Temporary Summerland car park refusal recommended

Plans to use the site of the Summerland fire disaster as a temporary car park have been recommended for refusal by a planning officer.

The Douglas site was home to an entertainment complex in which a fire claimed the lives of 50 people in August 1973.

Last month the Department of Infrastructure (DoI) submitted proposals to temporarily use 32 existing spaces, which had been used in 2019 and 2020, once again over an 18-month period.

But a planning officer considering the application has said the proposal would have an "adverse visual impact to the detriment of the site, street scene and conservation area".

The proposals would also have a "compromising impact" on the nearby Horse Tram Station along with the Manx Electric Railway Station as tourism and leisure facilities, and could have a "detrimental impact" on future uses of the site, they added.

In its planning application, the DoI had argued that the aim was to see development of part or all of the site.

But in the interim, the proposals would enable parking for local businesses and passengers for the horse trams and Manx Electric Railway, as the existing offering in the area was "insufficient".

Meanwhile, Douglas Council also objected to the application arguing that the proposals "neither optimises the use of the land nor is it an efficient use of the site."

Council Lead Devon Watson said: "When you've got large unused brownfield spaces and sites, they should be developed in a constructive and conducive way that actually improves the urban fabric.

"We're in the middle of a housing crisis, and I think it is really important that we use sites like that in a useful way. If government thinks the site is best used as a carpark, then build a permanent one there."

Campaigners have been calling for a memorial to be located on the former site of the entertainment complex instead of the nearby Kaye Memorial Gardens for a number of years.

A planning committee is set to consider the application on Monday.

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