Family 'growing up on a building site' due to map error

'Maladministration' by Cabinet Office, Tynwald Commissioner finds

The Tynwald Commissioner for Administration has recorded a finding of maladministration on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

It's after a Crosby woman complained after an error - made on a map in the Area Plan for the East - saw four houses built by her home.

Mrs I, as she's known in the commissioner's report, bought a new-build house in 2020 - unaware that an area by her property had been designated for development.

At the time she exchanged contracts for the property she was under the impression the field by her home was to be kept as a 'strategic reserve'.

Map 10 of the area plan failed to show the correct boundaries - and so the developer of the Crosby Meadows estate was able to apply to build four more homes on that site; a number that could yet grow by an additional 18.

The Cabinet Office has accepted there was an error on the map which has resulted in some land on the perimeter of the estate being wrongly zoned as developmental land. 

As the department responsible for the Eastern Area Plan it's accepted responsibility for the error but implies it was the cartographer who made the mistake - something he denies.

The commissioner, Angela Main Thompson, says in any other jurisdiction she'd be able to award compensation to Mrs I but she doesn’t have the powers to do so on the Isle of Man.

She says the Cabinet Office has offered an apology but 'Mrs. I considered the response inadequate, given the consequences for herself and her family.'

The woman is quoted as saying the error has resulted in her family being denied the enjoyment of their property.

'The roads remain incomplete and unadopted', and 'if the application for 18 houses is successful the period in which we will be denied enjoyment of our property could further extend to many years', she says.

She adds: 'Our children will have grown up living on a building site which is not what we anticipated when making our purchase.'