A prominent brownfield site that has lain vacant for more than 20 years could finally see development.

The planning committee today (Monday) approved an application for a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Lord Street bus station site in Douglas (25/90516/B).

Committee chair Rob Callister took the unusual step of making a statement outlining a proposal to support the scheme, in which he said: ‘I cannot support allowing this site to remain vacant.’

Lord Street Development SPV Ltd’s application includes a multi-screen cinema and a 12-storey office block, which would become the tallest building in the capital.

But it was not the scale of the building that formed the focus of the planning committee’s deliberations when it met on Monday to decide whether to approve, amend or reject the application.

Instead the issue was how the applicant should pay a commuted sum of £1.5m in lieu of affordable housing and public open space.

The applicant proposed a controversial ‘review mechanism’, the first of its kind on the island, under which it would pay the £1.574m sum only once the development achieved a return of 20%.

It said that without this, the scheme would not be financially viable.

This was despite the possibility that government funding of £15.8m towards the project could be made available.

The planning officer, however, specified that payment should be triggered at a return of 17.5%.

Objector David Wertheim argued the review mechanism and payment only after making a ‘handsome’ 20% profit was designed to ‘de-risk the project’ and claimed that ‘not only the viability but its validity was open to question’.

Applicant Conor Bradley told the committee: ‘The site is as high risk as you can get.’

Under Mr Callister’s proposal, approved by the committee by four votes to two, the realised return for triggering payment of the commuted sum will be 17.5% rather than 20%.

He agreed that it should be a two-stage review as proposed by the applicant.

He also said a condition should stipulate that the use of the ground floor unit be restricted to food and drink, and not expanded to include financial and professional services as requested by the developer.

Mr Bradley said he would accept the lower profit level figure as he was ‘not going to kill the scheme for 17.5%.’

In his statement, Mr Callister said: ‘Over the past 20 years, the site has generated no economic activity, contributed nothing in jobs, business rates, or footfall and has missed multiple regeneration opportunities.

‘I believe we must take this opportunity to see the site redeveloped.’

The two committee members who voted against the scheme were Sam Skelton and Adele Betteridge.

Mr Skelton said he would ‘love to support’ the scheme but could not ‘turn away’ from the clear planning policy.

Ms Betteridge said she did not believe the review mechanism would work.

The mixed-use development comprises a multiscreen cinema, 85 residential apartments with private parking, and 12 retail, leisure and restaurant units and office space, together with facilities for bus passengers.

Mr Bradley told the committee that calculations used in the DoI’s viablity assessment were ‘fatally flawed’ and the figures were out by as much as £10m as they were based on gross rather than net floor area.