The chair of Manx Utilities has refuted accusations by an MHK that the proposed Earystane windfarm has a “whiff of a Liverpool landing stage”.
John Wannenburgh described Tim Glover’s comment as “wholly inaccurate”, but the MHK was not asked to withdraw his remark by the Speaker.
During Keys sitting, Mr Wannenbugh was asked about the costs for the proposed windfarm, which he confirmed to be £40m, over £3m of which has already been spent on consultations.
Jason Moorhouse raised concerns about the costs, quoting earlier reports that the windfarm would cost £23m, however Mr Wannenburgh said this earlier figure was “not the full cost of the overall project.”.
He said: “This is consistent with the initial case submitted by Manx Utilities board in summer 2023 and the original announcement made by Manx Utilities in July 2023, the indicative costs combined with the site’s excellent wind resource suggests a cost saving of £5million a year versus current gas costs.”
Onchan MHK Julie Edge said Mr Wannenburgh could “actually save £36million if you scrapped it”, something he said he was not minded to do.
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