Port Erin Commissioners says it won’t be supporting an application to change a local pub into a retail outlet because it would harm the community.

Okell’s Inns has said The Haven in Port Erin will remain a community pub, despite a planning application being submitted which proposed transforming the venue into a Spar convenience store and Subway outlet.

A clarification came after plans lodged by Mannin Retail, another part of the Heron & Brearley Group, who sought permission to change the use of The Haven on Station Road.

The company said the proposed redevelopment would provide a ‘beneficial reuse of an under-performing site’ and create additional employment opportunities in the village.

However, Okell’s Inns has now confirmed there are no immediate plans to close The Haven or convert it into a retail unit.

The commissioners said that if The Haven was changed, it would affect the other smaller convenience shops in the village – which include locally owned businesses.

During the latest local authority meeting, it was agreed that the pub serves different customers to the others around the village and it should remain in place.

Commissioner Hugo Mackenzie said the local authority shouldn’t be ‘encouraging the demise’ of it.

He added that The Haven is a ‘community facility’ and it’s up to the owners to prove the pub is ‘unviable rather than a less profitable alternative’ to a retail shop.

Commissioner Karl Drinkwater added that pubs are dropping in numbers and if it is changed, it could hurt two small businesses in the village.

Vice-Chair Barbara Guy said the landlord should be given the chance to keep the building operating as a pub.

The board agreed to object to the proposal.