Construction of an unathorised riverside patio valued at £30k-40k built during flood prevention works in Laxey was an ‘absolute failure of financial governance’, Tynwald was told.

Tynwald voted to receive the damning report by the Tynwald Commissioner for Administration which levels a finding of maladministration against the Department of Infrastructure’s flood management division.

Moving the motion, Onchan MHK Julie Edge said the report was about whether government follows its own rules.

‘It’s about what happens to an ordinary member of public who dares to point out that there is an issue,’ she said.

Flood alleviation works have been carried out in Laxey following the devastating floods in October 2019.

Planning permission was granted in 2021 for the construction of flood wall protection, re-enforcing the wall which runs to the rear of the properties on Glen Road, including the complainant’s home on Victoria Terrace.

During the works, a small unobtrusive wooden platform deck to the rear of the property next door was removed and replaced with a large concrete patio structure after a decision was taken to abandon the approved design.

The new structure spanned the entire boundary wall and encroached the complainant’s boundary.

Ms Edge said the project, valued at £30,000 to £40,000, was carried out without any formal record of approval.

‘Who actually signed it off? Nobody signed anything,’ said Ms Edge. ‘It was an absolute failure of financial governance.’

The resident took a case to the Tynwald Commissioner of Administration, accusing the DoI of maladministration over its handling of her complaint.

She said: ‘Not only has my privacy been seriously compromised (the structure is located just 3.5m away from my primary kitchen window), it is causing an obstruction to the flow of the river in adverse weather.’

Ombudsman Paul Beckett concluded that correct procedures were not followed, nor legal safeguards obtained, in the DoI’s quest both to meet its own building works deadlines and to satisfy the wishes of the neighbour.

He said: ‘These are markers of procedural maladministration and hint at bias towards the neighbour and unfairness towards the complainant.’

Mr Beckett said the department had not attempted to contact the complainant to try to negotiate or find a compromise and this was ‘at best discourteous and at worst procedurally maladroit’. ‘Both are markers of maladministration,’ he said.

‘It took more than a year to establish what the department could have admitted on day one,’ said Ms Edge who said she is considering referring the matter to the public accounts committee.

She said the culture within the department was one more concerned with managing the criticism than accepting and acting on it.

Tynwald heard that the DoI’s retrospective planning application had been refused following an appeals process and a remedy was being sought as part of enforcement action.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall apologised to the residents on behalf of his department. He said there had been meetings with the property owner in recent weeks about the way forward.

A total of 62 properties in Laxey had suffered from flooding following the events of October 1 2019 and residents were offered an ex gratia payment of £500 from the Manx government.