MHK says planning enforcement policy needs to improve

Sat, 19 Jan 2019

An MHK says government’s planning enforcement policy is not good enough, and needs to change.

Lawrie Hooper has sent a letter, signed by four other Tynwald members, to the Environment and Infrastructure committee, calling for an investigation into the issue.

He’s concerned policy-makers at the Department of Environment Food and Agriculture (DEFA) have decided ‘not to properly enforce the law’ due to a lack of resources.

Mr Hooper says there’s rarely enforcement action taken on ‘low level’ breaches and many are flouting the rules without fear.

The Tynwald Commissioner for Administration published a detailed report last year on a particular case, which highlighted ‘glaring problems’ with the enforcement policy.

Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne asked Mr Hooper to explain his concerns: