Criticism of 'ambiguous' transport strategy

The Transport Strategy has been noted by Tynwald

A strategy outlining plans for the Isle of Man's transport system over the next 10 years has been criticised for being "ambiguous".

During a debate on the government's Transport Strategy 2025 - 2035 in Tynwald on Tuesday MHK Kate Lord-Brennan stated that the plan "tells us nothing about anything".

Defending the document, Infrastructure Minister Michelle Haywood said it was an "overarching" plan, and the department would "delve into the detail" with "daughter strategies".

It sets out goals to make the island's transport more accessible, equitable, safe and sustainable, and would sit alongside a harbours strategy, visitor strategy, highway strategy and bus and rail strategy, the minister said.

Tim Crookall MHK, who previously cited the plan as one of the two documents that led to his resignation as Minister Without Portfolio, questioned why it was a 10-year strategy "when things are moving so fast".

'Meaningless'

He said a goal to make public transport the primary way of getting to and from the airport would impact negatively on taxi and private bus firms.

He also criticised the use of an an off-island company to write it on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure (DoI), noting that the department "should have been able to do it with its own staff".

Plans to upgrade the island's bus fleet, encourage active travel, adopt zero-emission technology and increase the use of public transport while decreasing the number of people reliant on cars have all been outlined in the document.

Lord-Brennan said it needed "some meat on the bones", adding that it was "not a strategy, it is a rehash of buzz words and phrases that are meaningless which does absolutely nothing for the people of the Isle of Man".

She also criticised the document for not going into any detail on the heritage railways, costings, or performance indicators.

Chris Thomas MHK described the outcomes outlined in the plan as "really ambiguous" and proposed an amendment, which was approved, that the document was merely "noted" rather than "received" by Tynwald.

Haywood said the heritage railways would be included in the Visitor Strategy as they were seasonal services.

A framework including more details should be put to Tynwald by January 2026, and the "daughter strategies" outlining the details were "all in play", she added.