APL Planning Statement

PLANNING STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE CONVERSION TO RESIDENTIAL OF THE FORMER METHODIST CHAPEL, BRIDGE ROAD, BALLASALLA IM9 3DA

• 1.0 Introduction
• 1.1 The site is the curtilage of a former Methodist Chapel which lies on the north western side of Bridge Road in Ballasalla, between the entrance to Rushen Abbey and the roundabout in front of the post office.
• 1.2 The site is approximately double the size of the footprint of the former chapel which sits with its gable to the highway and with an open space to the south west which provides access and parking for the site.
• 1.3 The property has been partly converted to residential, following planning approval granted in the 1980s (see Planning History below).
• 1.4 The building is two storeys in height and function with integral garage. It is built in stone with a pitched, slated roof with typical arched vertical narrow windows of an ecclesiastical building, two of which have been cut off at the bottom to accommodate the garage door. The roadside elevation has a pedestrian door within an arched opening and two similar but narrower windows above and a triangular rendered section of wall above these first floor windows. All of the windows and doorways are currently boarded up and rendered over and the first floor cuts across the windows in the south western elevation and the very bottom of the first floor windows in the south eastern elevation.
• 1.5 Visibility at the entrance of the site is 2m by 25m in each direction and the access sits within an area where the speed of traffic is restricted to 20mph.

• 2.0 Planning History
• 2.1 Permission was granted for alterations and renovations to form a dwelling under 86/00131/B. The property was referred to as Shimming’s Chapel in that application. This permission contained a condition, standard at the time to require the completion of the works within 48 months and the approved works were not finished although the access, garage door, first floor were all constructed and the drainage connection made.
• 2.2 Planning approval was granted for the conversion of the chapel into a domestic garage/boat store/workshop under 87/00714/B and 86/01269/C.
• 2.3 Toilet and drainage works were approved under 91/01575/B and the connection to the main sewer has been carried out.

• 3.0 Planning policy
• 3.1 The site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as Predominantly Residential and also within the adopted Conservation Area focusing on Silverdale and Rushen Abbey, adopted in 1993.
• 3.2 The site is within an area identified as being at risk of surface water flooding on the national flood risk maps and close to but not within an area at high risk of river and tidal flooding.
• 3.3 The Strategic Plan supports sustainable developments within settlements and Ballasalla is identified on the settlement hierarchy as a Service Village where “Housing should be provided to meet local needs and in appropriate cases to broaden the choice of location of housing.” Sustainable development is generally supported and encouraged as set out in Strategic Policies 1, 2 and 10, Spatial Policy 5 and Housing Policy 4.

• 3.4 Historic buildings should generally be retained (Environment Policy 39 and CA/6 of Planning Policy Statement 1/01 - Conservation of the Historic Environment of the Isle of Man) and development within a Conservation Area must preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Area (Environment Policy 35 and CA/2 of the PPS). Development in built up areas should generally have an acceptable impact on the area (General Policy 2b, c and g). In the countryside there are policies which support the conversion of buildings of interest (Environment Policy 16 and Housing Policy 11). The building appears on the 1860s County Series maps:
• 3.5 Development which is at risk of flooding is presumed against (Environment Policies 10 and 13).
• 3.6 Development must have an acceptable impact on adjacent property (General Policy 2g) and advice is provided in the Residential Design Guide on how this may be measured: notably that windows that look directly towards each other should be at least 20m apart and buildings should be appropriately located in relation to the outlook from adjacent windows in neighbouring property having regard to the use and function of the rooms served by those windows.

• 4.0 The proposal
• 4.1 Proposed is the continuation of the conversion of the property to a dwelling. Conditions no longer require that development is completed within a certain time as in most cases this will not be possible to enforce and would fail one of the six tests (necessity, relevance to planning, relevance to the development being considered, precise, enforceable and reasonable in all other respects). As such, it is likely that the condition requiring the completion of the development, as imposed on the 1986 application approval would not be enforceable (or enforced).
• 4.2 The proposed development amends the original approval in a number of respects:

• • Where the first floor cuts across the long windows, a break is to be introduced with an insulated panel matching the windows colour/material
• • The garage door will now be a timber/timber effect with glazed element set within a lime render reveal
• • The installation of five Conservation style roof lights in the south western and north eastern planes
• • Internally the space will be very similar on the ground floor but upstairs, the living space - lounge, kitchen and dining - will be open plan.

• 4.3 Parking remains to the side of the building as originally approved and as currently set out.
• 4.4 Whilst the site is within an area of risk on the 'Interactive Flood Hub' map, it is at risk from 'surface water' flooding only. The actual building is in an area zoned as 'low likelihood’. However the applicants would deem it sensible to incorporate mitigating measures whilst the redevelopment works are being carried out and with this in mind a flood barrier can be fitted to the garage door and entrance doorset. An approved barrier such as the Nautilus 400 by floodstop-uk BrochureNautilus400-under-2500mm.pdf (floodstop-uk.co.uk) could be installed. Additional measures will include raising the habitable accommodation floor level by 150mm and the walls will be tanked internally to 300mm above finished floor level. This is all shown on the accompanying drawings.

• 5.0 Summary and conclusion
• 5.1 The proposal will reuse an existing, old and interesting building and will continue and complete a scheme which had planning approval in 1986 and was commenced. The scheme will retain the existing characteristics of the building and reinstate some additional features such as the windows and door and will result in a completed and used building which will enhance the area generally and the Conservation Area in particular, satisfying Environment Policy 35 and General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan and CA/2 of the Planning Policy Statement.
• 5.2 There will be no impact on adjacent residential properties as there are no windows which will look directly to other property and no physical changes to the building either making it larger or introducing new areas of occupation. The proposal therefore complies fully with the Residential Design Guide and General Policy 2.
• 5.3 The parking and access arrangements are existing and would apply whatever the building were used for. The building is an important part of the street scene and the Conservation Area and as such, its retention and use are important. It is submitted that 25m x 2m visibility splays are compliant according to the 'Supplementary Guidance on Highway Issues - Dec 2018' which states that in certain circumstances where it is a low speed route ie less than 30mph the 'x' distance can be reduced to 2m and at 20mph the 'y' distance can be 25m.
• 5.4 The proposal willl also provide a new residential unit within an existing settlement on a brownfield site where the character and appearance of the existing building are retained. The proposal therefore also satisfies the sustainability and brownfield objectives.
• 5.5 Finally, the flood mitigation/prevention measures referred to are shown in the drawings and will be incorporated into the development thus complying with Environment Policies 10 and 13.

Sarah Corlett 13th October, 2022