THE Department of Local Government and the Environment will 'continue down the route that we started' on the proposed £40 million development at Crossag Farm, Ballasalla.

A bid to develop the land — the proposals are for a 257-home estate, demolition and rebuilding of the public sector Clagh Vane estate and a bypass — failed in January when the Council of Ministers followed the advice of independent inspector John Turner that the planning application be refused.

Mr Turner said the application was 'premature' pending a southern area plan, that was out for consultation.

Mr Turner also said proposals for Ballasalla should be developed as one and not in a piecemeal fashion.

Malew Commissioners agreed and said the proposals were overintensive while Malew and Santon MHK Graham Cregeen said planners had not listened to residents.

DLGE estates and housing director Richard Senior said: 'We have some ideas about what we want to do.

'What we would like to do is continue down the route that we started.

We would really like to get planning permission for a development similar to the one we put a planning application in for and to be able to use public sector houses on the new development to decant people from the older properties in Clagh Vane into new houses.

'That is still our policy, we have to deal with issues around the original planning application.'

Mr Senior added the DLGE was in communication with the tenants on the day the decision was known.

'I explained that we thought it would have got planning permission and were disappointed it had not, it was a set back for the strategy for Clagh Vane,' he said.

Mr Senior added he had received 'very little feedback'.

He added: 'We have no intention of sitting back and doing nothing.

Clearly we will spend money on the (Clagh Vane] estate, we just need to take stock of timescales and of what further action we can take.'