Proposals to convert part of the former Boat House restaurant in Port St Mary into a salt production facility have been given the green light.

The island’s planning committee unanimously approved the application (26/00560/B) submitted by Isle of Man Salt Company founder Helen Crosbie.

Launched in 2021 as a Covid lockdown hobby, the business has grown from strength to strength with its hand-harvested sea salt and other products now available to buy at the Selfridges’ store on London’s Oxford Street.

The approved application is for a change of use of the former restaurant to facilitate the production, crystallisation and packing of sea salt, together with a retail display, café and event space.

Elke Zinnecker, from the Salt Company, told the planning committee that polytunnels had been used for salt drying but this had been a limiting factor for the business.

She said that the building, situated on a corner plot where Athol Street meets Loch Road, had been empty for at least two years - and the proposal would allow it to be brought back into use on a permanent basis.

The application had the backing of neighbours and the community, and there had been no objections, the committee heard.

Proposed external works will include the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to the existing roofs, replacement painted signage and removal of the existing unsightly extraction unit.

In a planning statement, the applicant said that ‘innovative, energy efficient’ equipment will be used to concentrate seawater into a brine solution which will then be transferred to a crystallisation vessel, where it will be gently heated to encourage the formation of salt flakes.

The resulting crystals will then be carefully harvested by hand, dried and prepared for packaging. Each production cycle is expected to yield around 25kg of sea salt, with the process being repeated on a daily basis.