Port Erin commissioners have made an offer to neighbouring Rushen in a bid to resolve a boundary dispute.

They said if Rushen withdraws its tit-for-tat application to change the parish boundary in the Ballakilley estate, it will pay £30,000 towards a proposed recreational project.

Rushen clerk Phil Gawne has written to Ballakilley’s Rushen residents to ask for their views on the offer.

Port Erin had applied for the 78 homes on the Rushen side of the estate to be brought under its control - and a public inquiry earlier this year found in its favour.

It will mean rates for the homes taken over will increase by an average of almost £250 over 10 years and Rushen could lose up to 10% of its rates income.

But the application for Tynwald was withdrawn when Rushen made its own tit-for-tat application to take over the 90 homes on the Port Erin side.

In a letter to Ballakilley’s Rushen ratepayers, Mr Gawne he was aware that under the current criteria for considering boundary extension, Rushen’s application to take on the Port Erin side part of the estate would be successful.

But with the Department of Infrastructure faced with two conflicting inquiry conclusions, the department has agreed to revise the criteria before Rushen’s application is considered.

Mr Gawne said: ’Until we know what the new criteria are, it is difficult to predict what the outcome may be.

’The Commissioners are therefore left with a predicament.’

He said that they could either accept the offer and ’bring closure to the matter’, or ’continue to fight to retain your place in Rushen’.

Mr Gawne said the latter would likely result in several months, if not years, of uncertainty and with no guarantee of the end result - and risk losing Port Erin’s offer.

Under that offer, Port Erin Commissioners would withdraw its claim for a small parcel of land which links Church field and Barracks field, and to provide £30,000 towards the recreational development planned by Rushen.

This recreational project is planned on land to the north of the Ballakilley estate adjacent to Rushen parish church.

Clerks to Rushen Parish and Port Erin Commissioners met with officers of the DoI on October 7 to discuss ways of resolving the boundary dispute.

Mr Gawne said in his letter to ratepayers that the offer would ’certainly assist in the Ballakilley recreational development’.

But he added the parish had a duty to represent the people currently in the Rushen part of the estate.

He told them: ’Your views will significantly influence what the Commissioners ultimately decide to do next.’