A bid to limit vehicle speeds around a new £10m leisure centre has been rejected.

The news was confirmed at a meeting Braddan Commissioners on Thursday.

The clerk told Commissioners that their attempt to introduce a 20mph speed limit zone on the roads around the Roundhouse and Strang Road had been refused by the government’s Department of Infrastructure (DoI).

Relaying the department’s response, the clerk told the board that the bid had been refused on the grounds that there hadn’t been many accidents to warrant the change and therefore the restrictions weren’t needed.

According to the Local Democracy Service, the board said the department’s statement was ‘nonsense’ and that the traffic in the area could increase due to the new Roundhouse development without such a speed restriction.

The board was also told that an agreement for a new access road leading to and from the Roundhouse is due to be signed later this week.

Work on the access road has already started and a patch of land between Ballaoates Road and the car park at the Roundhouse has been cleared of shrubs, bracken, and overgrowth to make way for the new route.

Creation of the new road could signal the end of a long running access row related to the Roundhouse development.

Braddan Commissioners had originally planned to build a new access road leading to the facility when the site was being built.

However, that scheme was eventually ditched.

The commissioners ploughed ahead with the scheme and planned for staff and visitors to use the current road network leading to the Roundhouse.

But in February this year, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) issued a 28-day notice to commissioners which informed them of plans to restrict vehicle access to the Roundhouse site over traffic and safety concerns.

The DHSC later placed signs on the Ballaoates Road informing drivers of ‘no vehicular access’ to the Roundhouse.

Proposals in the parish

Braddan Commissioners also met with representatives from Hartford Homes during the meeting to discuss two proposals in the parish – one being an extension to the Cooil Road business park.

Paul Brew and George Lee from Hartford Homes attended to speak about the plans for extra units at the site.

The representatives said the company has a few plots of land zoned for new units as well as approval in principle to build a ‘spine road’ leading to and from the park from the main road through the parish.

Mr Brew and Mr Lee also said there will be roughly 10 parking spaces allocated to each unit and there would be room for dedicated staff parking if needed.

Chairman Andrew Jessop asked about street lighting at the park – he said the board generally support dark skies and would like as few as possible to stop light pollution.

Mr Brew and Mr Lee said there had to be streetlights around junctions but would install them minimally around the park.

There was also discussion about the Ballafletcher Road housing development which could see hundreds of new homes built on the new site.

The commissioners had lodged a request for less ‘public open space’ on the land around the development.

Mr Brew and Mr Lee agreed to the request and most of the land would now be turned into a ‘meadow’ resulting in minimal upkeep for the commissioners.

However, footpaths will be lined with trees and grass which will require more regular maintenance when the estate is formally adopted by the local authority.

There was also confirmation that a cycle path will be built around the back of the rugby club and a pedestrian crossing will be installed which will join it to the old railway line.