A PLANNING dispute over an unassuming Nissen hut in Glen Roy has been joined by Lonan Commissioners and objecting neighbours.
The owner of the site has applied (application 13/00313/LAW) for permission to use the building, adjacent to Riverside Cottage, for ‘light industrial, workshop, storage, motor repair and business usage’, and has met opposition claims that the site has never been officially used for such purposes, despite the previous owner’s assurances that it has.
With the application on the agenda at the parish authority’s April meeting, concerned members of the public Mr D. Orton and Mrs C. Crowe turned up to outline their objections and produce documents in support of their cases.
Their belief is that the operation of this type of business was out of keeping with the rural nature of the area, and was inappropriate due to what they described as poor road access to the site.
They also stated that, in their belief, there had not been any pre-existing business at the premises for at least 30 years and was not a continuance of an existing operation.
They also produced photographs to support the fact that the premises were already being used, in advance of having the necessary planning approval to do so.
Chairman Nigel Dobson thanked them for attending, and a discussion between commissioners followed during which it was agreed that the application should be refused on the grounds that the business was ‘totally out of keeping with the rural area of outstanding natural beauty, it was injurious to the enjoyment of the local amenity by the adjoining residents and that the road access – due to it’s single track nature – was unacceptable for the purpose of regular transition by commercial vehicles’.
However, previous owner of the site Keith Corlett, formerly of Farm Hill and living in France since 2004, has written to applicant and current owner Martin Perry, of Willaston in Douglas, expressing his surprise at claims that have been made.
Mr Corlett said the Nissen hut had long been used by his grandfather Thomas William Stowell and son Thomas Henry (known as Harry) Stowell, for the same purposes Mr Perry is seeking permission for, as well as the commercial manufacture and fitting of concrete fence posts.
He had also allowed Graham Hohmann of Douglas to use the workshop from 2004 until May last year when it was put up for sale. Mr Hohmann said the workshop was used to ‘service and repair other people vehicles, which was my work at the time’.
Mr Corlett said: ‘I am at a loss to understand why the planning office does not recognise that commercial activities were carried out from the site.’
He added that he was pleased to hear of Mr Perry’s intended use, being ‘essentially the same as it always was’, and he was unaware of any previous complaints about commercial use of the site.
