Scores of sites across Douglas, Onchan, Braddan, Marown, Santon, Laxey and Lonan have been earmarked for potential housing or industrial development.

Consultation has been launched on the draft Area Plan for the East, which sets out proposed land use up to the year 2026.

A list has been drawn up of sites specifically earmarked for housing, industrial or mixed use.

Other areas protected from any development are also named.

A total of 126 new sites in the east of the island are proposed for designation as housing or employment land.

Of these some 33 sites are specifically earmarked as potential housing land, with a further nine sites held in reserve to meet future demand for development.

The biggest proposed housing site is 30 hectares of grazing land off Braddan Road by the east of the Jubilee Oak junction, where up to 400 homes could be built under plans drawn up by Hartford Homes.

Next biggest is the 20 hectare Camlork site in Braddan and a 14.8-hectare site to the east of Ballanard Road.

Eleven sites are earmarked for industrial use with a further two sites in reserve.

There are also nine sites proposed to be designated as mixed use and one - by the Manx Blind Welfare base on Heywood Drive, Bemahague - as a community facility.

A site on Westmoreland Road in Douglas, which includes Finch Hill Bowling Club, an oasis of green open space in one of the densest urban spaces in the island, has been earmarked for mixed use in the draft Eastern Area Plan.

But the plan also refers to the need for extra sports and recreation areas, which suggests the bowling club may be protected.

The strategic plan has identified the need for 5,100 additional homes between 2011 and 2026, of which 2,400 would be in the east.

Land owners and developers were invited to put forward sites for consideration in 2016 and preliminary publicity last year encouraged public feedback on the nominated sites.

A drop in the island’s population was revealed in the last census, although there are indications it has started to climb again.

The draft Area Plan states that the open headlands of Douglas and Onchan should be protected from ’visual intrusion’ and there should be a presumption against development that would have an adverse impact on the setting of the Laxey Wheel.

Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas MHK said: ’The draft plan is vitally important for the Island and its ability to meet the needs of current and future generations.

’It will be at the heart of strategic planning in the east, influencing where new houses and business premises are built and where infrastructure and public services are located.’

Comments can be submitted in writing to [email protected] or to Planning Policy, Government Office, Bucks Road, Douglas, IM1 3PN.

In addition to the consultation hub, the documents and maps can be accessed at the Welcome Centre in the Sea Terminal and the Tynwald library. Public drop-in sessions will also be arranged during the consultation period, which runs until Friday August 31.

The Cabinet Office will review all responses to the current consultation and make any appropriate revisions to the proposals.

Public hearings will then be held and the advice of the planning inspectorate taken into account ahead of the draft Area Plan for the East being presented to Tynwald for approval.