A report into sites considered for a new sewage facility in Laxey has revealed that experts said the location chosen lacks access and is barely above sea level.

The report, by project management service providers Dalrymple Associates, was released under Freedom of Information.

In the report, all 40 sites are outlined, mapped and evaluated by Dalrymple Associates.

Number six of the 40 is the chosen location, the former holiday chalet site, at the north of the harbour which was described as ’needs developing’.

In the more detailed report, the company said the site has ’limited access’ and ’is low lying’ and recorded as being between zero and five metres above sea level. However, it was advanced for further consideration due to its proximity to an existing sewage treatment tank.

As the report went through two rounds of eliminating prospective sites, the chalet site was one of three options remaining in lower Laxey.

The other two were on the promenade next to the old cafe and the site of the existing sewage tank. The chalet site was ultimately chosen by Manx Utilities as the site it wanted to build it on.

But the plans have proved controversial. To make the chosen site work, a bridge will need to be built over the river to provide access for wagons to carry away the waste daily.

Residents have formed a group called ’Best Environmental Sewage Treatment’ (BEST), which while it agrees that a sewage solution in Laxey is needed to improve the quality of sea water, it thinks Manx Utilities’ plan of introducing Integral Rotating Biological Contactors (IRBC) treatment units is not the way to go.

An IRBC is a plant where all treatment processes on sewage are contained within one unit and effluent is discharged to a watercourse with settled solids taken away.

Last month’s flooding in Laxey has also provided evidence that the land around the site is at risk from extreme weather events which have blighted the village in recent years.

Manx Utilities has confirmed trucks would use Minorca Hill to access and leave the site, outside school opening, closing and lunch times.