Demolition of properties ahead of Manx Development Corporation’s (MDC) Westmoreland Village scheme is to begin in the next three weeks.

Letters have been sent out to residents and businesses in the area by contractors CCJ Group outlining the timetable for the works.

Yet despite spending millions buying up property, MDC does not yet own or control the whole of the site.

The owners of number 44 Westmoreland Road, home to Ellan Vannin Chiropractic Clinic, have still not agreed to sell up.

This building and the vacant attached semi next door, no.42, will remain standing , while numbers 46 and 48 on one side, and 40 on the other, will be reduced to rubble, as will other premises in and around the area.

Hoarding will be erected around the site next week and then demolition is scheduled to begin in three weeks. It is expected to take 12 weeks to complete.

The major redevelopment scheme was approved for a second time by the planning committee in May despite continuing concerns about parking, landownership and affordable housing.

MDC’s proposals for the site bordered by Demesne Road and Westmoreland Road comprise 133 new homes split across apartments, townhouses, small blocks of flats and a senior living block.

It also includes a new scout hut/community pavilion, and refurbishment and extension of Crookall House as offices.

In the letter to residents and businesses, CCJ Group managing director Derek Clarkson said: ‘The works will involve the controlled demolition of the structures within a secure hoarded perimeter.

‘Traffic movements will have controls in place to maximise safety during the haulage operations.

‘This work will involve various haulage movements on the road that will be co-ordinated and controlled. We will endeavour to ensure that the impact to the area especially around peak times and school times is minimised.

‘Our general approach is to progress the works quickly and efficiently with the minimum amount of disruption.’

Isle of Man Today reported back in December 2023 that MDC, an arm’s length government-owned company set up to revitalise brownfield sites, has spent £2m buying up property to make way for Westmoreland Village scheme.

The planning committee first approved its application (23/00291/B) by the narrowest of margins in February, with it being carried by the casting vote of the chairman.

Concerns centred on the issue of off-street parking with only 89 car spaces being provided - while the Strategic Plan specifies it would require 214.

The application was approved subject to a legal agreement but in May it went back before the planning committee which heard it had not been possible to complete that agreement because MDC had been unable to acquire the whole site.

A second issue concerned the provision of affordable housing. MDC’s intention had been to offer the whole of one block to Douglas City Council - but the local authority had not formally committed to purchasing the units.

The planning committee approved the application for a second time with a conditions that MDC cannot commence development until it owns the entirety of the site.