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THE APPLICATION SITE AND PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT The application site comprises a parcel of land that is located between existing residential development on Ramsey Road in Laxey. The proposed development comprises of the erection of a dwelling on the application site. PLANNING HISTORY
The application site and adjoining land has been the subject of a number of previous planning applications that consider potentially relevant to the assessment of this current planning application:
Planning application 87/00364/A sought approval in principle to erect a dwelling with a garage on land adjacent to Nirvana, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 15th May 1987, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 4th June 1987.
Planning application 87/00472/A sought approval in principle to erect a split-level bungalow on land adjoining South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 1st May 1987, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 21st May 1987.
Planning application 87/04643/A sought approval in principle to erect a dwelling on land between Nirvana and South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 25th March 1988, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 18th April 1988.
Planning application 88/01226/A sought approval in principle for the erection of 5 No. dwellings on land between Nirvana and South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 4th November 1988, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 22nd December 1988. The Planning Committee subsequently confirmed the approval at review on the 3rd March 1989, with the review approval decision notice issued on the 30th March 1989.
Planning application 90/04287/A sought approval in principle for erection of a dwelling on land adjoining South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 10th May 1991, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 30th May 1991.
Planning application 92/01107/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling with garage and swimming pool on land adjacent to South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 18th December 1992, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 12th January 1993.
Planning application 92/01714/A sought approval in principle for the development of 3 residential plots on land between Nirvana and South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 30th April 1993, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 25th May 1993. N.B. The microfiche record of the application file does not contain any drawings, meaning that I have been unable to identify the defined application site.
Planning application 94/00694/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling with a garage on plot 1, The Creggans, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 11th November 1994, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 9th December 1994.
Planning application 94/00695/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling on plot 2, The Creggans, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 11th May 1994, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 2nd December 1994.
Planning application 95/00842/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling with a garage and a swimming pool on land adjacent to South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was refused on the 13th September 1996. N.B. The microfiche record of the application file is missing, meaning that I have been unable to identify the defined application site.
Planning application 97/02245/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling with a garage and a swimming pool on land forming part of South Court, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 26th May 1998, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 27th May 1998. Following a formal response by the applicant the expiry date for this approval was subsequently extended by the Planning Committee until the 27th May 2006.
Planning application 01/00814/A sought approval in principle for the erection of a dwelling on plot 3, The Creggans, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 22nd February 2002, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 25th February 2002.
Planning application 04/01591/B sought approval for the erection of a dwelling and a garage and the formation of a new driveway on plot 3, The Creggans, Ramsey Road, Laxey. This planning application was initially considered and approved on the 18th February 2005, with the initial approval decision notice issued on the 23rd February 2005. N.B. The application site for this previous planning application is the same as the land outlined in blue (additional land within the control of the applicant) for the current planning application.
I have placed details of these previous planning applications on the file for this current planning application. Unfortunately due to problems with the microfiche reader I have been unable to print off details of all of the microfiched applications and have had to rely on transcribing details onto blank maps. Fortunately, I have
managed to get copies of the details of planning application 97/02245/B, which is probably the most relevant of the previous planning applications.
Laxey Village Commissioners initially objected to the proposed development on the grounds that they consider the proposal to be an overdevelopment of the application site. Following the receipt of amended drawings and additional information they advised that they had no objection to the proposed development subject to a condition linking the defined red line (application site) and blue line (additional land within the control of the applicant) together so as to rule out any possible future extensions or additional building on this land.
The Department of Transport Highways Division initially objected to the proposed development on the grounds that they consider there to be insufficient details of the proposed access arrangements. Following the receipt of amended drawings and additional information they do not oppose the proposed development subject to the imposition of a condition relating to the provision of appropriate visibility splays.
The Department of Transport Drainage Division initially requested that any decision be deferred as they were not satisfied that the ground conditions on the application site are suitable for soakaways and requested that percolation tests be undertaken. Following the receipt of amended drawings and additional information they advised that they have no objection to the proposed development subject to the imposition of conditions.
The Isle of Man Water Authority initially made no comment on the merit of the proposed development but request that an informative note be attached to any approval decision notice. No further comment in response to the amended drawings and additional information has been received.
The Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service initially recommended that the applicant discusses fire safety precautions with them and installed smoke detectors. No further comment in response to the amended drawings and additional information has been received.
The owner and/or occupant of Delphinus, which is located on the opposite side of Ramsey Road approximately fifty metres from the application site at its nearest point, initially objected to the proposed development. The grounds for their objection can be summarised as concern regarding the impact on a public footpath, the safety of the access arrangements, the general ground conditions and the consequential loss of view. No further comment in response to the amended drawings and additional information has been received.
