Work to construct a long-awaited bypass roundabout can go ahead at last - following the signing of a legal agreement to transfer land required for the scheme.
This new road opened in July last year but for the time being can only be used by residents of the Reayrt Mie estate.
It won’t actually become a bypass until a roundabout is built at Balthane Corner, responsibility for the construction of that rests with the Department of Infrastructure.
Its estimated cost is £1.92m.
But work on the roundabout has been delayed following the discovery that land needed for the scheme was covered by a covenant.
In a letter to Tynwald members, Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall suggested the delay was due to Malew Commissioners which own the parcel of land and which needed to secure an agreement to release a covenant on that plot.
The land in question includes part of a wooded area opposite the current Balthane Road junction.
But Commissioners clerk Barry Powell insisted the local authority has not delayed the land transfer and the holdup had simply been down to due legal process.
He said: ‘This had never really been a problem as such at all.
‘The Minister was suggesting that the Commissioners were delaying things but that’s not the case.
It’s just been the legal discussions between our advocates and the AG’s Chambers to make sure it’s all covered. It was only signed last week.
‘There was a legal covenant on that piece of land in memory of someone and we needed a surviving relative to release that covenant. It was all agreed with surviving family members last year. They were happy to sign.’
The plot of land was previously managed by DEFA and its predecessor but was transferred to Malew Commissioners 10 to 15 years ago.
Part of that agreement was that the local authority would transfer to the DoI any land required for a road widening scheme.
It was only when they looked into transferring the land that the covenant came to light.
Since agreement was reached to release the covenant, the local authority and the Attorney General’s Chambers have been working on drawing up a deed for the transfer of the land. It was this document that was signed last week.
Mr Powell said the Commissioners had not had any direct contact with the DoI for 18 months.
He said: ‘We always intended to transfer the land to the DoI and it has just been down to due legal process. We want the scheme done as soon as possible.’
Homebuilder Dandara constructed the bypass as a condition of its planning consent for the 280-home Reayrt Mie estate.
A terrace of houses has had to be demolished and a number of mature trees felled to make way for the new-look junction.