Ramsey Commissioners say they can see no rationale for the Department of Food, Environment and Agriculture’s decision to suspend its services in investigating statutory nuisance complaints.

The role of investigating complaints about issues that could be detrimental to public health – such as the disposal of dead animals, overcrowding of residential property, industrial smoke and dust pollution – has been undertaken by DEFA officers for the past 30 years, but the department is now keen to hand it back to local authorities.

Lead member for finance Juan McGuinness said statistics showed that complaints average one a year – hardly sufficient reason to suspend the service. Yet the decision could have ramifications for local authorities.

‘We’re the ones who will bear the brunt of this, DEFA will not,’ he said.

At the behest of the board, town clerk Tim Cowin has written to the Chief Minister, MHKs and local authorities saying that Ramsey Commissioners would like the DEFA to reconsider its decision as the commissioners did not feel they had the staff or resources to undertake the services.