Garff Commissioners used this morning’s Preliminary Meeting for the Mooir Vannin Offshore Wind Farm examination to place several concerns formally on the record.
It put on record its frustrations at being excluded from the project’s early scoping stage.
Clerk Martin Royle told the Examining Body that Garff Commissioners “were not formally included in the scoping arrangements” and only learned of this retrospectively.
He said it appeared the Department of Infrastructure had decided local authorities should not be part of that process, adding that the Commissioners were “very disappointed” and believed they could have contributed at an earlier stage.
He said the matter would be taken up with government separately.
Authority Concerns
Royle also noted that, since raising the issue, the MIMA team had been “very proactive” in enabling constructive engagement.
He said Ørsted had previously suggested to government that local authorities should have a greater role than originally prescribed.
Royle raised several further matters for the record.
He said the island’s small landmass created a different context for environmental assessment than in the UK and asked for this to be examined during the process.
Mr Royle referred to the government’s 2023 Landscape Character Assessment, noting that it had not been included in the applicant’s environmental work because of timing, and asked the Examining Body to take it into account.
Government Failing The Nation
He also asked the panel to consider the project’s economic consequences for the island.
He said the Commissioners’ discussions with government suggested “not many of our MHKs or many people in our government seem to have a grasp of the economic consequences of the project on the island,” adding: “At the moment, our government would appear to be failing us as a nation.”
He further urged the panel to recognise the Isle of Man as an independent nation with its own systems, culture and legislative history, and said this should be borne in mind when assessing the application.
Examining Body Response
The Examining Body confirmed the points had been noted and referred to the Regulation 31 letter issued on January 9, 2026, which requests a Local Authority Effects Statement by March 31.
They said this was a formal route for local authorities to contribute to the examination and that further discussion on environmental methodology would take place at Specific Issue Hearing 2 on Thursday, March 5.
Panel members also said that, as this is the first examination of its kind on the Isle of Man, careful consideration had been given to how best to involve local authorities, and guidance on the LAES process is available on the MIMA website.
Royle confirmed Garff Commissioners had registered for Thursday’s hearing and intended to engage “positively and constructively” throughout the process.
