The Cabinet Office has published a set of consultation documents to mark the start of the formal process to prepare a brand new development plan for the East of the Island.
The new Plan will consist of a written statement containing proposals for the development or other use of land in the Plan Area and a number of supporting maps.
The Plan Area will include the Local Authority areas of: the Borough of Douglas; the District of Onchan; and the Parishes of Braddan, Garff (Laxey and Lonan Wards only), Marown and Santon. The new Plan will replace the development plans currently in place in the East.
Importantly these current plans, namely the Local Plans for Douglas, Onchan and Braddan, the Area Plan for Laxey and Lonan and parts of the 1982 Plan which affect Santon and Marown, will not be used as a basis for the new plan.
All proposals, recommendations and mapping will be prepared anew. The public should take this into account when deciding whether or not to respond to the Consultation.
This stage, which is referred to as ‘Preliminary Publicity’, seeks to invite all those with an interest to comment on the matters which the Cabinet Office intends the Area Plan to deal with.
The matters are explored in the consultation documents and all responses will help to shape the development of a Draft Plan. Theyl broadly relate to land needs for housing, industry and business, and infrastructure, and address issues such as the protection of our natural and built environments, and the particular needs of Douglas and surrounding villages.
Minister for Policy and Reform, Chris Thomas MHK said:
‘This Consultation follows a successful Call for Sites exercise. It sets out the findings of that work and brings us closer to a new Plan for our Capital and surrounding areas.
‘This stage is about presenting our evidence gathered so far, setting out the broad topics to be addressed, and seeking views about what the Draft Plan should look like and include.
‘There are obvious issues to consider such as where our new housing land should be, but there are also many other matters to cover such as what land opportunities will be needed for health or education in the future.
‘Government has yet to make any decisions and so is open to views and suggestions which will shape the Plan. The aim is to bring to everyone’s attention the issues at hand, the processes involved and the evidence that needs to be gathered. There will remain throughout the process however, the underlying aim to achieve 'sustainable growth for our Island communities.'
The Consultation Document entitled “The Area Plan for the East – Preliminary Publicity Consultation Document 2017”, the supporting Annexes, Response Form for comments and other information can be viewed a or downloaded from the Government’s Area Plan for the East webpage.
All representations, either by email or by post to the Department must be received by the deadline of 5pm on Friday 21st April 2017. The Cabinet Office will then analyse the responses, prepare a Draft Plan, and within 12 months, publish it for further consultation.
