Environment
Ramsay: Wind Farm Project Has no Tynwald Approval
Alistair worked in gov for 18 years, serving five Chief Ministers and since retiring has become a freelance political commentator.
A former gov press officer, Alistair Ramsay, has written to Tynwald members to highlight the lack of democratic processes in plans for a wind farm in the south of the island.
Alistair worked in gov for 18 years, serving five Chief Ministers and since retiring has become a freelance political commentator.
He writes:
The Council of Ministers gave the political go-ahead for an onshore wind farm in the Isle of Man without permission from Tynwald.
That was an unprecedented breach of the Island’s democratic process and a major mistake by Ministers.
It means there is no proper political authority for erecting wind turbines at Earystane, or anywhere else.
Without Tynwald support, in my view, the government’s onshore wind policy is stranded and the project cannot continue.
In February this year the Council of Ministers decided that the Manx Utilities Authority should progress plans for an onshore wind farm. Earystane in the southern uplands has since been confirmed as the preferred site.
But the Council of Ministers had no authority to sanction this project. Tynwald has never voted to allow onshore wind farms in the Isle of Man, there has been no parliamentary debate on the proposal and no public consultation.
The appearance of giant wind turbines, each one the height of Peel Hill, would be the biggest change to the Manx landscape for many centuries.
The Island could only move towards that transformation with the approval of its highest authority, Tynwald, and with the consent of its people.
Yet the Council of Ministers bypassed both parliament and public in starting the process to bring wind turbines to the Isle of Man. That leaves it politically exposed and its policy without legitimacy.
Tynwald must ask why it was left out of the loop on an issue with such serious implications for local communities, the environment and the public purse.
Meanwhile I would urge all members to back a motion from Jason Moorhouse MHK at the October Tynwald next week. It requires the Council of Ministers to reconsider its support for a wind farm in the Manx hills, noting that they are not permitted in similar areas of natural beauty in UK national parks.
The MUA wind turbine project has been progressed under the auspices of the government’s Island Plan, which was approved by Tynwald but does not contain the phrase ‘onshore wind’.
Even if it did, a change this big and controversial clearly requires a separate political workstream, with a public consultation followed by a specific Tynwald motion, debate and vote.
Gef’s Comment:
When the scheme was first announced, MUA chair Tim Crookall told Gef that the scheme’s budget will need Tynwald approval if it is to proceed.
