Derbyhaven Planning Crisis – The Zoning Issue

 The Derbyhaven planning crisis arose when a planning consent for a single house, dubbed the Derbyhaven ‘Trojan House’, was used to push through a plan for an estate of 21 dwellings.  The issue was brought into the public domain with an article headlined ‘Residents ready to fight to preserve Derbyhaven’, published in the Isle of Man Examiner on the 18^th April.

The article included the views of residents as well as comments from Graham Ferguson Lacey (the developer) and the DLGE. In it, Mr Lacey asserts that,”the land had been zoned for residential use since 1982”. But closer scrutiny suggests otherwise.

On the 1982 Development Plan Order, Derbyhaven is zoned as ‘Existing Predominantly Residential Use’ and not ‘Proposed Residential Use’. Therefore, only houses existing in 1982 can be classified as having residential zoning status. The actual current use of the remainder of the land is associated with the golf course. Mr Lacey received planning approval in 2004 for a single dwelling as a substitute for the ‘Tractor Shed’ after undertaking to voluntarily sign a Section 18 Order to limit the use of the land to a single house for his family. His advisers now argue that the 2004 planning permission automatically implies unrestricted residential zoning rights and that a housing estate on the land is permissible, which is hotly disputed.

Reputable institutions have questioned the assertion by Mr Lacey that the land has residential zoning. Manx National Heritage has stated that they “would call into question whether this area of land is in fact zoned for residential development.”  This view is shared by, amongst others, Malew Parish Commissioners and the Society for the Preservation of the Manx Countryside and Environment. 

Finally, current Government planning policy discourages development on the coastal strip and Derbyhaven obviously falls into this category.  Constant mention is made in the media of rising sea levels due to climate change. Even Mr Lacey says (Isle of Man Examiner Business Update, April 2006), “Any coastal development will need to have regard to rising water levels and flooding”.  The land in question is already prone to flooding with very limited natural soak away.  Therefore it is completely illogical to allow a modern housing estate to be built on this site.

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