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Commissioners prepared to back Laxey Sewage Plans

Sun, 21 Mar 2021

Commissioners in Garff say they are prepared to fully back revised plans for sewage disposal in the east of the Island, if certain requirements are met.

Proposals to build a site on Laxey harbour were rejected last year with residents raising concerns about the visual impact, smell and increased traffic.

Manx Utilities has now issued a ‘call for sites’ as it investigates potential new locations for a sewage treatment works.

Garff Commissioner Jamie Smith says everybody involved is keen to resolve the issue.

He said: “There’s a lot been going on in the background since the original planning application was rejected by the planning committee.

“I think [Manx Utilities] realise now that perhaps they didn’t give enough importance to the sensitivity of the Laxey prom and Laxey harbour to local residents.”

More than 400 people signed a petition opposing the initial plans which were blocked in July last year.

The decision was hailed by Garff MHK Daphne Caine as a “victory for the people”, while the Best 4 Laxey Bay protest group added it was “a good day” for the village.

Planners concluded there had been “insufficient” investigation of alternative sites.

It forced MU to amend its designs, which are part of a wider multi-million pound scheme to deal with the Island’s waste.

Mr Smith believes more consideration has now been given to appease the concerns of residents.

He continued: “They’ve [MU] looked at various options, they’re keeping an open mind which is what we asked them to do.

“They’ve looked into the possibility of pumping to Meary Veg via Onchan, they’ve looked at the possibility of combined sites for Baldrine and Laxey and they’ve also looked at – if it were to still come back to that same site down at Laxey harbour – how they could mitigate the visual impact from the harbour and from the footpath.”

“There’s obviously not a bottomless bucket of money and so within those constraints, I think Manx Utilities are now doing a really good job of looking for a sensible, best solution.

“If we can get Manx Utilities to come up with a best solution then we’ll back them all the way.”

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