Sewage plant appeal hears about odour fears

An appeal hearing over the planned sewage treatment works is currently underway

Odour will not be an issue from planned sewage treatment works in the west of the Isle of Man, the utilities provider has told an hearing into an appeal against the plans.

Concerns about the potential smell had been raised by objector David Jones, who owns land near the site at Glenfaba Road in Peel, after the plans were approved earlier this year.

But Manx Utilities (MU) representative James Burton said that less that one “odour unit” would be measured from the closest point on Mr Jones’s land to the proposed works.

The government-owned utilities provider aims to have the proposed facility, which is part of a regional plan to stop the pumping of raw sewage into the sea, in use by 2026.

Mr Burton concluded that modelling provided by Dutch consulting company Arcadis showed that Mr Jones’s site would only be “slightly impacted” by odour.

Noise concerns

Concerns over land slippage were also addressed at the second day of the appeal hearing, which is being presided over by independent planning inspector Jennifer Vyse.

A base would be built at the bottom of a slope on the site to ensure safety from debris and any slippage on Mr Jones's land, Mr Burton said.

Responding to an objection to potential noise caused by sludge being pumped from tankers to the site, he said MU had modelled projections on a "worst case scenario basis", and the levels would not materialise as there would only be one pump point close to the field owned by the appellant.

The effects of the works on the character of the area were also put forward as reasons to throw out the plans.

But MU said while the plant would be visible from the old railway line and Peel itself, that was also already the case for the existing power station for the town.