Castletown Golf Links Hotel has been sold.

The long-closed eyesore has been sold by Dandara to the owners of the adjoining golf course, Langness Golf Course Ltd.

Associated parcels of land have been acquired by Manx Birdlife as part of a deal, announced on Monday, to create a managed wildlife haven extending to 60 acres. This does not include the hotel site.

The acquisition includes all of Dandara’s land across the peninsula.

Fort Island Developments Ltd, part of the Dandara Group, submitted multi-million pound plans for a new hotel and flats complex in 2017.

Those plans were rejected by planners in 2021, a decision reaffirmed by Clare Barber MHK, Minister for the Environment, Food and Agriculture, following an appeal.

The former hotel sits within a bird sanctuary on Langness and is surrounded by the Area of Special Scientific Interest which covers the peninsula.

A spokesperson for Dandara said: ‘Following lengthy discussions with Manx Bird Life and Langness Golf Course Limited, we are delighted to have reached a mutually beneficial agreement.

‘The Langness Peninsula is a culturally and ecologically important national asset. We are very pleased that the purchasers will now become its custodians, and we wish them well with their endeavours going forward.’

Manx Birdlife said its acquisition of grassland, coastal heath and saltmarsh on the peninsula has been made possible thanks to the support of Langness Golf Course Ltd and Nature Vannin Ltd.

It said the move represents a vital step forward for nature conservation in the island.

Philip Vermeulen of Langness Golf Course Ltd says the hotel site will be retained for tourism, leisure and the enhancement of the golfing experience of the Links and the bird sanctuary.

In a letter to members of Castletown Golf Club, he wrote: ‘Since 2012, Castletown Golf Links had an issue with the dilapidated state of the old hotel and the negative impact on the peninsular, the residents of Derbyhaven, the Links and the island as a whole.’

The Langness peninsula is one of the Isle of Man’s most important sites for breeding, migrating and wintering birds.

Manx BirdLife now manages land for nature at both the most northerly and most southerly points of the island.

The area acquired by the charity includes saltmarsh on the coastal side of the lane leading to the car park and the land which includes the Herring Tower.