The Government’s Cabinet Office is having another look at whether Douglas Head should become a conservation area.

A consultation on the issue was carried out in 2021 with calls for the area to be protected after an independent report recommended stricter planning controls in the area.

It would have covered the point from the ornamental toll gateway on Marine Drive to Trafalgar House on South Quay.

The document said it was a ‘uniquely diverse and vibrant slice of Manx history, heritage, culture and environment’.

However, then Cabinet Office Minister Kate Lord-Brennan said the arguments for and against were ‘weighed up’ and it was decided there was no need to ‘set it ahead of any other conservation area work across the island’.

But in responding to a written question this week, current Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford says the department is looking into the possibility once more.

Douglas Central MHK Ann Corlett asked the minister whether further consideration has been given to making Douglas Head a conservation area.

In response, Mr Ashford said: ‘Cabinet Office considered the matter of making Douglas Head a conservation area (by order) in July 2021. A consultation was conducted seeking views on the suitability of making such an order.

‘At the time, it was considered the existing protections afforded to Douglas Head through the Isle of Man Strategic Plan 2016, the Area Plan for the East 2020, the Douglas Head Act 2000 and the Wildlife Act 1990, were more than adequate to protect those aspects of Douglas Head that respondents considered important.’

However, he then confirmed the department is looking into the issue once more.

Mr Ashford said: ‘The Department is currently in the process of re-examining the work around the potential for Douglas Head to become a conservation area.’