Garff District Commissioners have called for reform of the Marine Infrastructure Management Act (MIMA) process.
They saying their year‑long engagement with the Mooir Vannin Consenting Process Inquiry has exposed “a fundamental structural inequality of resources within the consenting process”.
The Commissioners say they have attended all hearings over the past twelve months, providing evidence and making representations on matters directly affecting their communities.
They welcomed the opportunity to participate, but believe “it should never have been left to a small local authority to be practically the only statutory body to scrutinise and, where necessary, challenge the proposals in any meaningful depth”.
Absent Government
They state that government has “stood back from its responsibility to ensure that proposals of such scale are genuinely in the best interests of the island’s population”, and expressed regret that other east coast authorities engaged only “in a cursory manner”.
The Commissioners say the experience has highlighted a major imbalance in resources between a small authority and both Government and a multinational developer.
They describe “very limited financial and human resource” on their side, compared with “comparatively limitless resources” available to others.
According to the briefing report, Garff has incurred £2,900 to £3,000 in direct costs, with a further £8,000 to £10,000 in potential Member attendance allowances that will not be claimed, and significant unpaid overtime undertaken by staff.
They warn that this disparity has real consequences, particularly in access to expert evidence.
The Commissioners say there is “a real risk that an issue may remain insufficiently challenged not because it lacks merit, but because the local authority representing affected communities cannot afford the expertise necessary to challenge it effectively”.
The statement also raises concerns about the wider structure of the MIMA framework, saying several “critical, defining policies” required under the Act have not been produced, leaving the Examining Body without the full legislative and policy basis needed to assess the application.
The Commissioners believe “the legality of the process has to be called into question” until those documents are in place.
A Complete Failure
They further criticise the official consultation, describing a “complete failure of the official ‘consultation’ to meaningfully penetrate the public consciousness is another red flag indicative of just one of the fundamental flaws in the process” and say government’s communication strategy created a “vacuum in which the only information circulated was subjective, highly selective, and from one particular angle”.
Garff says its experience demonstrates the need for local authorities to have a formal and direct role in marine infrastructure proposals affecting their residents, and calls for a full independent review of the MIMA process, including whether it should be replaced with a more traditional planning‑type system.
The Commissioners conclude that the experience of Mooir Vannin “exposes a structural weakness within the MIMA consenting framework” and warn that unless the imbalance is addressed, “the same problem is likely to arise whenever a small Isle of Man local authority is required to scrutinise a major marine infrastructure proposal”.
The Commissioners full statement can be read here.