The owner and/or occupant of Dunedin, which is located on the opposite side of Ramsey Road approximately twenty metres from the application site at its nearest point, initially advised that they do no object to the proposed development but do have some concerns. Those concerns can be summarised as regarding the safety of the access arrangements, a number of construction issues and the consequential loss of view. Following the receipt of amended drawings and additional information they advised that their view remained the same.
The owner and/or occupant of Bay View, which is located on the opposite side of Ramsey Road approximately forty metres from the application site at its nearest point, initially objected to the proposed development. The grounds for their objection can be summarised as concern regarding the safety of the access arrangements. No further comment in response to the amended drawings and additional information has been received.
The owner and/or occupant of Roseneath, which is located on the opposite side of Ramsey Road approximately three hundred and eighty metres from the application site at its nearest point, initially objected to the proposed development. The grounds for their objection can be summarised as concerns regarding the impact on a public footpath and drainage arrangements. No further comment in response to the amended drawings and additional information has been received.
The application site is within an area recognised as being in predominantly residential use under the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan. There are no site specific designations that directly relate to the application site.
In respect of residential development within areas of predominantly residential use the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan states at paragraph 4.24 that:
"There are also smaller parcels of land within the built up area which are included within the blanket zoning of Predominantly Residential. In such cases the Department has presumed that the land in question may be used
for residential purposes and is part of an established residential curtilage. In some cases further development may be acceptable and indeed as an examples permission has been granted for the principle of an additional property alongside an existing dwelling in Glen Road (PA 99/1414). However, in other cases further building may not be considered acceptable due to particular problems of the site in question, infrastructure available or the impact on the adjacent property...
Policy L/RES/PR/1 of the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan states:
"Residential development will generally only be approved within the study area in those areas designated as proposed and existing residential. In particular, in the case of Agneash no further dwellings will be approved although, as will be the case in areas zoned as residential, alterations and extensions to existing property may be accepted if such proposals are sympathetic to the character and appearance of both the building to be altered and the surrounding area in general."
In order to assess the proposed development I suggest that it is necessary to examine a) the principle of the residential development of the application site and b) the specific impact of the proposed dwelling.
To my mind the principle of development of the residential development of the application site is acceptable. I have formed this view on the basis that approval was previously granted, and only recently lapsed, for the erection of a similar sized dwelling on basically the same application site through previous planning application 97/02245/B. I would suggest that it would unreasonable to ignore this previous approval.
It is my opinion that the position, design and massing of the proposed dwelling result in a form of development that does not adversely impact on the public or private amenity of the surrounding area. As such I am satisfied that the proposed dwelling accords with policy L/RES/PR/1 of the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan.
The access arrangements for the proposed development echo those of the previously approved planning application. Subject to the imposition of a condition based on the requirements of the Department of Transport’s Highways Division I am content that the access arrangements can be appropriately controlled.
I recommend that the planning application be approved.
I consider that the following parties that made representations to the planning application meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should be afforded interested party status:
I consider that the following parties that made representations to the planning application do not meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should be afforded interested party status:
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 30.06.2006
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions R : Reasons for refusal
C 1. The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
C 2. This approval relates to drawing no. 05/4201/1(a) and 05/4201/2 date stamped the 14th November 2005 and drawing no. 05/4201/3(b) date stamped the 21st March 2006
C 3. Prior to the commencement of development details of vehicular access arrangements to the site showing visibility splays of a minimum standard of 2 metres by 70 metres must be submitted to and approved by the Planning Authority.
C 4. Prior to the occupation of the dwelling the vehicular access arrangement submitted and agreed in association to condition no. 3 must be set out in accordance with the agreed details.
C 5. Prior to the commencement of development details of the colour and material finishes to be used in the construction of the external elevations of the development must be submitted to and agreed by the Planning Authority.
C 6. The proposed development must be connected to the main foul sewer.
NOTE: A Drainage Connection Fee will be payable to the Drainage Authority on this development
C 7. There must be no discharge of surface water to the main foul sewer.
N 1. The applicant/developer is advised that the use of soakaways are subject to Building Control approval and is this approval is not granted the Department of Transport Drainage Division would be unlikely to give permission for the discharge of surface water into the existing foul system and an alternative means of disposal would have to be sought.
N 2. The applicant/developer is advised that the connection of the proposed dwelling to a private drain from South Court will not alter the status of this private drain to a public sewer.
N 3. For single connections to a water main (i.e. a single dwelling) the applicant should contact Isle of Man Water Authority Customer Services, telephone 695949.
N 4. The applicant/developer is recommended to consult the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service to discuss the provision of appropriate fire precaution measures.
I confirm that this decision accords with Government Circular Nos 44/05 (Delegation of Functions to Director of Planning and Building Control) and 47/05 (Delegation of Functions to Senior Planning Officer)
Signed: O Hinken in the absence of the M. I. McCauley Director of Planning and Building Control Siveder on leave.
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