Tynwald has failed to support the Area Plan for the North and West - amid concerns over the loss of greenfield sites.

Following a debate lasting just over four hours, a divided vote between the branches meant that a motion to approve the plan failed to carry.

Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford told Tynwald that while the worth of the Area Plan will continue to be questioned he was convinced more than ever that it was the ‘right way forward’.

He said if the plan wasn’t approved the north and west would be left without an up to date planning framework to ensure development can be regulated and controlled.

He accepted that ‘this plan will see some fields will be built on’ but that these were carefully selected sites from over 200 originally assessed.

The Minister said: ‘Yes, to take forward this plan we will lose some of the green but dare to think what this will give us in return - new neighbourhoods for residents to call home.’

He said the plan provided real opportunities to build 1,000 new homes.

Shrinking household size was a key factor, he said.

Between the 2016 and 2021, the number of households had increased by 1,457 but that number of homes completed during that time was 880, leaving a deficit of 577.

Kate Lord-Brennan (Glenfaba and Peel) described the Area Plan as ‘flawed’, with ‘urban sprawl promoted over urban regeneration’.

She said it would see ‘large swathes’ of greenfield earmarked for development while brownfield sites were left untouched, with countryside ‘carved up’ to satisfy unsubstantiated demand.

Some 313 acres of greenfield are proposed to be zoned for residential development, 106 of those around Peel. ‘There was no justification for the scale of the zoning,’ she said.

She said: ‘A vote for this plan is a vote for the developers, a vote for greenfields to disappear.’

Ms Lord-Brennan, who as Cabinet Office Minister from 2021-24 was in charge of overseeing the Area Plan consultation, said the numbers were wrong and there was already enough land zoned for 10-14 years’ development at the current building rate.

She tabled an amendment calling for members to receive rather than approve the Area Plan.

Lawrie Hooper (Ramsey) said that voting against the plan would not necessarily protect greenfields from development.

Sarah Malty (Labour, Douglas South) pointed out there were no affordable housing quotas in the plan and it would only drive up prices.

Gary Clueit MLC said too little land was allocated for employment, and the plan would result in the loss of swathes of fertile land that could never be brought back to agricultural use.

Not having jobs available where people live had predictable consequences - more commuter traffic and erosion of town centres, he pointed out.

Chris Thomas (Central Douglas) said local authorities had lost track given all the changes made to the plan in recent months.

He said it was a ‘fanciful belief’ that the only way to achieve population growth was to ‘build lots and lots of houses on greenfield sites’.

Tynwald rejected Ms Lord-Brennan’s amendment but when it came to the main motion the vote was 13 votes to 11 in the Keys and one vote to six in LegCo.

Minster Ashford requested a combined vote at the next sitting.