Farmer says he's losing one metre of land a year to coastal erosion

Calls for more to be done to slow down the rate of land loss

A farmer in the north west of the Island is calling for more to be done to slow down the rate of coastal erosion on his land. 

Thomase Cleator has been working the same farm near Jurby for the past twenty years.

He says one of his fields in particular is now unusable because it is so unsafe.

Thomase says he's seen a huge change in the landscape in recent years:

It's certainly not a new problem for the Island.

In fact, it's a conversation that's been at the front of the minds of people living and working on the north west coast, in particular, for decades.

While the Department of Infrastructure is currently working on its response to these latest it comments, it pointed me to its report from July 2025, when it published a 'national strategy' to tackle the issue.

In it, it says that the areas which have changed the most between 1869 and 1998 were between Glen Mooar and The Cronk and The Cronk and Jurby Head.

It also recommended carrying out more data collection around the Island while implementing a consistent, long-term coastal monitoring programme.

You can find the full report here.