DEC Officer Report

Application No.: 22/01283/B Applicant: Mr Max & Ellen Lewthwaite & Shuttleworth Proposal: Conversion of former chapel to a dwelling (completion of and amendment of PA 86/0131) Site Address: Former Methodist Chapel Bridge Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3DA Planning Officer: Mrs Vanessa Porter Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 03.01.2023

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. The flood risk mitigation as stated within section 4.4 of the Planning Statement dated received on 19th October 2022, must be carried out prior to occupation. Any alterations to the proposed flood risk mitigations must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Department.

The development shall not be carried out unless in accordance with the approved details and retained thereafter.

REASON: to ensure that there is adequate flood protection of the site and the application has been considered on the basis of the flood risk management proposed.

• C 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permitted Development) Order 2012 (or any Order revoking and/or re-enacting that Order with or without modification) no extension, enlargement or other alteration of the dwelling(s) hereby approved, other than that expressly authorised by this approval, shall be carried out, without the prior written approval of the Department. Reason: To control development in the interests of the amenities of the surrounding area.

This application has been recommended for approval for the following reason. The proposed application for a change of use to residential would be supported by according with General Policy 2 of the Strategic Plan 2016.

Plans/Drawings/Information;

This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received on 19th October 2022;

• o Drawing No. 1 - Existing Plans and Elevations
• o Drawing No. 2 - Proposed Plans and Elevations
• o Drawing No. 3
• o Drawing No. 4
• o Planning Statement ______________________________________________________________

Interested Person Status – Additional Persons

Department for Infrastructure's Flood Risk Management Team should be afforded interested person status as they are a Government Department which has raised material planning considerations. _____________________________________________________________________________

Officer’s Report THE SITE

1.1 The application site is within the curtilage of a former chapel which is situated to the North West of Bridge Road. To the front of the chapel is an area of hardstanding which is accessed via Bridge Road. - 1.2 Currently at the moment, the former chapel has no windows installed and a garage door situated to ground floor level. THE PROSOSAL

2.1 Proposed is the change of use of the Church to a dwelling, the following alterations to the exterior have been proposed;

• - reduction of the existing garage door to create space for an entrance door
• - opening of all window reveals with new windows
• - replace all rainwater goods with black cast iron effect items
• - installation of 10 conservation rooflights.

2.2 The plan submitted shows the ground floor level to provide two bedrooms, single garage, utility area, with the first floor level providing an open plan kitchen, dining, lounge area. - 2.3 The application also proposes landscaping to the existing hard standing area. - 2.4 Two parking spaces have been provided with the site, one within the existing garage and other within the hard standing to the front of the site. PLANNING HISTORY

3.1 The previous applications are not relevant in the assessment of this application.

• PLANNING POLICY
• 4.1 The site lies within an area zones as "Predominantly Residential" on the Area Plan for the South, Map 4 - Ballasalla. The site is situated within a Conservation Area and is partially situated within a Surface Water, medium to high likelihood, flood risk area.

4.2 CONSERVATION AREA

• 4.2.1 Given the nature of the of the land designation and the building being within a Conservation Area, Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999) is the most relevant in the assessment of this application. Followed by paragraph 7.29.2 and Environment Policy 35 of the Isle of Man Strategic Plan, which set out development in Conservation Areas will only be permitted where they preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area.

- 4.3 FLOOD RISK AREA

4.3.1 Due to the site being situated within a Flood Risk Zone, Environment Policy 10 is the next most relevant in the assessment of this application which seeks that the application has details of a flood risk assessment.

- 4.4 ISLE OF MAN STRATEGIC PLAN 2016

Turning towards the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016 and the rest of the policies which are relevant in the assessment of this application;

• Strategic Policy 1 - seeks that development make best use of resources
• Strategic Policy 2 - seeks that new development is located primarily within existing towns and villages Spatial Policy 3 - states Ballasalla as a Service Villages Spatial Policy 5 - seeks new development be situated within the defined settlements General Policy 2 - which seeks general "development control" considerations Housing Policy 4 - seeks new development is located primarily within our existing towns and villages. Transport Policy 7 - which sets out acceptable parking standards as per appendix 7. REPRESENTATIONS

5.1 The following representations can be found in full online;

5.2 Highway Services have considered the proposal and state, "After reviewing this Application, Highway Services HDC finds it to have no significant negative impact upon highway safety, network functionality and /or parking." (02.11.22)

