| Description | This series contains the final and signed minutes of meetings of the Development Board and its successor, the Planning Committee, from 1944 onwards. The minutes register the decisions taken in response to applications for planning consent. Planning applications were submitted by private owners, businesses and public bodies. The minutes note any conditions on approval or refusal of an application. These minutes were created as established by the Town and Country Planning Act, 1934, section 4(10), which defined the constitution of the Development Board. Early minutes of the Development Board from 1934-1944 can be found in collection S116.
A number of types of records were created as part of the planning application process in addtion to these Committee minutes. Other available records include: planning registers (S89); a set of index maps (catalogue reference S90); and the planning applications themselves (catalogue reference S10). Paper planning registers were replaced by an electronic database in the mid-1980s. |
| Administrative History | The Development Board was created, under the Local Government Board, by section 4 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1934. This Act was drawn up in response to the Housing Acts 1924, which had as an objective 'to provide for the erection of houses for the working class'. The Town and Country Planning Act would 'enable schemes to be prepared and carried into effect for development and planning of land' as to preserve the Island natural assets and ensure a safe urban density was maintained so as to improve sanitation and living conditions.
The Development Board was constituted by members of the Local Government Board, Highway Board and representatives of all Commissioners' groups and Parish Authorities to the number of 19 representatives.
The general duties of the board were 'to consider the development of the Island and of the various parts thereof, and to take such steps in the manner set forth in this Act as to them may seem desirable for the progressive development of the land in accordance with schemes and plans for laying out the same so as to secure public health, and proper sanitary conditions, amenity and convenience, and the preservation and development of buildings and places of beauty and public interest.'
The first task of the Development Board was to create a process to control the Island's development and in 1936 it passed its first regulations under the original 1934 Town and Country Planning Act. The Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) Regulations, 1936 defined the documents to be submitted to the the Development Board in order to apply for permission to develop land. This was followed by the 'Town and Country Planning amendment Act, 1936', that allowed the Development Board to create Interim Development Orders (IDOs).
In 1956, the Planning Committee was constituted by the Local Government Board under the powers invested in them by the First Schedule to the Boards of Tynwald (No. 2) Act, 1952, section 12, and the passing of the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) Regulations, 1956.
The Planning Committee continued the duties exercised by the Development Board and there was no change to the number or type of members that formed the Committee. An individual that wished to develop their land would submit an application to the Planning Committee. The information required for an application are summarised in section 5, 'Application to Develop', of the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) Regulations, 1956.
The Planning Committee functions were reviewed under the Isle of Man Planning Scheme (Development Plan) Provisional Order 1982. In 1986, the Local Government Board was absorbed by the Department of Local Government and the Environment, taking in the planning function with it and creating a Planning Division. |
| Custodial History | The records in this series were transferred by the Department of Local Government and the Environment to the Isle of Man Public Record Office for temporary storage (consignments C96 and C492), under section 3(8) of the Public Records Act 1999. They were fully transferred to the Isle of Man Public Record Office under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1999 in 2015 (accession A34).
Prior to 1998, the records were administratively managed by the board or department that held the planning function:
-Local Government Board (1894-1986)
-Department of Local Government and the Environment (1986-2010)
-Department of Infrastructure (2010-2015)
-Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (2015-present) |