Application for sewage treatment works delayed

Raw sewage is currently pumped into the sea at Laxey Bay

Land negotiations for an eastern sewage treatment works have been completed but a planning application will not be submitted until 2025, Manx Utilities has said.

The Garff sewage treatment plant, which will serve Laxey and Lonan, is due to be built at the northern part of the Axnfell plantation.

The government-owned utilities provider said while the process "had taken longer than we would have liked", the move was a "positive step forward in delivering cleaner seas".

The firm previously said an application for the facility, which is part of a Tynwald-approved £40m regional sewage treatment scheme, would be submitted in 2024.

Manx Utilities said all of the private land agreements needed for the three intermediate pumping stations required had been formalised.

Landowners set to be affected by pipeline routes would be contacted ahead of the release of the remaining details of the scheme, and a public information event was being planned for later in the year ahead of the formal submission of plans, it said.

Manx Utilities considered more than 50 sites for the project

The firm previously said delays to progress with the scheme had been "frustrating".

A spokeswoman for the firm said the process had "taken longer than we would have liked, but it now allows us to progress with other landowner discussions and notifications", which meant the planning process could start "in earnest".

“We are aiming for public exhibitions in November and hope that residents and businesses will attend to give their views," she said.

"To provide time to carry out the necessary environmental impact work, undertake the necessary surveys and update any designs following the exhibition, we anticipate submitting the planning application in the first quarter of next year,” she added.