Amendments, arguments, confusion and a ticking off from the President, the vote on the Area Plan for North and West was not an example of Tynwald at its best.
The motion came about because MLCs voted down the plan last month, leading to the Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford calling for a combined vote.
While what was expected was a simple vote that would either result in a government defeat or members changing their votes to vote it through, instead we got an apparently surprise amendment from the Treasury Minister, which bizarrely was then said to do very little.
We then had an adjournment debate, which was rejected, before another amendment came forward and comments being thrown around while members were speaking that eventually led to President Laurence Skelly putting on his best teacher voice to tell members to be quiet.
Amendments
Essentially, Chris Thomas’ amendment focused on the data and strategic implications of a housing land study. It calls for the government to analyze the study’s findings and report back with recommendations on how it should affect:
- The release of reserved land.
- Existing and future strategic plans.
- The potential for developing unallocated land.
This was passed 31-1 in a combined vote.
Dr Alex Allinson’s amendment emphasised the planning conditions and community infrastructure required for new development. Highlighting the existing policies that state development must be supported by necessary services and requires masterplans for key sites (using Peel as a specific example) to address the need for facilities like schools, health centres, and parks.
That dramatically resulted in a 16-16 draw, resulting in it failing.
Vote
Following that lengthy debate, members voted 16-16, resulting in the area plan failing to pass.
