Hi there, my name's Lewis Foster, I'm a journalist in the Manx Radio Newsroom, thank you for choosing this edition of Newscast. Residents in Derby, whose homes fall within the boundaries of a potential future airport site say they are ready to fight back against any proposals. Earlier this month, a map was discovered as part of the public inquiry into the draft area plan for the north and west, and it showed where, in the future, a site the size of Liverpool John Lennon could be created, extending the current Derby airfield site by two and a half kilometres. Well, I went up to Derby to speak with residents Fern Callister and Vicki Wade, and Andy Brew and Christine Brew, who say the plans have been kept quiet and have now totally blindsided them. And Christine Brew were involved with the surrounding area farmland with the proposed airport. And I'm Andy Brew, Christine's husband, and obviously the stakeholder of the family, in the surrounding area and part of the community. Hi, I'm Vicki Wade, I farm Ellen Farm with my husband, Steve Wade, we've got 20 acres surrounding farmland as well, which is all literally going to be under concrete if this runway goes ahead. My name's Fern Callister and I'm a resident on Summer Hill Road and my home lies on the flight path for the runway to be tarmac'd over. We, I think it's fair to say, as a community, have been completely blindsided by this. Actually, I can't take credit for knowing it was Andy that came across this in some research that he was doing, and Andy's daughter shared it on the Derby community page. And I think initially there was shock and disbelief and you look at it and you think, this can't actually be right, what does this mean? So, a few of the neighbours, we got together and we had a little chat to see if anybody knew anything about it, and you know, because we're quite new to the area, we've only been here for 18 months. Previously, I lived in Balafcorex, and I think when you live somewhere like Balafcorex, you know somebody's not going to try and put a runway over your house, because it's a nature reserve. But then I found out that actually so is the Derby airfield and quite a bit of the surrounding area. So I think we were quite surprised as an understatement, and then obviously you realise that it is a proposal. And then you think how on earth has this been dropped out of the ether for us to find out in this way that our homes, and in some cases our livelihoods, have been disregarded so fully by this government that they haven't even engaged stakeholders, they haven't communicated in any way with affected parties. You know, it's quite rude, isn't it, at the very least, and it's incredibly disorganised. It shows absolutely no respect or emotion for anybody in this community, because when you look at the runway, apart from the fact that it's going over Fern's house, Andy and Christine's land, my house, that's just the runway, you know, the perimeter fence for this possible, will this proposal at this stage, will affect the whole of Derby, and much of the surrounding area. Further than that, then you look at the North for flight path, aircraft noise, fumes, environmental issues, and then there is also how are people going to get here through Kurt Michael, that's a bottle neck as we all know, then via Ramsey, there isn't a decent road to Derby from Ramsey, so it's absolutely enormous how far this goes, and I mean the obvious question is, where's the money going to come from, I think, but personally, obviously you go through phases, don't you, it's a bit like grief, it's like you get so upset, this is my dream, this is our little perfect place that we have worked our entire life for, in some cases, having two or three jobs, we've done up houses, we've sold houses, we've made a bit here and there, we have, I have worked, my husband has worked, and you get to a point and you think, right, this is going to do us, my husband says they're going to carry them out of Ellen Farm in a box, well actually I think they might have to if this runway goes ahead, how have they got the right, and I know they have, unfortunately, legally, to do it, but believe me, we'll be fighting them every step of the way, and that's probably where we are at the moment, and I would just like to mention probably, and then I'll give somebody else a go, that environmentally I was walking around Ireland this morning with the dog, and I saw six different types of butterfly, we've got eels in our little stream, we've got orchids, we have got scarlet pimpanel, we have got many many birds of prey that fly over our area, we've actually got wallabies, love them or hate them, we've got them, we have got so many other things that I say orchids, yes, you know, so it's, and the land round here is very special, and it's just been treated virtually with contempt, and it's not acceptable. You're certainly not alone in thinking the land around us is special, and you're not alone in being a fairly new resident to the area, we'll come back to that, but I want to come to Andy now, you spotted that map, blindsided was the word used there, is that how you felt? Well, I'm always suspicious of our government here, and the ways it works, and this just goes to reinforce that suspicion that they can basically act with impunity and think that they can drop such a fundamental possible project for the whole Ireland into a public inquiry, negating any public scrutiny, apparently