Legality of hillside Three Legs of Mann questioned

The legality of a Three Legs of Mann symbol created from stone on a hillside on the Isle of Man has been questioned by a town's commissioners.

The 100ft (30m) wide Manx triskelion on North Barrule was created by retired builder Bryan Callister in 2019.

Plans to paint the stones white were put on hold after he was told he would need permission to do so.

Ramsey Commissioners have now asked planners to decide whether the structure can remain in place.

Although the site of the structure is in the parish of Lezayre, the Ramsey board have interested party status in any retrospective planning application for it as it is visible from the town.

A previous application was withdrawn in March 2020 after commissioners in both Ramsey and neighbouring Garff raised concerns over it being painted.

However, Lezayre Commissioners narrowly voted to approve the move.

Mr Callister said he wanted the symbol to encourage national pride

Debate over the structure was reignited earlier in May after the outline of the triskelion was repainted, making it more visible.

Ramsey chairman Andrew Cowie said the issue had divided the board and it was now up to the planning department to decide "whether the structure is significant enough to require planning or not".

He said all planning issues should have been sorted out beforehand to make sure it was a permitted development.

"To have anyone just going up and doing what they want on a key part of the Manx landscape is clearly not acceptable," he added.

Mr Callister said he spent three months moving the stones into the shape of the island's national symbol so that people could "see it and be proud to see it every day".

The 72-year-old said when he started the project, he thought he had permission, but now had no intention of painting it fully white "without proper authority".