Proposals put forward to make Douglas Head a conservation area

The area is home to the Camera Obscura, which is a registered building

Douglas Head could become a conservation area after an independent report called for stricter planning controls in the area.

The document said it "embodies a uniquely diverse and vibrant slice of Manx history, heritage, culture and environment".

Conservation areas are excluded from permitted development rules, meaning permission is needed for most changes.

The Cabinet Office said it was yet to make a decision over the proposal.

The report, which was not commissioned by the government, calls for an area from a point just beyond the ornamental toll gateway on Marine Drive to Trafalgar House on South Quay, to include the Douglas Head Lighthouse and the Battery Pier, to be considered.

'Varying styles'

The document said it was a "site of an extraordinary diversity of uses", which had played a "key role in the residential, recreational, entertainment, industrial and defensive development of the town and the Isle of Man as a whole" for over three centuries.

The area had retained "a combination of mostly residential period properties of varying styles, many of which are of high status and have mostly survived intact or in good condition with limited adverse changes or losses", it continued.

"Douglas Head, with its rich cultural evolution and mix of buildings, deserves equal recognition to guard against inappropriate alteration, development or demolition in the future," it added.

The proposals were originally put forward in 2018 by Charles Guard and David Wertheim, but were updated last month to take into account the approval of the Area Plan for the East by Tynwald.

A consultation on the proposals is available online until 17 September.