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The site represents a piece of land which lies at the south eastern end of Church Close, a cul de sac in a relatively new estate of houses to the south of Church Road. The site is an area of Public Open Space within the estate of eighteen houses, all detached.
The site lies within an area of Proposed Residential Use on the Laxey L Lonan Area Plan of 2005.
Other than the applications for the development of the estate, there have been no applications for this piece of land or which are relevant to the consideration of this application.
Proposed here is the installation of play equipment in the form of a number of individual pieces all concentrated in the eastern end of the site - there are smaller pieces such as a rocking motor bike, see saw and four rocking seats and larger pieces - a hanging frame, rope climbing structure and the largest piece, a slide/climbing structure. The largest of the structures would be the 'activity tower' (Type D) which has a maximum height of 4.3 metres. Also proposed is planting around the perimeter of the play area.
There are objections from the residents of 10, Church Close on the basis that the equipment will attract additional traffic into the close and if this results in private road status to control usage, this will result in additional parking which could obstruct access to individual properties.
The occupants of number 9, Church Close object to the application on the basis that there could be overlooking of their property from the structures and if hedging is to be introduced to screen the equipment, that this will block views and light from their property. They cite an application for a tree house which was refused within the estate as a precedent for objecting to this application. They also express concern that there is inadequate space for car parking and this would be exacerbated by enforcement of the private road status.
The occupants of 6, Church Close object to the application on the basis that the construction of structures will reduce the open area so that play cannot be undertaken on it. Also, parking is deficient, there could be overlooking from the largest piece of equipment, the siting makes the structure unusable by large parts of the parish. There are two letters from 6, Church Close and one also comments that the equipment will attract youths from other parts of the area which could be disruptive to residents, giving young people a place to congregate and sit.
Manx Electricity Authority recommend a note regarding existing electricity supplies. This is a matter for the contractor on site and should not be referred to in the planning decision notice.
Department of Transport Drainage Division raise no objection to the application but comment that there is a public sewer running across the site and this should be protected during construction. This is a matter for the contractor on site and the Department of Transport Drainage Division should liaise with dot separately.
The application for the tree house, 04 / 01378 / R, referred to by the occupants of number 9, Church Close was for a structure which was constructed immediately alongside the boundary between numbers 11 and 12, Church Close. This was not on the same scale or in the same position as what is proposed and wasn't available to the public. As such this did not establish a precedent for refusal of this development.
Other applications for play equipment include the following:
PA 02/0060 - Crossag Road, refused at review for reasons relating to the range of age groups which the facility was designed to cater for and the noise and disturbance which could ensue - a subsequent application for play equipment was permitted (03/0339).
PA 05/0368 proposed the installation of play equipment in front of the Archibald Knox Public House off Avondale Road in Onchan and was refused on appeal for reasons relating to the visual intrusion into an open area but the Inspector commented on objections from neighbours on the grounds of noise and nuisance, that this would be not significantly more than present.
PA 05/92378 - installation of play equipment, Main Road playground Kick Michael - permitted PA 07/0091 - proposed play equipment in the shape of a pirate ship and was permitted in Birch Hill, off Maple Avenue. PA 08/0647 proposed new play equipment outside the Crosby Hotel and was permitted. Some of these are directly alongside existing residential property, none is as small a piece of land as the application site.
The land has been set aside for use as pos and is annotated on the approved estate layout as "village green". Whether the open space is used as formal or informal space is a matter for the local authority who is responsible for the maintenance of the open space and how it is used. As many of the properties within the estate are suitable for occupation by families, the provision of formal play facilities such as are proposed here would appear to be appropriate.
There appears to be suggestions from objectors that both the site is not situated so that the facilities will be accessible by other parts of the parish, and at the same time concerns have been expressed that the facilities will attract young people from outside the estate. The play facilities are modest in area and size and clearly designed to service the estate rather than the larger scale facilities which have been proposed in other applications (see above) which serve much larger areas of population. It is considered that the provision of play equipment such as is generally shown in the application is acceptable and would not generate pedestrian or vehicular traffic such as would cause a nuisance or inconvenience to residents on the estate. The site is accessed via a gate from Church Close but also a gate via Ballacannel (south of site), which gives easy access to residents of this part of the housing estate.
However, the largest piece of equipment will be around 12m from the nearest property, number 9, Church Close. The equipment will all be further than 20m from all other properties around the open space. Most of the equipment would be low and unobtrusive; the 'activity tower' would have in part a floor level 2 metres above ground level, which could give raise to potential overlooking. However, in this case due to the siting of the tower, the distance from any neighbouring property, due to the existing 2 metre high timber fence which runs along the western boundary of Nr 9 and because of the proposed planting as indicated, the proposal would not result in any significant adverse impacts upon the residential amenities of the neighbouring properties.
The Department of Transport and the local authority are, by virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2005, paragraph 6 (5) (c) and (d), considered "interested persons" and as such should be afforded party status.
The Manx Electricity Authority raise issues regarding working practices around existing supplies, which are not material planning considerations and as such the MEA should not be afforded party status in this instance.
11 November 2008
The occupants of 6, 9 and 10 Church Close are sufficiently close to the development to warrant being afforded party status in this instance.
Recommended Decision: Permitted
Date of Recommendation: 11.11.2008
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 installation of playground equipment as proposed in the submitted documents and drawings 038/001 all received on 3rd September 2008.
C 3. No development shall take place until full details of a landscaping scheme shall have been submitted to and be approved in writing by the Planning Authority and these works shall be carried out as approved. All planting shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details in the next available planting and seeding seasons. Any tree or shrub which within a period of 5 years from the completion of the landscaping works, is removed, or becomes seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with another similar size and species, unless the planning authority gives written consent to any variation.
N 1. There are Underground Cables/Overhead Lines present in the area indicated in you Planning Application. Please contact our Network Operations Department, Manx Electricity Authority, (Tel. 687687) to discuss working practices around Cables and Overhead Lines which may be required to be diverted before any work can be carried out on site.
Contact the M.E.A. for Electrical Site Safety 5 documents, (Tel. 687766), before any work is carried out on site. All work to be carried out with reference to Health and Safety Executive Guidance Notes HS(G)47 \& GS6.
I confirm that this decision accords with Government Circular No 44/05 (Delegation of Functions to S.P.O) Director of Planning and Building Control), GC 45/05 for Advertisements and GC 46/05 for Registered Buildings.
Decision Made : Permitted Date : 11 November 2008
Signed: ______________________________ M. L. McCauley Director of Planning and Building Control
11 November 2008 08/01717/B Page 5 of 5
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