due to staff issues and various other excuses. This proposal, and what we're talking of here is the restricted planning area for the Derby airfield and surrounding area, to just drop that in into a public inquiry is almost boring and being fascist in my opinion. We're having this meeting coming up, what do you hope to come from that? Well, I hope the community is a whole, and I implore everyone on the island to take an interest in this because it's a fundamental, it's fundamentally massive for the whole Ireland. The infrastructure of Ronald's way, and as explained to me, the restrictions of Ronald's way for the future is basically what is pushing this agenda for a new airport, and that's what it will be, it will be a new airport, not a secondary airport, and that's a very important point to get across to the whole community of the Ireland. This is massive, and all the questions of, you know, further down the line if it ever gets the go-ahead, you know, their questions for later on, but with just what they're proposing to put through as planning restrictions as everyone who will see the map, and if anyone is interested in, and I implore everyone to look at this, just Google Map 1BN, and that will come up with the Cabinet Office, just click on that, and then the map will be displayed in full glory for you to zoom in and out and have a look at the implication of these planning restrictions, and that's what they are, just the restrictions of the direct airfield, all the other issues of the wider perimeter, they would come later, but for the implementation of these planning restrictions for the stakeholders who are under these zones as they call them, that's going to be hanging over as a cloud, forever, once they become law that these restrictions are in place, that's there, and whether the airport is ever built or not, that cloud is hanging over us, we've had Zeppelin flying over the Ireland man in the past, we've had sky ships, now we're going to have this blimp hanging over us too, can I see both, how long have you lived in Derby, and how has your outlook changed about your home since this all came out? It's my parents, Homestead, they've been here for 55 plus years, building the land as they've gone along, increasing what they've gotten, it's all just hanging over us all, so it's home through and through for you. Yeah, it's our home, well it's my parents home, it's our home, prospectively our grandkids, it affects us all, and we don't know, I mean it might not happen in our lifetime, it may not even happen in our daughter's lifetime and kids sons, what have you bought, it most definitely, if it's going to go ahead we'll happen in the grandkids lifetime and their future. And we're sat here today in an absolutely gorgeous location, and we're here in the garden, this is your home, how long have you lived here? We moved in in 2022, so not long. And you've been renovating up, of course at the time, no idea that this might come in, any planning restrictions might be on the horizon, so how has your outlook changed? Because you'd have been, I suppose, you are hoping to raise generations here. Yeah, we've just loved the countryside really, I come from humble beginnings, you know, I've had to work really, really hard to get to this point, I've done all the right things, I've gone to university, lived at my parents, I've saved up a deposit for a house for ten years, we didn't really want to settle for the standard, we wanted something a bit more special, we wanted to live in the country with a little bit of land, have our own little piece of paradise away from everybody, Little Woodland, and we actually managed to find a cottage that we could afford. It's not big, but you know it's enough for us, it needs a lot of work, we're currently renovating it, preserving its 150 year old manx heritage, using old traditional techniques like lime plastering, restoring all the beams, we don't even have heating at the moment, we've still got to take all the floors out of them, we're going to go back to the earth to rest it, to stabilise everything, this is a lot of work, but it's a labour of love, and it means that we're doing it ourselves, you know, we don't really have the funds to get builders in, this is something that our own hands are doing day in, day out, and actually it's something that we love to do, we've loved researching the traditional manx techniques, and just restoring it as it should be shown really, I'm absolutely devastated, I cannot put this into words how much this has broken me, my life changed on the 27th of July, when Vicki came round and just informed me by word of mouth that my house is set to be planned on the pathway of a runway, who wakes up to know that your house is potentially going to be floored at home that you've invested, every single part of your life, your livelihood, your passion, my fingers have touched every single stone in that house, we've put back walls, how can this happen, it just absolutely blows my mind with no consultation, especially when we had the plans drafted from the advocates in 2022, this did not come up on any of their measures, so how has this been allowed to happen, how am I being informed by my next or neighbour who's called round by the courtesy of their own heart, just to let me know that my house is potentially, could be buried under a runway in, I don't know maybe 10, 20, 50 years time, it might never happen, but even so, that