A lay preacher in the Isle of Man is asking MHKs to consider changes to the Road Races Bill 2015.
Peter Murcott, who lives in Selborne Drive, Douglas, is particularly concerned about the effect of a clause in the bill which relaxes some of the current restrictions on Sunday racing.
To put his points across he has prepared a document outlining his concerns which he has circulated to every member of the House of Keys.
‘I am hoping an amendment to the bill can be tabled,’ he said.
‘Although they say they are safeguarding Sunday worship that is nonsense because there are quite a lot of problems they could run into with this bill. And they seem to be overlooking the fact that some churches do have evening services.’
According to Mr Murcott, current legislation permits Sunday racing for just one Sunday between 1.30pm and 6pm during the TT and one Sunday between the same times during the Manx Grand Prix. Under the proposed new legislation, racing could in theory be permitted on any Sunday across the whole of the Mountain Course (or the Billown course) between 1pm and 9pm. In addition, the new proposal would not place any restrictions on closing part of the course at any time on any Sunday.
He also points out that for racing to take place between the times stated, the course itself would need to be closed sometime earlier.
‘This clause overlooks that Sunday lasts from midnight to midnight. Some churches have afternoon services. One of them, which can be approached only from the course, is Orrisdale Methodist Church at Barregarrow, which lies on the course itself and has an evening service,’ he said.
Similar problems could be faced by people using Sulby Methodist Church, he said.
‘Preachers come from many parts of the island. It may just be possible for a preacher to rush out of the church at 11.30am without speaking to the congregation and hurry home to beat a road closure, whenever that may start, and avoid the criminal consequences of being found on such a road.
‘This of course applies only where the whole of the course is closed. A partial closure may prevent any morning service at all,’ he said.
Under the current legislation, he said a service had to be cancelled at Sandygate Methodist Church during a road closure on Sunday June 7, during this year’s TT, because travel disruption meant the church would be difficult to reach and many of the congregation lived on the course.
Another cause for concern was the increase in penalties proposed in the bill. The maximum fine for any offence concerning a person trespassing on a closed road would rise to £5,000 and a new maximum custodial sentence of six months is also proposed.
Mr Murcott said he was also concerned the bill appears to create offences of strict liability, in other words, ones where the perpetrator does not need to be proven to have acted intentionally or perhaps recklessly. Instead it is sufficient simply to establish that the act was committed.
For two of the offences, an accused person can claim in their defence that they acted unintentionally, but the onus then lies on them to prove it.
The proposals were he said at odds with the island’s Christian constitution and possibly even the Human Rights Act.
Douglas North MHK John Houghton, who has backed the bill said: ‘In relation to places of worship, we have gone to great lengths to not allow road closures near places of worship, especially on Sunday mornings, but we would allow racing to take place in areas where there was no effect on churches, such as the Sloc.’
Mr Houghton had a meeting with Mr Murcott yesterday (Monday) to discuss his concerns.
The Road Races Bill 2015 was due to receive its second reading in the House of Keys today (Tuesday).