Dogged campaigner Trevor Cowin has lodged no fewer than eight Tynwald Day petitions this year.

His petitions range from overseas aid to the site of the proposed new Peel sewage works, taking in planning policy and a refusal to investigate his allegations of maladministration.

Mr Cowin, of Poortown Road, in Peel, is no stranger to the petition process having lodged his grievances on Tynwald Hill on numerous occasions in the past. One of his most controversial this year is about a topic that he has aired on the Examiner letters page and which sparked quite a lively debate.

He claims that at a time when the Manx economy is in danger of collapse following the Covid lockdown, it is ’wholly irresponsible’ to give away £2.5m of taxpayers’ money in foreign aid payments.

Mr Cowin is aggrieved that the Cabinet Office’s political group authorised payments to the RNLI totalling £58,000 to teach children to swim in Bangladesh.

He argues that Bangladesh, which has its own Navy with a fleet of large warships ships and has recently purchased two submarines at a cost of £4.6m, cannot be said to be a ’poor’ country.

Less contentious, is his petition concerning the demolition of Glenfaba House to make way for the planned regional sewage treatment works.

Mr Cowin claims that the historic building was flattened without planning approval and Manx Utilities has ’blatantly disregarded’ legislation.

He calls for a Tynwald committee to be set up to investigate.

Another petition calls for a committee to investigate changes to the policy on interested party status in planning disputes.

He says refusing interested party status to anyone living more than 20m from a development site denies legitimate objectors to a right of appeal.

Mr Cowin has also lodged a petition about a Tynwald commissioner refusing to investigate his allegation of maladministration by DEFA.

Covid restrictions mean petitioners won’t present their grievances in person on Tynwald Hill.

And Mr Cowin has submitted a petition about this, arguing that people should be allowed to present their grievances themselves on Tynwald Day.

â?¢ If you have submitted a petition, we would like to hear from you - email [email protected]