Two potential sites have been identified as part of an initiative aimed at releasing new employment land to support economic growth in the Isle of Man.
Both sites are located north of the Old Castletown Road on the outskirts of Douglas and have been shortlisted following a rigorous initial assessment.
Additional work will now take place to determine the suitability of the sites to be taken forward through the Development Order process for Tynwald approval.
Policy and Reform Minister John Shimmin MHK said: ‘The Government is committed to driving economic growth to support our ambitions of securing a sustainable future for the Isle of Man. If businesses are to flourish and create more jobs for our people we must provide them with the space to do so.’
He added: ‘Development Orders are a way for us to respond in a positive and timely fashion to short-term demand for employment land, ahead of the wider Area Plan process.’
The Government issued a call for sites for employment land last year in response to the findings of the Employment Land Review 2015. The report highlighted strong demand for additional land to be released for employment purposes such as manufacturing, industrial, warehousing or distribution.
It was recognised that land supply would start to dry up, particularly in the East, if new sites were not released, stalling future investment and economic growth in the Island.
Landowners and developers were invited to submit sites for consideration. A total of 14 sites were put forward and subsequently assessed against a comprehensive set of criteria, published as a Site Assessment Framework.
Work carried out by Cabinet Office, with the assistance of Bilfinger GVA’s Planning, Development and Regeneration team, has led to two sites at the Nunnery – known as Sangster’s Field – being shortlisted to be taken forward in response to short-term pressures on land supply.
In the event that a Draft Development Order is prepared, it would be subject to public consultation and most likely a public inquiry ahead of being submitted by the Cabinet Office for Tynwald approval.
A report prepared by Bilfinger GVA has been published and is available to view on the Government’s Employment Land (Development Order) web page at www.gov.im/eldo
This sets out the background information to the project, all 14 site locations and the initial site assessment scores.
