Castletown Commissioners hope to see new Market Square plans in place next year 

Castletown Commissioners has published its proposals for Market Square following a six-week consultation with residents during summer. 

One of the biggest changes is a potential closure to the square to vehicles during the Easter holidays.

The local authority is proposing that this would be from the Thursday before Good Friday until the Tuesday after Easter Monday.

In the document it says it gave ‘careful consideration’ to the views which were received and want to use the square to its ‘best ability’.

Another big change will be an increase to the amount of time people can park in the square whilst it’s open to vehicles.

It will rise from the current limit of thirty minutes to a full hour from Monday to Saturday between 8am and 5pm.

There are also some small changes to the current arrangements.

The summer closure has been moved around and will now start on 1 May and run until the 1 October.

When either day is a Sunday, this will move to the next available weekday.

Disc parking for those with a blue badge will remain at two hours in the square and the spaces will be available 24 hours a day – which is an increase from the eight hours a day it used to be.

Emergency service vehicles will also be allowed 24/7 permanent access to the square during times when it is closed to vehicles.

A decision was made by the previous board to trial pedestrianisation for a summer season, which was generally well received.

However, it was then decided to permanently close the square to vehicles; a controversial move which saw a number of local businesses speak out against the decision.

They raised concerns about a lack of support from the previous commissioners as well as putting people off from visiting the shops.

A public meeting was held about the issue, where the majority of attendants were in favour of a summer closure but not all year round.

During the course of the six-week consultation, the local authority says it received 35 written submissions as well as verbal comments from residents in the area –  which they said were ‘wide ranging’ and all taken into account.

It says they are conscious there are strong views about the future of the square and what its intended use should be.

The commissioners says it hopes to have the majority of proposals in place by spring 2026, 'ready' to be implemented by Easter.