Referral of Isle of Man sewage plant plans questioned

The site was to be used as part of a £23.5m Regional Sewage Treatment programme

Plans for a regional sewage plant in the west of the Isle of Man should not have been independently reviewed, a local authority has said.

The proposals were withdrawn by Manx Utilities last week after the inspector recommended they be refused.

Patrick Commissioners had objected to the location of the site on Glenfaba Road, just outside Peel.

Chairman John Anderson said money had been "wasted" on the independent inquiry.

The application was referred to an independent inspector earlier this year as a small part of the land earmarked for the project was thought to belong to the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

As the planning authority sits within that department, plans involving such land must be considered independently.

It emerged last week that DEFA did not own the land and the plans could have been considered by the government's planning committee.

John Anderson called for the land ownership mix-up to be scrutinaised

Manx Utilities chairman Tim Baker MHK said although a mistake had clearly been made historically, the appeals process meant the plans would inevitably have been referred to an independent inspector in due course.

The situation was "a classic case of everybody being wise afterwards", he added.

An independent report said the project would have an adverse visual impact, lead to a loss of woodland, impact on wildlife and increase traffic, and the application did not show enough evidence that there was no suitable alternative site.

Mr Baker said the organisation was now "pressing the pause button" on the project while investigations were carried out into whether those concerns could be mitigated.

Calling for the matter to be investigated by a parliamentary scrutiny committee, Mr Anderson said while the board was in favour of a facility being built to stop raw sewage being pumped into the sea at Peel, it should not be done "at any expense".