ISLE of Man Friends of the Earth has submitted a response showing its opposition to the government’s radical plans to reform the planning system.
The environmental group’s submission is part of a public consultation on the draft planning policy, which ends on Friday next week.
Government’s draft policy sets out how development will take place in future. At its heart is a greater presumption in favour of development, in an attempt to stimulate economic growth.
FoE believes protection of the natural environment ‘does not have anything like sufficient prominence’ and that not enough weight has been given to social and environmental sustainability.
In its submission, it said: ‘The effect of including the presumption in favour is that it might sway decision makers towards giving less weight to adverse social and environmental consequences if they believe it to be their duty to find in favour of the presumptive position.
‘There is a danger the whole initiative, based as it is on questionable premises, is all about simply making it easy for the island’s countryside to be developed.’
FoE believes planning policy should consider adverse impacts on biodiversity, and that applications should be required to show use of low carbon or carbon neutral design and materials.