5.3 Malew Parish Commissioners have considered the proposal and have no objections (02.11.22) - 5.4 DOI Flood Risk Management Division first wrote in to state that the sleeping quarters must not be situated to the ground floor level (31.10.22), then revised this to state that they do not oppose subject to a condition stating that paragraph 4.4 of the Planning Statement id adhered to. (11.11.22) - 5.5 DEFA Fisheries have written in to state that the works are close to a watercourse and whilst they have no objections they ask the applicant to get in contact to discuss precautions. (23.11.22) ASSESSMENT

6.1 The main issues to consider in the assessment of this planning application are:

• - section 18(4) test
• - principle
• - character and appearance
• - impact on neighing amenity
• - car parking
• - flood risk

- 6.2 SECTION 18(4) TEST

• 6.2.1 Due to the proposed site being situated within a Conservation Area, it is relevant to assess whether the proposed works will enhance or preserve the Conservation Area as per Section 18(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act (1999).
• 6.2.2 When looking at the proposed site as it is, with the windows blocked up with general brickwork and the site overall in an unkempt state, the site does neither enhance nor preserve the Conservation Area.
• 6.2.3 Bringing the property into use, will provide the site with a more kept appearance which will enhance the Conservation Area overall. With the above in mind the works will pass the Section 18(4) test by preserving the Conservation Area. 6.2 PRINCIPLE

• 6.2.1 In the first instance it is relevant to see whether the principle of the proposed alteration is acceptable. The site is situated within a "Prominently Residential" area as such, the proposed alteration to residential is deemed acceptable as it would not be in conflict with the land zoning.

- 6.2 CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE

• 6.2.1 As stated within section 6.2 of this application, there are several proposed works to the building itself, which include the re-installation of the windows and conservation rooflights to both sides of the roof.
• 6.2.2 The proposed use as residential would not be out of character for the surrounding area, as there are properties adjacent to the site and as such there would be a limited impact to the character and appearance of the surrounding area through the domestication of the site. The continued use of the site as residential should ensure that the former chapel is habitable by a degree of upkeep and is maintained to help retain the visual appearance of the building.
• 6.3 IMPACT ON NEIGHBOURING AMENITY

6.3.1 When looking at the impact on neighbouring amenity, the level and scale of development proposed within this application is considered to be relatively minor and not judged to cause harm to the neighbouring sites.

• 6.3.2 Another aspect of the amenity of the dwelling would be whether the proposal has a clear pleasant outlook from the principle rooms. It is considered that the views from the principal room which would be the open plan kitchen, living and dining room would have a pleasant outlook and all other rooms would have windows to provide natural light.

- 6.4 CAR PARKING

• 6.4.1 With regards to the parking available within the curtilage of the site, the site proposes two car parking spaces, one within the structure itself as a single garage and one within the hard standing to the front of the property. Both are acceptable in terms of parking, as such the proposal complies with the required two spaces as per Transport Policy 7 in connection with Appendix 7.

6.5 FLOOD RISK

• 6.5.1 Turning towards Environment Policy 10 which requires an application to provide a flood risk assessment. The site is partially situated within a flood risk area, with the indicative maps provided by the DOI, showing that the front hardstanding and part of the structure nearest the hardstanding is situated within a flood risk area.

• 6.5.2 Whilst the above is the case, flood risk mitigation is required, as such the agents have provided details which state that flood barriers are to installed to the garage door, the entrance door and the door situated within the South East elevation, as shown on drawing no. 1. Also proposed is the raising of the habitable accommodation by 150mm and the internal ground floor walls to be tanked internally to 300mm above the finished floor level.
• 6.5.3 The above proposed works have been deemed acceptable to the DOI Flood Risk Management, subject to a condition which states that the mitigation must be abided by. CONCLUSION

7.1 It is considered that the conversion of the former chapel to a dwelling house would provide in most regards adequate living conditions without compromising the character and appearance of the surrounding area/chapel itself or impact highway safety and as such is considered to comply the Strategic Policies within section 4 of this assessment and recommended approval with conditions. 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.

Decision Made : Permitted Date: 09.01.2023 Determining officer Signed : J SINGLETON Jason Singleton Principal Planner

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