is the problem, the problem that it won't happen is the problem because we have to live with this stress for however long this is going to play out, this has huge repercussions, not just for me, but for everybody who lives in this area, this is beyond anything, I think anyone has ever comprehended, it's almost like people are in disbelief at the moment that this has happened, like I was, I think I laughed when you told me, because I just couldn't, I couldn't believe that this was that in, but when you look at it, it's right there, there's a strip of runway right over my entire life, on my livelihood, I just, I just can't believe it. The lack of communication that you highlighted there, how grateful are you to the likes of Vicki and those sat around you, you mentioned the community seems to be rallying around this, are you grateful for that? Oh, I literally don't know what I do, I think I, without having pillars of the community around me, how fast these are my neighbours have come together is just, it gives me hope and it makes me see actually, there is some, you know, people have real attachment to this island and really believe in what it's about, it isn't about, you know, showing it to the world, it's about preserving its heritage, we are so unique with the folklore and with the culture that we have here and we're really proud of what we have and actually it's very delicate balance of making sure that that isn't lost, you know, we need to fight for this, we can't just let people in government who think they've got great ideas to just come up with a plan that's a pie in the sky idea, but actually this has real implications for everybody on the Isle of Man, it's about protecting our heritage and our folklore, our house is 150 years old, they don't have houses like this, they don't build houses by stone anymore, who else is going to fight for that, it's just beggars believe. Vicki, come back to you listening to what Fern has to say there, it's quite very, very impactful, what do you think government now needs to do, put some minds at rest at least? You know, it makes me upset actually listening to Fern because I'll answer your question in a second, you might have to remind me of that, but what I was very, very upset about this happening to me at my stage of life, my children are a very similar age to Fern and they're just starting off and you know, I've worked really hard to make sure that they can do that and so it resonates with me and I was just, I was really sad and actually then when I saw how much it was affecting Fern and that kind of vision made me visualise that generation and actually all my maternal instincts, I'm afraid, kicked in very strongly and now I'm just really cross and I think that I'll be very interested to listen to what they have to say, the MHKs etc that are coming down on the 12th because it seems to me that they've just dropped this as a bit of an idea without any feasibility studies, without any scoping out, without any hard facts, I don't understand the rationale behind it and I think that what people have to remember is that I don't actually know and we need to check this out, anybody that's affected by the runway or the eventual perimeter will banks actually loan mortgages on those houses because if you have this shadow over you and potentially your house is going to be dropped, what's the situation for getting a mortgage therefore, what's the chance of people being able to sell if they wish to move on with their lives, will we be able to get insurance and I would just like to say at this point not plugging the NFU but that is who I am insured with and I can actually get legal support as part of my policy so if anybody is affected it might be worth looking at that but the compensation scheme if this ever, it's not a compensation scheme, it's a what's the word I'm looking for, Compulsory Purchase, thanks Andy, that is determined on the market value of your house at the time so the project hasn't been given the go ahead yet but when it is our property values will dive and it's only at that point that the compensation is decided so market value plus 10% so effectively what we are left with is the inability to actually move on if we wanted to and it's about way more than the financials, I'm not making it about money but there is way more implications especially for younger people and people have plans for their income and I just think that I really think this has been very badly thought through, well not thought through and very badly handled, so going back to your question, what was it, I can't remember, what if anything can governments say right now to put some minds at ease since it appears, nothing has been said so far, no communication apart from the standard response, at least Tim Johnson and Alf Cannon have responded but very much in a standard sort of copy and paste kind of a way, I've actually spoken to Alex Allenson as well, haven't spoken directly with Gary Cobb, the airport director but I think what they need to understand, they need to understand what they've done for a start but I can't imagine for a second that they will apologise because they don't seem to be able to say the word sorry but I think it needs to be removed from the plan because at the moment there is absolutely no justification for it being in there, nobody's had time to look into it in depth, we're very much reacting, we can't be proactive because we haven't been