Businesses in the Lord Street area have welcomed the news that the £25m redevelopment of the former bus station site has been granted planning permission.

As the Examiner reported this week, planners gave the go-ahead for the development, which includes a hotel, cinema, multi-storey car park and flats.

Businesses that spoke to the Manx Independent welcomed the development and investment in the centre of Douglas - but expressed concerns over parking, especially as spaces are lost during the building of the site.

Joanne Kelly, owner of Eternity Hair Specialists, said the plan would bring new business to central Douglas but she has concerns over further loss of parking, with the promenade redevelopment also seeing parking lost.

Her optimism and concern was shared by Sarah Berry, who has owned the Spill the Beans cafe for nearly 20 years.

Mrs Berry said: ’It is very good news for the area but parking will be lost while it is being built which could be an issue.’

Mark Hibbert, proprietor of the Curtain Stall on the corner of Market Hill and Chapel Row, is equally concerned about parking as his business requires him to be able to load up his van and come in and out as needed.

Mr Hibbert said: ’I’m all for the redevelopment, but parking is going to be an issue.

’At the moment I pay £4.50 for a day’s parking in Lord Street, which I’m happy doing, but there are already some days I can’t get the van near the shop or even get a space and I think that may get worse.

’I do wonder how good it will be for the area during the day, as the cinema will mostly be an evening and weekend business but overall I am all for anything that brings a new life to the area.’

Nik Meier, owner of the Caff in Lord Street, said that the redevelopment of the site was fundamentally a good thing and did not seem too concerned about parking.

He added: ’The development will bring people down here. It is a long-term investment in Douglas and will increase footfall in the area.

’And redevelopment of the bus station site is really welcome and there will still be parking too. From our point of view, the builders on the site should be good for business too while the work is under way.’

The owners of Noa Bakehouse and Bikestyle, which recently moved into the Market Hall on the North Quay, said it was good to see regeneration on the site.

Pippa Pettit from Noa Bakehouse said: ’It is exciting that someone is looking to invest so much in the community and we welcome investment to bring extra life to the quay.

’But from a business point of view, it means we can also plan for it, if we know it is going to be there, then we know that we can plan for our businesses in the long term, so it brings more certainty to our plans too.’

When the redevelopment is complete, the planning statement figures show that the site will have more parking than currently available.

The Department of Infrastructure has previously confirmed that the current car park, ’has 180 spaces’ while the new development would have about 200.

However, how many are available to the public on a pay and display basis is not clear.

It said: ’Of the 198 standard car parking spaces available, 30 are reserved for exclusive hotel use while 26 are reserved for the residential occupiers.’

There will also be 12 disabled bays and 16 motorbike bays.

But it is not stated whether the new car park would include reserved parking or whether it will be freely available for pay and display beyond the 56 reserved for the hotel and those who will live in the flats.

Douglas Council leader David Christian told the Manx Independent he was ’obviously very pleased’.

Mr Christian added: ’The council’s main concern was using Chapel Row as the entry to the site, but that has now changed to the North Quay and we have ongoing discussions about a few other minor aspects.

’But this will be a tremendous boost for lower Douglas and one it has needed for a long time.

’I hope that this will kickstart the building on other brownfield sites in the area and bring new life to Douglas.

’There will be sceptics so it is important to see work begin on the site as soon as possible.’