Sewage plant construction to start in early 2025

Construction of a regional sewage treatment plant to prevent effluent being pumped into the sea in the west will begin early next year.

Plans for the Peel Sewage Treatment Works, situated west of Glenfaba Road, were unanimously supported by a planning committee in July.

That was followed by a three-day appeal against the approval in October, which was heard by an independent planning inspector.

Manx Utilities said it now intended top to commence works in February or March, after its original application was upheld.

The appeal had been lodged by the owner of land near to the site, David Jones, who objected on the grounds that his plot, which has planning approval for 21 houses, would be affected by the development.

The government-owned utilities provider said it would now finalise the land purchase, enter into a construction contract, and review conditions assigned to the approval, with the aim of having the plant up and running by the end of 2027.

The project would see sewage pumped from the existing Peel sewage pumping station on the town's promenade to the site of the treatment plant.

The treated waste would flow by gravity to connect to the current infrastructure to be discharged through the existing sea outfall.

The authority aimed to have the first stage of treatment completed by the summer of 2026, and biological treatment in place for summer the following year.

The hunt for a suitable site for the plant began in 2013, and previous plans to use a different location in Glenfaba were withdrawn after a planning officer recommended they be refused.

The firm's chairman John Wannenburgh said the latest progress was the culmination of more than 10 years of "hard work and planning".

It would "finally put an end to the continuous discharge of raw sewage into Peel Bay", he added.

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