The company behind a proposed £40m housing development in the north has announced that it has now officially submitted its application for planning permission.

The Sulby Riverside development would be built on the western entrance to the town of Ramsey and provide workspaces, over 200 homes, three public parks, a riverside gastro-pub with function rooms and ’new retail opportunities’.

Sulby Riverside Limited explained that the public consultation, which it launched in December, would precede the submission of a planning application.

The site is bounded by Gardeners’ Lane to the west, Poyll Dooey Road to the south, the town centre to the east and the River Sulby to the north.

The consultation found that around 50% of respondents ‘strongly supported’ the plans while 35% ‘strongly opposed’ it.

Among the concerns raised were those around traffic and access, as the development is situated on the main road into the town.

SRL argued that in addition to created construction jobs, the development would benefit Ramsey by increasing its population, and thereby footfall for local business – with its researching having found that the occupiers of new homes spend around £5,000 in the process of moving into it.

Site master planner Richard Coutts said that it would be ’opening a site that was unavailable to the public for many years’, and that ’a small parade of shops, likely to consist of a newsagent, cafe, creche and hairdressers will greet visitors as they arrive from the Poyll Dooey Road’.

The 207 houses would consist of a mix of townhouses, apartments and larger semi- and detached houses, all described as being ‘intended for local people’s needs’.

For children there will be a new pocket park, investment in play equipment and a new football pitch, and a new riverside walkway.

The company describes the site currently as ‘low-grade land with self-seeded trees providing little or no amenity value and acting as a barrier to the public’s enjoyment of the river-bank’.

It adds: ‘With sensitive landscaping and design, we can bring new amenity space to local people whilst providing room for the town to grow within its own boundaries, rather than eating into the green belt.’