Fresh application to develop Ramsey riverside land

Developers have made a new bid for permission to develop land in the north of the Isle of Man after previous plans for housing were rejected.

Blythe Church Investments Limited (BCI) previously submitted an application for the Sulby Riverside project, which included 205 homes shops, parks and a pub.

The £40m proposals were refused by planners in February after concerns about the effects on local wildlife and the flood risk posed by the river.

A fresh application has been made for permission to build a "residential-led" scheme in principle on the land, with detailed plans to be submitted in future.

In April, about 80 green campaigners attended a demonstration objecting to the previous plans.

At the time, Ramsey Commissioner and leader of the Isle of Man Green Party Lamara Craine said she did not want to see "problem houses built over irreplaceable nature".

The investment firm owns 19-acres (7.9 hectares) of land by the banks of the Sulby River.

A stretch of 7 acres (2.8 hectares) zoned for development would see five sites for potential construction, with a further 11 acres (4.5 hectares) remaining as open space.

The application said there were no plans to build on a salt marsh site adjoining the proposed development area, which is owned by the firm.

BCI's agent, Cornerstone Architects Ltd, said the revised approach, if backed by planners, would create "certainty" and allows for "sufficient flexibility" in future submissions.

A spokesman said specifics on access, layout, scale, appearance and landscaping could then be included in a later detailed planning application.

This would also be "designed to accommodate projected flood modelling to meet the requirements of the Department of Infrastructure flood management and Manx Utilities drainage teams", he added.

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