Windfarm Tynwald Day petition amongst those deemed ‘not in order’

Thirteen of 36 presented this year thrown out

A petition for redress against the proposed Mooir Vannin offshore windfarm is amongst those which have been ruled out of order by Tynwald.

Of the 36 petitions presented at this year's Tynwald Day ceremony, 13 have been thrown out.

Those handing over their papers to politicians in St John's are told in advance of the guidance they have to follow.

It's the remit of the Clerk of Tynwald's Office to assess whether the petitions are in line with that guidance, and it says a finding that they are either in or out of order doesn't imply that the office agrees or disagrees with the merits of the case.

OUT OF ORDER

Of the 11 submitted by Trevor Cowin - a regular petitioner at the annual event - nine weren't in order.

A petition from Courtenay Heading regarding coronavirus vaccines would have been in order, had it not concluded with the words “treason is upon us”.

Arwid Hall's concerning public procurement was found not to be in order because it was presented on his behalf by another petitioner without incorporating written authorisation.

A petition from Stephen Holmes regarding family court proceedings had several issues, including the fact he is not resident in the Island.

And Ian Strafford and Georgina O’Sullivan's offshore windfarm petition was deemed not in order as it 'relates to a matter which could be adjudicated by a court, namely the existing consent process which it asks to be paused'; and 'it refers to a matter the substance of which has been determined by Tynwald in the current session, namely whether certain future agreements for the use of territorial waters should by statute be subject to Tynwald approval'.

That was despite clear public support; with the petition garnering over 8,000 signatures in support before being presented.

There was also a large presence of demonstrators at Tynwald Hill on the day.

IN ORDER

Those deemed 'in order' include; a petition from Ivan Burton about the Northern Civic Amenity Site, one from Sean Bostrom regarding disposable barbeques, and one from David Buttery regarding the conversion of office space into residential units.

Another, regarding family court procedure, was anonymised and redacted by the Clerk of Tynwald's Office as it includes detailed information about other members of the petitioner’s family. 

Others include a petition concerning road safety and complaints procedures from Alfred Caine; two from Trevor Cowin concerning Glenfaba House and the public speaking scheme, one from Oliver Lockwood regarding accounting, one from Simon Mann regarding Gift Aid and one from Creena Mason regarding mental health and community.

One petition put forward by Chris Goldsmith concerning incapacity benefit was also deemed to be in order.

As too were three from Katryna Baptist concerning protections for local authority members, DBS checks, and bees; and four from George Hargreaves concerning the Australian film treaty, the CinemaNX model, music usage reporting and music data foundation.

Also accepted were petitions on knife crime from Rebecca Parker, the Onchan constituency boundary from Martyn Perkins, plannin procedure from Saria Jill Pilling, and two from Jennifer Quiggin, one on grandparentsand one on policing.

You can find the full list of those deemed in and out of order here.