given that courtesy and I just think it needs to be removed because at the moment it's just not a solid proposal in any way, shape or form. It's a fundamental shift for the island man, if this goes ahead, it's just massive, you can talk about the costs, how it's going to be funded in the future and that's a major topic on its own with the mismanagement of past capital schemes, we can go on and on and on drilling down into them reasons but the hearing now is these restricted planning zones and the shadow that does cast upon all our lives here in the north and unfortunately on a smaller scale but bigger than any is the effect it has on the direct stakeholders lives forever. This island, I'm not a political being in any way, shape or form but all I can do is observe what happens and it just everything just seems to be terribly badly managed and it certainly wouldn't be allowed to be carried on in that way in the corporate world and any successful business wouldn't be able to deal with business in the way the government seemed to go about things but from a project point of view, you know, without harp and back too much to previous projects that have gone massively over budget without money that we've apparently got to spend, our focus as an island at the moment should be on the NHS, mixing mount care and education and infrastructure and how can they possibly afford this which as a project, the GIRB airport, becoming the new national airport for the Isle of Man, this is not a supplementary light aircraft field, this is the national airport for the Isle of Man and where's the money coming from which leads us on to another very interesting conversation that we maybe will have in the future depending on how the meeting turns out on the 12th. I just really would like to urge people to come to the 12th, I think, people power, you know, is really quite something, it really does move things forward, I think there's something around, there's a bit of shock and disbelief from people that I've spoken to about it but this is very real, the fact that if these plans do go through, this means that this could be the start of phase one and could be the start of something that could spiral and affect every single person who lives here, yeah. Jurbie residents, Fern Callister, Vicki Wade, Andy Brew and Christine Brew there, well whilst I was at Fern's house just off Summer Hill Road, Tamsin Kormode arrived, her and her husband own a pig farm in the area. Yeah, I'm Tamsin Kormode and we have little meadow farm up in Jurbie. We found out when Kerry Brew posted on Facebook, basically on Facebook, yeah. And what has your reaction been like since you've been looking at the plans, disbelief I imagine? Yeah, I mean at first we were like, oh they're putting an airport across the road from us and we're like we're going to be stood in our field watching planes come in, you know, if it goes ahead and then the more you look into it, the more you realise actually, no our land isn't going to be here, the whole of Jurbie will be gone and that is, you know, it's a community out here where, you know, it's an amazing community, community, yeah, I don't know how else to phrase it, but Jurbie will be gone if an airport comes up here. And you're a pig farmer, how long have you lived in Jurbie? Well we've had the fields up here, we live in Ramsey and we have our land up here. So we've been doing the pig farming for three years now and we're just getting established with that, so we're doing Ramsey farmers market weekly and we're getting to the state, you know, we're looking to get in more hens and we're because we do eggs as well. And now we're just like, why, literally, you look around our land and go, I don't know if this is going to be a car park in 50 years time and we bought that thinking it's something for our children to do something with the land as they get older and our grandchildren can have this little haven out of here to do something with it. Investment. Yeah, but not just like money wise, it's a family investment and an emotional investment and you know, you've spoken to the other people, the tears and that lot we've had over the last few days knowing that everything we love could be gone because some government department decided this without telling anyone. And... There's anger there, isn't there? Yes, yes, you want to speak to my husband, but you'll see the anger. Why should people come along on the 12th? Because the government needs to know enough's enough and people are saying it will never happen. Well, we need to make sure it never happens because if no one turns up to that meeting, the government think we don't care and they need to know that they are in for a fight. Tamsin Kormo there, well, Manks Radio has approached the cabinet office to respond to claims that the mapping question had been kept secret for 12 months before its inclusion in the draft area plan. Joby Parish Commissioners is hosting a public meeting on this matter on the 12th of August at Joby Parish Hall. It's understood airport director Gary Cobb, Chief Minister Alfred Cannon and Price Minister Tim Johnston and the cabinet office Minister Kate-Law Brennan have all been invited to attend. That's it for this edition of Newscast. Thank you for listening. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manks Radio Newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. 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