Fees payable for planning applications and building control will remain proportionate to, and won’t deter, development.
That is the pledge from Richard Ronan MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, as he asks the July sitting of Tynwald to approve a 2% increase in fees this year and next year for both services.
Of the 1,411 planning applications submitted between 1st June 2015 and 31st May 2016, 18% incurred no fee at all and just 3% incurred fees of more than ?1,000.
Fees for building control are charged in two parts: when plans are assessed and when work commences and receives an initial inspection.
Between 1st June 2015 and 31st May 2016, 7% of building control cases incurred no fee while only 4% of plans assessed and 18% of inspections incurred fees in excess of ?1,000.
To encourage economic development, the Minister will also ask Tynwald to approve a cap on building control fees for the first time. A cap on planning application fees is also being reintroduced.
Both will be set at levels that make the Island competitive with other parts of the British Isles, the Minister said.
‘Fees should be as affordable as possible, competitive and proportionate to the development being undertaken but go some way to meeting the cost of the service,’ he said.
‘The fee structure will continue to promote Isle of Man Government objectives, such as greener construction methods, by waiving fees for certain types of development.’
