Plans to redevelop a former Port St Mary hotel into flats and a restaurant have been given the go-ahead by planners.

The former Bayqueen hotel will be demolished and replaced with a similar looking design comprising of two buildings, including its distinctive two towers.

During a meeting of the planning committee yesterday (Monday), members voted unanimously to support the application (18/00637/GB) from developers Hartford Homes.

Under the plans, the entire existing structure, which is in a sorry state of repair, will be demolished along with an electrical sub station, and rebuilt to form two buildings including 45 flats, two undergrounds car parks, a restaurant with associated car park and a new sub station.

During the meeting, a representative from Hartford Homes said: ’We are looking at putting a major landmark back into use and have received a lot of public support.

’We want to retain the two towers, but to do so the whole block needs replacing.’

He added that they want the new building to be able to ’complement’ the area.

One objection was raised by a resident whose house will be 13 feet away from the restaurant car park. He raised concerns over the car park being used by vans or other large vehicles.

However, the Hartford Homes representative said they were happy for the condition of a height restriction to be in place for the car park by planners to ensure only cars of staff and customers are using the car park while residents of the flats will have exclusive use of the underground car park.

He also provided planners with a timescale of ’around six months’ for work to begin on the site and ’about two years’ for the overall scheme, saying ’this is a very large investment we are making’.

Ian Cottier, chairing the committee in the absence of Tim Baker MHK, said this scheme and approval was a ’long time coming’.

He added: ’As a long time resident of Port St Mary, I have an interest in something attractive being built on the site. I am disappointed it is a restaurant rather than a small hotel as affordable hotel rooms can be hard to come by in Port St Mary.

’However, if it does go ahead, then ultimately it will be to Port St Mary’s benefit.’