On Tuesday 18 November, Tynwald will take the important vote on whether it should approve the proposed Area Plan for the North and West (“the N/W Area Plan”) in a combined vote of the House of Keys and the Legislative Council. This is after the Government’s motion for the Area Plan’s approval failed in separate votes of the House of Keys and the Legislative Council on 22 October 2025.
The Isle of Man Green Party shares the concerns of many of the members of Tynwald and local authorities in the North and West that the N/W Area Plan proposes an unsustainable and unjustified zoning of greenfield land for housing.
Minister Ashford has said in a written answer to Ms Lord Brennan MHK, that the Strategic Plan population projection by 2026 of 93,526 justifies the expansion of the zoning of greenfield land for housing. The Isle of Man’s population was 84,069 at the last census in 2021 and it has not been explained how the Minister believes the population will have jumped by nearly 10,000 by 2026.
Although it has been difficult to obtain clarity from the Government as to how their claims for housing need in the North and West are justified, upon one calculation (from the figures that are publicly available) the projected housing provision requirements under the Strategic Plan 2016 up to March 2026 have actually already been exceeded by 48 dwellings (as a result of factors such as an absence of population growth and a high rate of vacant properties).
The Green Party is concerned that the claims for housing need made by the Government will be particularly damaging if approved as a result of: -
i. The zoning of greenfield sites for new housing will damage biodiversity and will unjustifiably increase emissions, at a time when the Government is under a legal obligation to reduce emissions;
ii. Newly zoned greenfield sites will be favoured by developers as cheaper options in the alternative to investing in brownfield sites in areas such as central Peel, risking the hollowing out and deterioration to the traditional village and town centres.
Upon Tynwald rejecting the current N/W Area Plan, the Isle of Man Green Party implores the Government to take the opportunity to renew the N/W Area Plan by embedding into it sustainable societal transformation into its heart, including (but not limited to): -
iii. Greater provision for active travel in the North and West (e.g. any new roads, requiring a separated cycle route by default;
iv. A greater emphasis on redevelopment of the existing towns and villages in the North and West, including the specific zoning for affordable housing within the same.