Castletown Commissioners has unveiled plans for the island’s most environmentally-friendly public sector housing estate.

Proposals for the £25.7m scheme, a major redevelopment of the School Hill and Westhill estates, were unveiled in a public display at the town hall yesterday (Monday).

And a planning bid (19/00961/B) was submitted last week.

The 133 homes will be designed to the Association for Environment Conscious Building standards and will be tightly insulated, so conventional heating is unnecessary, and hot water heated by solar panels and air source heat pump cylinders.

It is the first public sector housing development in the island to adopt such principles for the whole estate.

A total of 39 homes will be for first-time buyers (on the periphery), and the remaining 94 will be let as public sector housing.

In the design and access statement, it says the estate of 101 homes that was built from 1945 to 1963 is badly in need of redevelopment.

The estate has narrow roads and pinched junctions, creating problems for motorists and emergency vehicles. Also access is impossible when the nearby Southern 100 races are taking place.

The new, more efficiently-designed layout will incorporate wider roads and pavements with car parking spaces and it includes a central courtyard for events and a children’s playground.

The efficiency of design means it will have a more open feel but incorporate more housing. There is also a newly paved and lit pedestrian route to the town centre.

The overall capital cost of the scheme, at: £25,726,129, will be offset by the sale of some first time buyer dwellings within the estate so the net capital investment is expected to reduce to £17,416,129.

A new access will be created, for permanent use by emergency vehicles (controlled with a key) and by residents during the Southern 100 races.

The residents will be decanted in four phases. If approved, work is expected to start at Easter next year.