Tynwald petitioners seek political support for personal causes

A wide variety of Petitions for Redress were handed to the Clerk of Tynwald

Petitioners have presented the issues they would like to see addressed on the Island in a bid to gain political support for various causes.

On Tynwald Day they gathered at St Johns to hand over their 'Petition for Redress'.

They can be presented by any member of the public during the annual sitting of the court at St John's.

Issues raised this year included reforms to the planning system, better support for neurodiverse pupils, the future of the horse trams, and a call to prevent new housing developments in areas without adequate sewage treatment among others.

Trevor Cowin has become part of the petitioning furniture and makes a point of always handing in a piece of paper to keep the tradition alive:

Julia Bell, Peter Washington and Francesca Marzocca are part of the Dyslexia Advocacy Group Isle of Man:

George Hargreaves is the festival director of The Isle of Man International Film Festival:

Trevor Nall wants to re-kickstart the horse trams project with hopes of seeing them reinstated to the Sea Terminal:

Sharon Lambert is concerned about plans to build 92 houses in Peel and questions if the sewerage infrastructure is ready for such an increase:

Richard and Alison Jones want to see reforms to the Land Registration Act:

Kirree and Philip Jenkins handed over a petition which seeks to enhance regulations of commercial wind farms:

Millie Blenkinsop-French is asking for the Steam Packet Company to consider applying concessions and subsidies to ticket prices for Isle of Man residents:

David Watts is an avid educational researcher who attempts to create school performance tables each year using data obtained by freedom of information requests:

Simon Mann, a non-practising advocate from Ballaugh, says he's concerned that Tynwald has apparently accepted sometimes massive extra spending on projects without calling into question many valid commercial and professional issues.

Mr Mann believes putting in place a new legislative framework at all stages of major capital projects will reduce vulnerability of the public purse to the potential for fraud, misrepresentation, conflicts of interest, professional negligence and other commercial irregularities.

Jenni Quiggin is hoping for reforms to the police complaints process and is calling for creation of a public register for those with sexual offences against children.

Petitions must first be approved by the Standing Orders Committee, and then attract the attention of a Member of the House of Keys.