Moves are afoot to develop Ronaldsway Airport Gateway, an entrepreneurial and business hub at Ronaldsway Business Park, the free port and Balthane Industrial Estate.
The three sites were identified in the Southern Area Plan (adopted in December 2012) as ‘a major employment area’.
The plan re-designated land at Ronaldsway Industrial Estate as a business park while Balthane Business Park was identified as land for light industry and new technology companies.
To exploit the huge potential of the area – which covers more than 50 hectares – requires a co-ordinated approach, according to Graham Cregeen, MHK for Malew and Santon and member of the Department of Economic Development.
Chairman of Ronaldsway Airport Gateway, the group tasked with developing the area, Paul Howard-Snowden said: ‘We aim to bring together government departments, utility organisations, private sector landlords and developers in order to create a world-class approach to stimulate entrepreneurship and business growth.’
Balthane has new street lighting and is being tidied up. The free port, where Mr Cregeen said very few companies take advantage of its special duty free status, could become a technology park.
He added that the land around the Sefton Express, Strix and Ronaldsway Aircraft Company has ‘huge possibilities’ to be developed as a business park.
The Southern Area Plan commented on the ‘rather utilitarian form and appearance’ of some of the buildings and recommended any new structures visible from the road ‘should be of high-quality, functional design’.
Picking up on this point, Mr Cregeen hopes the design of any new buildings will also make a cultural statement – ‘there could be a theme to the design, it might be like a Viking ship,’ he said.
This increased focus on the area could be evident to the public this year as work begins on ‘some quick wins’, he said, such as resurfacing roads and improving the ‘abysmal’ appearance in front of the airport.
Mr Howard-Snowden added they are developing a ‘robust vision which respects our island way of life yet still offers a very fast track implementation for those bringing new jobs to our economy.’