Port Erin Commissioners re-elect chair for sixth year in a row

Also on the agenda was an update on the sea raft

The chair of Port Erin Commissioners has been re-elected to serve a sixth year in the role.

Godfrey Egee was appointed last night at the local authority's annual general meeting.

The board unanimously agreed for Mr Egee to continue as chair for the next year, and for Marc Morley to serve in the deputy role.

He said he was pleased to be serving as chair in his 12th year on the board:

Committee and board roles were then selected with all members agreeing to stay where they are.

There were also no changes made to the standing orders and the commissioners were asked to complete a declaration of interests form.

On the public agenda was an email from a local business about a recent debate on holiday homes in the village.

The commissioners agreed at that meeting to properly ‘scrutinise’ these applications and whether they should put their support behind them.

Commissioner Hannah MacKenzie said she agreed with the business about rate reform on second homes and will try and pursue this further.

She also said she’s asked for some data in regards to second home ownership from the government.

The board agreed to stand by its previous resolution of scrutinising applications, especially based on where the planned location is and whether it's full tourism use or partial.

Another agenda item which stirred up debate was a delay to a new pension scheme for officers and staff at local authorities across the Island.

Although the document was not made public, the commissioners said during the meeting that it and other local authorities were consulted about the new scheme, and it was widely unsupported.

The Department of Infrastructure drafted the new scheme and the board members agreed it's not a ‘fair’ scheme and will impact its longest serving staff.

It was agreed to respond that the delay is unsuitable and it's ‘disappointing’ that it has been stalled.

For residents and visitors who use the beach during the summer, the clerk said he is ‘hopeful’ the raft will be back in the bay in time for TT week, but is still waiting for spare parts to arrive.

The commissioners will next meet on Tuesday 11 June.