Durton Farm, Long Lane, Newport

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE AND ENVIRONMENT SERVICES TO DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE

1.	TCP/01112/J P/00586/02 Parish/Name: Arreton Registration Date: 04/04/2002 - Full Planning Permission Officer: Mr. J. Mackenzie Tel: (01983) 823567 Demolition of dwelling & barn; construction of dwelling Durton Farm, Long Lane, Newport, Isle Of Wight, PO302NW

Rights of Way Officer points out that the public footpath runs through the site and raises concern if the new building would affect the right of way.

Durton Farm House is located on the south side of Long Lane, at the end of Durton Lane. The existing farm building is a rectangular, two storey brickwork finished dwelling under a hipped roof overall dimensions of 12.6 x 7 metres with an approximate volume of 572 cubic metres. On its eastern side, connected by a masonry wall is an existing stone barn, overall dimensions of 5 metres x approximately 15 metres. The two masses of building are about 6 metres apart and the approximate volume of the barn is 310 cubic metres.

The proposal is to demolish both the existing dwelling and the adjoining barn and erect a replacement dwelling which the plans show has overall dimensions of 13.7 metres x 9.4 metres, constructed in red facing brickwork under a hipped, plain clay tiled roof. The approximate volume of the new dwelling is 880 cubic metres and coincidentally, the volume of the existing dwelling and the barn total virtually the same.

Determination of this application turns on matters of policy and principle, design and visual impact in the landscape.

"Planning application for residential development outside the development boundaries of defined settlements will only be permitted if they are for:

Clearly the principle of the demolition of the existing dwelling, which is claimed to be structurally unsound, is acceptable. The policy does not require those dwellings which are to be replaced to be derelict or unsound but the replacement dwelling should be of similar scale and mass to the existing.

The policy implication in this instance is the matter of whether or not the adjoining barn should be included in the capacity of 'the existing' to enable that volume to be combined in the new dwelling.

It has been claimed that the barn was the original dwelling on the site having, at one time, being replaced by the current dwelling. It is apparent that the building did contain some sort of kitchen as there is a large chimney breast at the southern end which clearly contained some sort of oven. There is also an aga type cooker immediately adjoining that fire place but it is not apparent whether this was an original fitting or not.

Irrespective of whether or not this barn was the original farm house, its use, as a farm house was clearly abandoned and the building was otherwise used. The policy is quite specific when it relates to the replacement dwelling being required to be of similar scale and mass to the existing dwelling, rather than the dwelling and any other buildings on the site.

Turning to design issue, the style and general shape of the proposed building is similar to that which it proposes to replace and although the size and mass of the structure is greater, I do not have any objection to the style.

In terms of visual impact, clearly the larger the building, the greater the impact irrespective of the fact that the proposal also proposes to remove the barn, the replacement building would be of such greater mass that its impact alone would be significant whereas the low scale of the barn is already partially hidden by the existing dwelling in the most prominent view point, from the south west. Whilst it is accepted that Permitted Development Rights could be removed thus restricting the size of the building and any other out buildings in order to maintain control on further development, the introduction of a large single mass would have a significant impact on the landscape which would be contrary to Policy H9 and contrary to Policy C1 seeks to protect such landscapes. The new dwelling represents an increase in mass of 54%.

Having given due regard and appropriate weight to the material considerations as described in the Evaluation section above, the development of a replacement dwelling of this scale and mass on this site would be contrary to Policies H9 and C1 of the Unitary Development Plan.

The site lies outside the defined development envelope and no justification has been established to show why the proposal should be permitted as acceptable development in the countryside as defined in Policy G5 (development outside defined settlements) and is therefore contrary to Policy H9 (residential development outside development boundaries) and G1 (development envelopes for towns and villages) and would result in an unacceptable impact in the landscape, contrary to Policy C1 of the Isle of Wight Unitary Development Plan.