Why has new bus station and flats complex taken so long?

Planners have approved a major 12-storey housing, bus station and entertainment complex in Douglas.

The 85 apartments, cinema, 12 commercial units, bus information centre, office space, public toilets will be built on land at the former Lord Street bus station.

The multi-million pound scheme also includes a bus driver welfare area, five bus stands on Lord Street, waiting areas and 94 private parking spaces.

But what is the history of the site, and why has it taken so long for redevelopment?

The site, on the corner of North Quay and Lord Street, was used as a bus station from about the 1960s to 2002 when it was demolished.

It was later used as a public car park and has been the subject of various planning applications which have not completed.

Proposals have included a development featuring a cinema and 80-bed hotel, submitted by Kane Ltd in 2018, which faced long delays and issues during the pandemic.

Later plans, similar to the current scheme, were submitted in the summer of 2024 for a three-to-14 storey development, which included bus facilities, a cinema, and residential apartments.

Those plans were earmarked for government funds from the Island Infrastructure scheme, aimed at supporting development on brownfield sites.

They had been submitted by Wyyttavin Limited but were withdrawn last year due to a family bereavement.

Now, proposals re-submitted by Lord street Development SPV Limited, which had partnered with Wyyttavin Limited, were approved on 16 March.

The largely similar proposals have seen the height of the complex reduced from 14 to 12 storeys.

The plans were recommended for refusal by a planning officer over a lack of affordable housing provision and open public space in the scheme.

In his report, the planning officer acknowledged the scheme came with its advantages such as "redeveloping a site which has remained undeveloped for a number of decades".

But, he said the non-provision of affordable housing and public open space was "too great of a departure from established planning policies to approve".

That recommendation was overturned by the planning committee, and the scheme was approved on Monday on the basis that the site had been empty for 20 years, and would provide vital public infrastructure.

It was agreed that the delivery of a bus station on the site should be completed and available for public use before the apartments are occupied.

The committee also agreed that if the developer's return was equal to or more than 17.5%, funds should be directed to affordable housing, capped at £1.1m, and public open space contributions, capped at £73,000.

Development of the site must also begin within four years of approval.

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