Plans to use the former Summerland site in Douglas for the temporary storage of wind turbine blades have been revealed through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.

The documents show that if proposals for the island’s first onshore wind farm go ahead, the site has been deemed ‘suitable’ for receiving turbine blades via flatbed transporter.

The information forms part of monthly Executive Reports shared between the Manx Utilities Authority (MUA) and the Department of Infrastructure (DoI), outlining logistics for the proposed Cair Vie wind farm at Earystane and Scard.

A January 2025 extract reads: ‘Our current plan for the delivery of components, using the Port of Douglas, involves temporary storage at the Summerland site.

‘The Swept Path Analysis (SPA) for the transportation of parts has confirmed that this site is suitable and that turbine blades can be delivered to this site using a flatbed transporter.’

Once on island, the blades would be transported from Summerland to the Earystane site using a blade-lifter.

The documents also reference tree pruning along the transport route, noting: ‘DoI have confirmed that the trees along the route will be limbed to accommodate buses as part of routine maintenance up to a corridor of 36m² (6m x 6m), with additional pruning beyond this to ensure tree growth appears natural.’

This measure reportedly removed the need for arboricultural and ecological surveys, except at the Fairy Bridge, where surveys were scheduled for mid-March during a planned road closure.

The news comes just weeks after MUA confirmed the planning application for the £36 million wind farm has been delayed yet again, with submission now not expected until late 2025 at the earliest.

Responding to a Tynwald question last month from Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse, MUA chair John Wannenburgh MHK explained that the application had been due in January 2025, but further environmental survey work had since been deemed necessary.

He said: ‘Our understanding is that this survey data will contribute to the completion of the environmental impact assessment (EIA).’

Supplementary surveys are not expected to conclude until October 2025.

So far, more than £3.1 million has been spent on consultancy fees.

Payments to suppliers total just over £16,000, with no payments yet made to developers.

The project is being funded from the government’s wider energy transition budget.

However, the revelations around the Summerland site have drawn fierce criticism from some residents and campaigners in the south of the island.

Kirrie Jenkins of the Cair Vie Resistance Group said: ‘Thanks to a recent FoI request, we now know that secret talks are happening to change legal land contracts, without even informing the people affected. This is a disgrace.’

She highlighted how one tenant farmer only discovered by chance that their lease could be under threat due to the project.

She alleged that both tenant farmers and private landowners were being left completely in the dark about decisions that directly impact their land and livelihoods, adding: ‘We will not be silenced. We will not stand by.’

The site of the former Summerland leisure complex, owned by the government, has lain derelict since the building was demolished in 2006.

The news comes just days after the island marked the 52nd anniversary of the 1973 Summerland fire.