DOUGLAS councillors and an MHK are calling for the local authority and government to work together to see if they can progress a joint scheme for the Lord Street bus station site.
It follows the announcement by Infrastructure Minister David Cretney in January that the plug had been pulled on a long-awaited 4-star quayside hotel development earmarked for the site.
At last week’s Douglas Council meeting, Bill Malarkey (Murrays) moved a motion that the council should ‘open immediate discussions’ with the DoI and the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure ‘to investigate the possibility of a joint venture’ on the site.
He said the development of the council’s £12.7m Cambrian Place scheme for a multi-storey car park and library should be put on hold until the outcome of the talks.
Mr Malarkey said the bus station site could meet the council’s wishes by including a library and car park, and the government’s plans for a new bus station in Douglas.
He said: ‘Before we rush off and spend a great deal of money across the road [Cambrian Place] let’s talk to government and see if we can do something.’
He added: ‘We desperately need a bus station and if it can be incorporated with something the council wants, it’s got to be the best for everyone.
He said the parties should also discuss the possibility of including leisure space in the design, to accommodate everything from exhibitions to skating.
Meanwhile, at today’s (Tuesday) Tynwald sitting Onchan MHK David Quirk is due to ask Mr Cretney to make a statement on his policy on working with Douglas Corporation on the bus station site.
Mr Quirk told iomtoday he hoped that Mr Cretney, working with Douglas Council, would be able to ‘stimulate constructive development on the site’.
He said he hoped that with the local authority and government working together they would be able to get over the ‘false starts made over the years’, and he urged both sides to ‘put their differences aside for the common good of the project’.
Developer Askett Hawk failed to submit a planning application for the Lord Street scheme in time to meet the January 31 deadline.
Mr Cretney told Tynwald in January that his officers would now be looking to develop a masterplan for the redevelopment of the lower Douglas area, including the former bus station site.
Meanwhile, the Cambrian Place scheme received planning approval last month.
