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Site
The site represents the curtilage of Sulby Primary School, Main Road, Sulby, a large detached building, located on the southern side of Main Road and east of the Sulby Glen Road.
Land Use Zoning / Planning Policy
The site is zoned under the Sulby Local Plan as being within an Area of Building for Civic, Cultural and Other Special Use (Primary School); the site is not within a Conservation Area.
To the north of the site, on the opposite side of the Main Road consists an area of proposed residential use; to the east is a single residential property and St Stephen's Church. To the south are a number of residential properties and to the west is Sulby Methodist Church.
Proposal
The application proposes the erection of external lighting, nine lampposts and eight external wall lights for security reasons. The lampposts will have a height of 6 metres. The lighting will not be operational between the hours of 22:00hrs & 07:00hrs.
Lezayre Parish Commissioners have recommended refusal of the application on the grounds that they consider the lighting to be far in excess of the needs for a school in the country. They are also concerned that there would be light pollution and that the lights would be too much for the surrounding properties to bear. They also consider that there are sufficient surrounding lights and are apprehensive about the running costs.
The Police Architectural Liaison Officer has commented to the planning application which can be summarised as the proposal will enhance passive surveillance of the structure from the adjacent roadway and will concomitantly reduce opportunities for criminal or anti-social behaviour. He also considers that the proposed luminaries are 'optically controlled' and should cause negligible light intrusion or disturbance to nearby dwellings. The police therefore support this application.
No privately written representations have been received.
The application has been discussed with the Departments Environmental Protection Officer who stated that: "Artificial light has become a statutory nuisance in the UK, but there are no such moves to follow suit in the Isle of Man at present."
The Commissioners consider the proposed lampposts to be the most contentious issue within the application. The majority of standards do not face in the direction of any neighbouring properties, and those that do are a significant distance away. The proposed lights will also be switched off between the hours of 10:00pm and 7:00am. The proposed lights are designed to optimise the luminance of a particularly area as they face towards the ground, therefore reducing the amount of "spill light", in this case the car park and footpath within the school complex would benefit from the proposed lighting. The Planning Authority has received no objection from any of the neighbouring Residents.
Accordingly, for these reasons the proposals are considered appropriate in the locations identified, and will not result in any adverse impacts to the detriment of neighbouring residential amenity from light pollution. The application is therefore recommended for approval.
It is considered that the following meet the criteria of Government Circular 1/06 and should be afforded interested party status:
Department of Transport Highways Division Laxey Commissioners The Police Architectural Liaison Officer
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 12.12.2007
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 the submitted documents and drawing SP/01 all received on 19th October 2007.
C 3. The lighting shall cease to operate between the hours of 2200hrs and 0700hrs.
Decision Made : ... Committee Meeting Date : ...
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