The Isle of Man Government’s plan to slam an extra 15,000 people into our island

Before the last House of Keys election, there was no talk of major changes to the Isle of Man’s population. But after the MHKs had harvested your votes, they rushed in a sneaky and undemocratic plan to radically change the Isle of Man by slamming an extra 15,000 people into our island. This will make the population soar to 100,000 – almost 20% increase in a very short period of time.

15,000 extra people is roughly the size of two towns the size of Ramsey.

This is an unwanted and undemocratic sneaky plan that has been rubber-stamped by your MHKs. It will make housing more inaccessible to working Manx families. It will put increased pressure on important community infrastructure. It will put extra strain on health facilities that cannot even cope with the existing population.

This is what they said.

On 19 July 2022, Chief Minister Cannan said in Tynwald:

“…we are today making clear our ambition to grow the Island’s Population to 100,000 residents by 2037.”

The Isle of Man Government economic strategy says that one of the economic aspirations and economic shifts is:

“Grow our population to 100,000 residents by 2037, driven by the inward migration of economically active people”

On 1 November 2022, the Isle of Man Government said:

“The existing ambition around growing the population to 100,000 then follows, but has been re-named ‘Infrastructure and Services’ to emphasise the groundwork that needs to take place to accommodate an estimated population increase of 15,000 by 2037.”

The December 2023 annual report on the Island plan says that one of the objectives is:

“Further develop the infrastructure and services for the community to plan for an estimated population of 100,000 by 2037.”

The 2024/25 Budget, in the “Pink Book”, the Isle of Man Government said:

“Infrastructure and services: Further develop the infrastructure and services of our community to plan for an estimated population of 100,000 by 2037”

Further, on 20 February 2024, the Isle of Man Government said:

Funds will be used “to support the development of infrastructure and services for an estimated population of 100,000 by 2037.”

In May 2024, the Isle of Man’s so-called “Objective Assessment of Housing Need 2024” said:

“The other Government ambition set out in the Isle of Man Economic Strategy was to increase the population by 15,000 by 2037, i.e. to reach a total population of approximately 100,000,”
“Whilst the response to the Economic Strategy consultation was mixed regarding the ambition of achieving a population of 100,000, this approach seems necessary to achieve the goal of 5,000 extra workers to fulfil the desired 5,000 extra jobs”