Garff Commissioners voted to support Manx Utilities sewage treatment works planning application by four votes to three.

At its recent public meeting, the board discussed the proposal and the toll it had taken on them while forming a decision.

The approval was with a provision that some conditions are suggested to the planning committee.

These were drawn up by Commissioner Richard Henthorn and included monitoring the water quality and publishing results online, requesting the ultraviolet treatment is used all year round, and that financial charges should be imposed if raw sewage is let into the bay outside of a storm surge.

Chair Stan Ryzak was in favour, and said that wherever the site is located ‘it will upset someone’. He added the board has a ‘massive’ responsibility to do the right thing for the ratepayers of the area.

Vice-chair Marinda Fargher said she couldn’t support the application because of the destruction it would cause to Axnfell Plantation and felt the MUA and consultancy firm Arcadis hadn’t done enough work on other sites.

Board members Tim Kenyon and Stuart Clague threatened to resign from the board if the local authority voted to support the MUA’s proposals.

Mr Clague said the utility authority should’ve considered Meary Veg as a more viable option and wouldn’t take his grandchildren to Laxey Beach if the proposals were implemented.

As part of her reasoning, Commissioner Aishlinn Creer said two drop-in sessions only saw 130 residents in attendance. 73 people completed a survey and of those 73, 26 were ‘fully against’ the plans.

The local authority will now lodge a formal response to the planning application.