The owner of the Waterfall public house has submitted plans to demolish the Waterfall pub and build four houses.

The application (20/00605/B) comes after a similar one was rejected by planners and then on appeal in 2018.

Jim Limited is again seeking permission to demolish the Glen Maye pub, which has been closed since 2014. It says it is no longer a viable business.

The application says: ’The existing [building] is in a poor state of decay and has been vacant for over five years. The proposed replacement dwellings respect the traditional style of the existing hotel and immediate surroundings.

’The materials used will match in with the local vernacular. The proposed terrace dwelling would be set mainly over two floor levels but with an extra room within the roof space. There will be minimal height increase of 800mm.’

If approved, each dwellings would house three or four bedrooms plus a rear garden, a small garden to the front and two parking spaces.

Jim Ltd says that ’multiple attempts have been made over recent years to make the business work but they have been unsuccessful’.

Indeed, after the application was rejected in 2018, the brewery made unsuccessful attempts to sell the pub.

The application added: ’Rising costs are meaning people stay at home more and if they do go out it is to one of the main hubs for ease of getting home. Peel is the closest location for this and as can be seen, public houses and restaurants are flourishing there due to the ease of access.

’Unfortunately people are not going to commute to Glen Maye when there are closer locations. It could be said the industry is over populated.’

Jim Ltd has also preempted objections from the local community in this application, saying that ’only a small percentage of local residents would utilise the Waterfall’ as was the case with the previous attempts to run the business.

It adds that Glen Maye is ’not of a sufficient size to sustain a public bar in high or low season seven days a week’.

The building itself is said to be in such a poor state it would need ’considerable investment to get up to standards, especially from a thermally efficient perspective’.

Further issues include severe damp and the difficulties in insurance. Jim Ltd said it had to find an off-island insurance broker as no Manx business would insure the building.

Correction

***Our original version of this story said the Waterfall Hotel was owned by brewers Heron and Brearley which is incorrect. The owner of the Waterfall is Jim Limited. This was a mistake on our part and we are happy to correct this and apologise for any inconvenience caused by this error***.