People living in parts of the eastern Isle of Man have been encouraged to attend public information sessions about a proposed sewer works.

Manx Utilities has plans for several intermediate lift stations at Laxey and a plant at Axnfell Plantationwhich will also serve Lonan.

The area’s local authority said that while it had been “frustrating” waiting to get to the current point, there was some “relief” that plans were now moving forward.

Garff Commissioner Melanie Christian asked residents to attend drop-in sessions in Laxey and Baldrine about the plans on Nov. 28 and 29.

go on the conclusion of a hearing into an appeal against MU’s plans for a regional wastewater treatment plant in Peel, in the west, last month.

Like MU’s plans for Peel, the works planned for Garff aim to stop the pumping of raw sewage into the sea, as is currently happening in Laxey Bay and Baldrine.

Christian said settling on the Axnfell site had been “a compromise on both sides”.

This is because the latest planning proposal follows a rejected application for a site in Cairns, on the eastern side of the city’s harbour.

Those plans were rejected in 2020 amid resident concerns about the smell and the potential decline in tourism in the area.

He said while MU “preferred the Cairns site from an engineering point of view”, residents had objected from a social perspective.

With an environmental impact assessment, scoping reports and planning application yet to be completed, it will still be some time before work can begin, Christian said.

The commissioner encouraged residents to attend drop-in information sessions later this month at Laxey Sailing Club and Baldrine Church Hall, particularly those who live in the Axnfell area or near the proposed pumping station sites.