A government minister has defended his department’s decision to make it harder for people to object to developments.

Geoffrey Boot says speaking after controversy in Crosby.

He said that some people were using ’interested party status’, which grants the right to appeal planning decisions, to delay applications and ’stifle economic development’.

The Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture placed more restrictive rules on those who could be given interested party status last year.

That came after the Minister made a statement to Tynwald members in May 2018, outlining changes to planning.

Many residents in Crosby were angry after discovering they had lost their interested party status and could no longer make appeals over a controversial planning application in the village.

They have been objecting to the development since 2015 but none was told about the introduction of the new policy.

Mr Boot admits some will be disappointed, but that ’a line had to be drawn at some point’ to bring the changes ’online’.

The chairman of Marown Commissioners, Alex Toohey, says any changes should only apply to new applications, not existing ones.

’If I were a cynic I’d say this is an attempt to stifle the voice of those with legitimate objections in order to reduce government workloads so that planning matters are processed quickly,’ he said

The DEFA Minister has suggested aggrieved residents should direct their appeals through local authorities which, as statutory bodies, retain interested party status.

Writing on social media, Onchan MHK Rob Callister was of the view that the DEFA should have made it clear to local authorities and the public when the policy was going to be enforced.

He’s also expressed disappointment that MHKs weren’t fully briefed on the change.

Mr Boot told local democracy reporter Ewan Gawne that there had been some consultation.

’We had to introduce it somewhere along the line and in July we decided it was time to introduce it.

’There has always been a discretionary element to interested party status but it has never really been defined. This policy now refines this process.’

He said that any objector who was denied that status could air their views with local authorities, which will have interested party status.

Mr Toohey described this advice as ’laughable’, as in his experience, commissioners were ’not always listened to anyway’.

He says the local authority wasn’t told about the change and found out about it only when reading planning judgements.

Mr Boot went on to say that having interested party status was a privilege.

’The development should have some material and close effect on you. It shouldn’t be a general principle of objection to development per se.

’That’s why we introduced a 20-metre rule in terms of how materially you would be affected by a certain development.

’There was an element of objection or third party status that was completely detached from the development. This was perceived to be, and I think in some cases, was definitively causing delays in the system by individuals and companies.

’When you get planning permission it’s useful to know you can get cracking.’