the parking area should have a minimum width of 3.4 m; otherwise the width can be reduced to a recommended minimum of 2.5 m, unless adjacent to boundaries when the recommended minimum width is 3.0 m.

- 4.0 PLANNING HISTORY

4.1 There are no previous planning applications on the application site.

- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 All representations can be viewed in full online.

5.2 No comments from neighbouring properties at the time of writing. - 5.3 Port Erin Commissioners have commented - "The Board of Port Erin Commissioners discussed the above application at its meeting on 10th August 2021 and has resolved to support the application." (11.08.21) - 5.4 DOI Highway Services provide the following comments; "The proposal raises no significant road safety or highway network efficiency issues. Accordingly, Highway Services raise no objection to the proposal subject to the conditions that all vehicular access arrangements accord to drawing No. 1925-02 and that the reserved parking space is removed upon completion of the driveway. An advisory for a S109(A) Highway Agreement to apply too." (02.08.21)

• 5.4.1 DOI Highway Services also provided the following comment; "The plans submitted suggest that the new vehicular access will fall toward the existing public highway. No drainage arrangements have been shown that would intercept surface water runoff from the driveway before it drained onto the highway. This would contravene Section 58 of the Highway Act 1986 and guidance contained in Chapter 16 of the Manual for Manx Roads. Recommendation: DEFER pending further information with regard to private drainage arrangements for the driveway." (13.08.21)
• 6.0 ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues in the consideration of this application are:

• o Impact on the wider street scene
• o Impact for users of the site
• o Highway safety
• o Drainage

6.2 Impact on wider street scene.

• 6.2.1 The estate has a mix of planted and grassed front gardens, paved front gardens with and without planting and some have vehicular accesses with all of the front garden area hard surfaced. Some dwellings leading up to this property have vehicular parking although one is paved but without a dropped kerb.

6.3 Impact for users of the site.

6.3.1 The proposal would remove the separate footpath to create a larger area of landscaping. The newly block paved area would create a shared pedestrian access to the property, with access to the dwelling via a ramped enterance.

• 6.3.2 The size of the parking bay meets reqirements for a disabled parking area with enough room for pedestrian access and is therefore considered acceptable for users of the site.
• 6.3.3 The proposal would maintain the garden in front of the living room window, and result in the parking being extended in front of the bedroom window.
• 6.3.4 It is considered that the proposal is acceptable in regard to this issue.

6.4 Highway safety.

6.4.1 The comments from D.O.I Highways confirm that the proposal raises no significant road or highway network efficiency issues. The proposal is therefore considered to be acceptable in regard to this issue.

6.5 Highway Drainage

• 6.5.1 The concerns raised are noted and a condition is proposed to respond to this.

- 7.0 CONCLUSION

7.1 It is considered that the proposal complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, and is recommended for approval. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS

8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019, the following persons are automatically interested persons:

• (a) the applicant (including an agent acting on their behalf);
• (b) any Government Department that has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (c) the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure;
• (d) Manx National Heritage where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (e) Manx Utilities where it has made written representations that the Department considers material;
• (f) the local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated; and
• (g) a local authority adjoining the authority referred to in paragraph (f) where that adjoining authority has made written representations that the Department considers material.

8.2 The decision maker must determine:

• o whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
• o whether there are other persons to those listed above who should be given Interested Person Status.

I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status

Decision Made : Permitted Date : 23.09.2021 Determining officer

Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management

Customer note

This copy of the officer report reflects the content of the file copy and has been produced in this form for the benefit of our online services/customers and archive records.