Planning Officer - Statement of Case

Please reply to the signatory Our Ref: 25/90265/B

Planning Appeals Secretary, Cabinet Office, Government Offices, Buck’s Road, Douglas, IM1 3PN.

Tel: (01624) 685870 Fax: (01624) 686443 Email: [email protected]

Jennifer Chance MRTPI Director of Planning & Building Control

17th July 2025

Dear Sir/Madam, PA No: 25/90265/B Proposal: Erection of single storey extension to the rear of the existing dwelling house and widening of vehicular access Address: The Hollies, 1 Bradda View, Ballakillowey, Colby, Isle of Man, IM9 4BE Please find a statement that sets out the position of the Department in respect of the above planning application.

The statement relies upon the Planning Officer’s original report which was determined by Delegation on 20th June 2025, which is online and forms part of the planning file.

The statement comprises the following parts:

• 1. Appendix 1 – Statement of Case
• 2. Appendix 2 – Suggested Conditions

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Vanessa Porter Planning Officer

Appendix 1 – Statement of Case

STATEMENT OF CASE Department of Environment Food and Agriculture Planning & Building Control Directorate

Planning statement on behalf of the Department relative to:

Erection of single storey extension to the rear of the existing dwelling house and widening of vehicular access The Hollies 1 Bradda View Ballakillowey Colby Isle of Man IM9 4BE

PA Reference – 25/90265.B

Prepared on behalf of the Planning Department by Planning Officer Mrs Vanessa Porter

• 1.0 Reason for Approval
• 1.1 The applications reason for approval is as follows;

“The proposed works to the dwelling and the alteration of the existing driveway are considered acceptable by having no adverse impacts upon the overall streetscene, the main dwelling nor an impact in terms of highway safety. As such, the proposal is considered to comply with General Policy

• 2 and Transport Policy 7 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016.”

• 2.0 Legal and Policy Position
• 2.1 In accordance with S10 of the Town and Country Planning Act the application has been considered;

S(4) In dealing with an application for planning approval or an application under subsection (3), the Department shall have regard to —

• (a) the provisions of the development plan, so far as material to the application; (ab) any relevant national policy directive under section 2A;
• (b) any relevant statement of planning policy under section 3;
• (c) such other considerations as may be specified for the purpose of this subsection in a development order or a development procedure order, so far as material to the application; and
• (d) all other material considerations.

It is a statutory duty to take into account the above, and while it is recognised that weight to be given is a matter for the decision maker.

• 2.3 It shall be noted that the Development Plan and other Adopted Policies do not have primacy as they do in the UK. The Isle of Man is also different from the UK as there is no presumption in favour of development as set out in the NPPF, and there is no 5-year land supply requirement.
• 2.4 In this application, the most weight has been given to the Strategic Plan and the Area Plan for the South, as they have been though a statutory process, which includes evidence base and public consultation, and are adopted by Tynwald.
• 2.5 Other material considerations referred to in the officer report is the ‘Code of practice for the welfare of horses, ponies, donkeys and their hybrids’ (December 2017) produced by the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the absence of Manx guidance. 3.0 Reason for Appeal

The appeal request form sets out several reasons for appeal and this can be viewed online in full. The reasons in summary are as follows;

• - The planning officer didn’t view the proposal from their property
• - 45 degree angle
• - Installation of External door
• - Impact on views from further afield
• - New siting of summerhouse
• - Enforcement on summerhouse

4.0 Response to the Reasons for Appeal

A site visit was undertaken by the Planning Officer on the 19th June 2025, having visited the site and seen the mature hedging it was decided that going onto the objectors property was not required. Below are the site visit photos undertaken.

Section 6.3 of the officer’s report discusses neighbouring amenity. The appellants state that the installation of an external door has not been assessed as part of the application. There is currently a rear porch and a store within the area of the proposed utility room. It is unsure on how much the proposed new utility door is to be used, but it is ascertained that it would be used the same as the existing rear porch. With regards to their initial objection, the mature hedging would mean that there are no views situated out of this proposed door into the neighbouring property. The application site has views available from Ballakillowey Road, whilst this is the case, the proposal will be seen within its context with is a residential environment and due to the overall size of the proposal in relation to the already existing dwelling its unlikely that the proposal would be seen as an overdevelopment of the site when noting that several properties have the same or close build environment to garden ratio’s. With regards to the summerhouse, there is nothing within the application to state that the summerhouse would be re-sited within the application, whilst this is the case there is Permitted Development available for the erection of a summerhouse.

Appendix 1 – Suggested Conditions

C1 - The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four years from the date of this decision notice.

Reason: To comply with Article 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) Order 2019 and to avoid the accumulation of unimplemented planning approvals.