Castletown Commissioners has agreed to lobby the government to try to progress the development of a new Castle Rushen High School.

At its meeting on Monday evening, the authority agreed that the land at the back of the school needed to be used for housing otherwise the town’s population would ‘stagnate’.

Board member Jimmy Cubbon said the town is unable to grow ‘naturally’ because it is bordered by sea and the Isle of Man airport, and it is now far behind the size of Peel and Ramsey.

Mr Cubbon says the only land which can be ‘reasonably’ used to support the growth of the town is behind located the high school.

He said: ‘This is the second motion that I've put out in relation to Castle Rushen High School.

‘It's absolutely crucial that Castletown has access to the land at the back of the school as it earmarked for housing and potentially up to 400 homes.

‘Castletown has needed houses for 40 years, and it hasn't developed.

‘So, it's fallen aside as a service town compared to the other regional towns in the island, such as Ramsey and Peel.

‘The planning department is aware of this because it's been written in officer’s reports of a hierarchical flip with Ballasalla.

‘Once Ballasalla becomes bigger than Castletown as a village compared to a service town, then they can justify shops and all sorts then.

‘It's not just about Castle Rushen High School, it's got so much more implications for the future of Castletown, because once access is gone, then it's done forever.

‘It's landlocked, so it's tied off, because Castletown can't build in many directions.

‘This is the fourth Education Minister that I've spoken to now and engaged on this subject, about how holistically this impacts the town.

‘It was smoke and mirrors from Mr Cregeen, while Mr Allinson agreed with me about the importance holistically.

‘Julie Edge and Daphne Caine both seem to just tow the same party line where it's smoke and mirrors and you can't get an answer out of them.

‘Are the Department of Education engaging with planning and economic development departments to establish the importance for the town holistically, instead of just the school?

‘I don't think they are.

‘The Buchan School site is perfect for housing, but that's always been in the plan.

‘Castletown, however, has fallen so far behind where it was.

‘I think it was the 2009 southern plan that talks about Castletown needing 400 houses.

‘Well, since that time, how many houses have been built in Ramsey, Peel, Port Erin? Hundreds.

‘So yes, another 100 houses on the Buchan site are ideal, but it still needs 400 houses on top of that.

‘We've fallen massively behind.

‘This is supposed to be the south’s service town, but you'd have to say now we fallen behind Port Erin.

‘You've got the biggest supermarket in the area there. That's where people go.’

The authority backed board member Cubbon’s motion to write to the Chief Minister Alfred Cannan and current Education Minister Daphne Caine to raise the issue.