A householder has been given planning consent to make changes to her cottage in rural Ronague - despite a planning officer recommending refusal, arguing it was ‘development by stealth’.

Carole Berry had applied for planning permission (23/00407/B) for a single storey, flat-roofed extension to Edd Beg, formerly Known as Tom’s Cottage, on Kerrowkeil Road, to create extra living accommodation.

She had also sought retrospective consent for detached garage and car port (23/01383/B) and a greenhouse, shed and raised beds (23/01384/B).

But planning officer Hamish Laird recommended that all three applications be turned down, arguing that it would result in a form of ‘development by stealth’ and constitute an unacceptable encroachment into open countryside. However, the planning committee meeting last Monday didn’t agree and approved the applications.

In a letter to the planning department, Ms Berry said: ‘When I bought this smallholding my objectives were very clear, having farmed organically (as have generations of my family) the environment is absolutely critical to me and essential that I make my impact on it as light as possible for future generations.

‘I wanted to create as close to a passive house as I could using insulation and solar panels.’

She said the land is being returned to a ‘traditional Manx environment’ and along with Manx Wildlife Trust and her neighbouring farmer, more than 3,000 indigenous hedging plants had been planted, creating a Manx meadow and a willow copse.

Ms Berry wrote: ‘I have lived here for nearly four years. It has been a massive learning curve - living just under South Barrule there is no protection from any direction and given the strength of the storms we now experience it can be terrifying. Your first thought when you wake up is “what is the wind direction and strength”.’

She said changes she had made were for very practical reasons and maintained they were not excessive.