Demolition of the central bus station on Lord Street to make way for a ‘temporary’ pay and display car park was given planning permission in March 2002.
More than 20 years on, the site is still a car park.
Proposals for a hotel, seven-screen cinema and flats development which would have included new bus facilities have stalled.
In Tynwald this week, Douglas East MHK Joney Faragher has tabled a motion that states that the re-establishment of facilities for bus passengers in the island’s capital should be a ‘priority’.
She said the Department of Infrastructure should work up a detailed plan of how facilities will be provided.
These should include route and timetable information, protection from the weather, toilets, seating, accessible Wi-Fi and availability of refreshments.
Ms Faragher’s motion calls for the DoI to submit a report on its plan to Tynwald no later than December 31 this year.
Planning consent for the application (18/00846/B) by Lord Street Development SPV Ltd for a mixed-used leisure development on the bus station car park site expired on July 9.
The developers say they intend to submit a revised planning application.
Director Conor Bradley said: ‘We are not quite yet in a position to provide a detailed update in relation to Lord Street and all I can say at this time is that there is a lot of work ongoing in relation to a revised scheme with various design professionals, property agents and also with various IoM government agencies.
‘Covid, the economic environment, inflation and interest rates had all impacted on the original scheme, and it is vital that we get all aspects of the l revised scheme correct, including timing.
‘Naturally this means a revised planning application.’
SPV purchased the site in 2018.
Proposals for a mixed use development received planning approval in May 2020.
The plans included a hotel, 20 flats, cafes, a restaurant, multiplex cinema (inset) and a multi-storey car park.
A DoI spokesman confirmed that Lord Street Development SPV still owns the site.
He said: ‘If there is no work undertaken before the expiry date then the owner would need to submit a new application or request an extension to the existing approval.
‘There is no condition attached to the sale of the site to the owner – the site does not return to the department if no development is undertaken within a given timescale.’
There are currently five bus shelters and a large layby for buses on Lord Street.
Under the developer’s plans, five bus stances will again be provided but reconfigured in a saw tooth kerb arrangement to improve use and safety. Five new shelters would be installed but would be sited along the frontage of the public footpath, rather than along the back.