Officer Report

PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Application No.: 25/90925/B Applicant: Mr & Mrs Sarah & Matthew Mercer & Warren Proposal: Replacement of roof slates, installation of roof light to west elevation and solar panels to south elevation, alterations to sunroom roof and first floor window to create accessible roof terrace to east elevation Site Address: Crofton Four Roads Port St Mary Isle Of Man IM9 5LQ Planning Officer: Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.02.2026 _________________________________________________________________

Conditions and Notes for Approval

C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions

• C 1. 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.

• C 2. No development shall commence until details of the 1.8m high obscure glazing screen situated to the Southern end of the balcony has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Department. The privacy screen must be in place prior to the use of the balcony and retained as such thereafter. Reason: In the interest of residential amenities
• C 3. Notwithstanding the details provided, no permission has been granted for the use of the property as two separate independent dwellings.

Reason: The application does not propose to create separate units of accommodation within the site and has not been considered as such. To ensure proper control of the development and to reflect the information provided in the application, as the Department has assessed the impact of the proposal on the basis of the specific use and the documents submitted.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason.

It is concluded that the planning application accords with the provisions set out in General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, as such the planning application is recommended for approval.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 06th November 2025;

• o Drawing No. 2506/01
• o Drawing No. 2506/02
• o Drawing No. 2506/03
• o Drawing No. 2506/04
• o Drawing No. 2506/05
• o Drawing No. 2506/06
• o Drawing No. 2506/07 _________________________________________________________________

Right to Appeal It is recommended that the following organisations should NOT be given the Right to Appeal: Port St Mary Commissioners - No objection _________________________________________________________________ Officer’s Report THE APPLICATION SITE

1.1 The application site is within the residential curtilage of "Crofton," Four Roads, Port St Mary, which is an end of terrace two storey dwelling with rooms in the roofspace. To the North of the site is a block of garages, with the rest of the terrace to the South. The dwelling has a small rear yard, with an access alley which goes around the rear of the property and the terrace as a whole to re-join the main Four Roads further south. THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The current planning application seeks approval for the following but not limited to items;

• - Replacement roof slates
• - installation of roof light to Western elevation
• - installation of solar panels on south facing wall
• - creation of doorway within window on East elevation
• - removal of existing sunroom roof and replacement with a flat roof, which is to facilitate a balcony to first floor level.
• - installation of balustrade around proposed balcony.

PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 There are no previous application which are relevant to the works proposed within this application. PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The site lies within an area zoned as Predominantly Residential on the Area Plan for the South, Map 7 - Port Erin/Port St Mary. The property is not within a Conservation Area or a Flood Risk Zone.

4.2 Given the nature of the residential property and the land designation paragraph 8.12.1 and General Policy 2 from the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 are most relevant to its assessment which set out the general standards towards acceptable development. It's also relevant to assess the application against Transport Policy 3 which seeks that new development on or

around existing and former rail routes should not compromise their attraction as a tourism and leisure facility or their potential as public transport routes, or cycle / leisure footpath routes.

4.3 The recently released Residential Design Guidance 2021 is also a material consideration particularly those parts in respect of good neighbourliness and overlooking. - 4.4 Furthermore consideration shall also be given to Community Policies 7 and 11 in respect of reducing outbreak of fire and preventing criminal activity and Infrastructure Policy 5 in respect of water conservation.

REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online, below is a short summary;

5.3 Port St Mary Commissioners have considered the application and state they have no objection. (04.12.25)

5.4 Highway Services were consulted on the 7th November 2025 of which no consultation has been received at the time of writing this report. ASSESSMENT - 6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - character and appearance (GP2, b,c & TP3)
• - impact on neighing amenity (GP2, g)
• - other matters (RDG, CP7, 11 & IP5)

- 6.2 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.2.1 There is a general presumption in favour of extensions or alterations to existing properties as per Paragraph 8.12.1 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, where such works would not have an adverse impact on either adjacent properties or the surrounding area in general.

• 6.2.2 The proposed works in themselves are modest, with none of the works being above and beyond what would be expected of such a streetscene. It's noted that the proposed works to the rear will be seen from a distance, but ultimately the works will be seen as residential works upon a residential property.

- 6.3 NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

6.3.1 With regards to neighbouring amenity, the only works which would have an impact is the proposed balcony to the rear elevation. Having done a site visit, whilst there is already a general amount of overlooking between dwellings, due to the terrace nature, when standing on the proposed balcony there is now more of a chance of looking back into the neighbouring properties especially at first floor level.

• 6.3.2 With the above in mind, an email was sent to the agent on behalf of the applicant to request boundary treatment to the Southern side of the proposed balcony, which was accepted and as such should be conditioned.

6.4 OTHER MATTERS

• 6.4.1 The proposed works are an extension to an already existing dwelling, as such the proposal is not expected to create any changes or new issues in respect of criminal actively or spread of fire. The proposal whilst increasing the surface area of the dwelling, any water runoff will be dealt with as per the existing arrangement of the main dwelling. The proposed extension will not increase water usage of the dwelling and therefore there are no new issues in this respect.

• 6.4.2 It's noted that the floor plans provided, show an almost self contained ground floor apartment and another self contained apartment to the first and second floor, it's also noted that it would be easy to separate the apartments by blocking up the door within bedroom 1 and a doorway within the hallway on the first floor. Whilst this is the case, the agent has explained that there will be no separation of the property, within an email dated 30th October 2025 and the existing property is not currently showing a split. As such for the benefit of doubt a condition should be attached to state that the property cannot be split.

CONCLUSION

7.1 Overall the proposed works are deemed acceptable in terms of their form, mass and design by providing a suitable works to an existing residential property and as such complies with General Policy 2 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and in turn the Residential Design Guidance 2021. 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 a Principal Planner 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 and/or rights to appeal.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 25.02.2026 Determining Officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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