Plans for sewage works 'should be considered'

The plans would see the regional sewage treatment plant for Garff built in Axnfell plantation

A plan for a sewage works in the east of the Isle of Man that would stop untreated wastewater being pumped into the sea should be accepted as "the one that's on the table" by residents, an MHK has said.

Manx Utilities has submitted plans for a treatment works to serve Laxey and Baldrine at the southern edge of the Axnfell plantation.

Previous plans for a sewage works at Laxey Harbour faced a local backlash and were thrown out by planners in 2020.

MHK for the area Daphne Caine said while she had backed the rejection of that site, the current application was the "alternative" and should be seriously considered.

The local authority held a public meeting about the plans last week

Garff Commissioners held a public meeting last week to gather views from residents that would inform the local authority's position on whether to support or oppose the plans.

The project would also see the establishment of five associated sewage pumping stations - at The Cairn, Ballacollister Road, Garwick Glen, Telephone Exchange and Killkellan.

Mrs Caine, who attended that meeting, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she had had had very little correspondence over the new plans.

Urging people to engage with the plans, she said: "I think we have to accept that this is the alternative scheme, this is the scheme that's on the table."

"I thought the commissioners spoke very well that this is an active consideration, an actual scheme to stop discharging large quantities of raw sewage into the seawaters around Garff."

Daphne Caine said the current plans were the "alternative" to previous plans rejected by residents

Mrs Caine said she would be happy to hear from anyone with concerns about the plans.

However, she said the only matters that had been raised with her about the works were over improving public access and amenity in the plantation once the treatment plant had been built.

The proposed facility would be part of a £40m government scheme to deal with the island's waste and stop raw sewage entering the sea in the two remaining areas of Garff in the east and Peel in the west.

Construction of the Peel Sewage Treatment Works, situated west of Glenfaba Road, began in May.