A backbench MHK has failed in a bid to give Tynwald a final say on windfarm proposals.

Glenfaba and Peel MHK Kate Lord-Brennan tabled an amendment to a motion on renewable energy production in Tynwald this week, calling for every nationally significant windfarm application, whether on land or at sea, to be subject to ultimate approval by Tynwald as a final step.

This would be in addition to any approval or consent granted by the Department of Food and Agriculture or the Council of Ministers, under established law.

Ms Lord-Brennan said: ‘Where developments have potentially significant and long-lasting implications for our landscape, territorial waters, infrastructure and communities, and where there are many questions unanswered and a need to consider impact and benefit in the round by elected representatives, there is a clear public interest in ensuring that Tynwald itself has the opportunity to consider and determine such matters.

‘Members of the public feel that these proposals are too big for that not to happen.’

She said that Orsted’s current Mooir Vannin windfarm proposals go back two administrations, and date back to a lease agreement signed by the DoI in 2015.

Tynwald members were reminded, however, that under standing orders live planning applications such as Orsted’s would be treated as sub-judice.

Ms Lord-Brennan’s amendment was to a motion tabled by Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse who said the drive to renewable energy should not be pursued at any cost.

He said it should instead be delivered in a way that protects our environment, respects local communities, and represents genuine value for money.

But Manx Utilities chairman John Wannenburgh described this as a ‘derisory attempt to inhibit progress’.

DEFA Minister Clare Barber said it would leave the island on the sidelines and reliant on a power station that uses diesel and gas.

She said the motion and Ms Lord-Brennan’s amendment would undermine established processes.

She tabled her own amendment that renewable energy proposals should be supported by ‘appropriate environmental assessment’ and considered on individual merits ‘through robust and established processes’.

Ms Lord-Brennan’s amendment fell by 11 votes to 13 in the House of Keys and zero votes to six in the Legislative Council.

Mrs Barber’s amendment carried by 16 votes to eight in the Keys and unanimously in LegCo and the motion as amended was approved by 17 votes to seven in the Keys and unanimously my MLCs.

Some 87 wind turbines are proposed for Mooir Vannin, with a maximum blade height of 350m above low tide - significantly higher than those in the Walney windfarm off the Cumbrian coast.

Orsted says Mooir Vannin will contribute around £2bn to the Manx economy - around £55m-60m a year - and no financial burden will fall on the taxpayer.

But at a public meeting held at Comis Golf Club, attended by more than 100 people, concerns were raised about how exactly much revenue the island will receive, the cost of decommissioning and fears that it was already a done deal.

Orsted insist that the Mooir Vannin project is going through an independent, evidence-based examination process where all views - including those raising concerns and those who support the project - are considered and assessed fairly.