Douglas doesn t look good enough says councillor
A councillor in Douglas says work is desperately needed to improve the look of the town.
Regeneration work is currently being carried out on the promenade and there are a number of sites which remain vacant.
Andrew Bentley, who represents Derby Ward on the local authority, believes there is a unanimous support to transform the capital.
Last year councillors criticised temporary car parks on brownfield sites in Douglas.
Council Leader David Christian said they were dragging the town down and stopping investment and looked like bomb sites .
Mr Bentley says there is a general feeling amongst the people in Douglas that the town doesn t look good enough.
Councillors call for local government reform
Mon, 15 Feb 2021
By Chris Cave - Local Democracy Reporter
A number of councillors in Douglas have voiced their support for an overhaul of local governance on the Isle of Man. However, it’s been questioned whether or not Tynwald would back the reform. There are currently 21 local authorities on the Island, which provide service such as refuse collection and street lighting. Council Leader David Christian believes reform would bring about ‘greater consistency’, but feels it would be met with resistance from central government. He’s revealed his frustration at the length of time it takes for authorities to set by-laws.
Council finances better than first feared
Tue, 02 Feb 2021
Douglas Council says its financial difficulties aren’t as drastic as initially feared. They were described as being at an ‘uncomfortably low level’ in July last year following the first coronavirus lockdown. Losses of up to £1.8million were predicted due to a lack of income from trade waste, Douglas Golf Course, and the cancellation of the TT. However, Council Leader David Christian has revealed that was a worst-case scenario. “We were being very pessimistic at the time. Nobody knew what was really going to happen, how much longer [lockdown] was going to go on for.
Councillor defends rates rise following significant losses
Fri, 29 Jan 2021
Douglas councillors have defended the decision to increase rates following what they say have been ‘significant losses’ caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was announced on Thursday that ratepayers in the capital will pay 1.6 per cent more in the next financial year. Council Leader David Christian says the authority has missed out on more than £250,000 due to the impact of coronavirus. He claims members did all they could to keep the increase to a minimum. “We’d indicated very early on that due to Covid, due to loss of income, due to expenditure, that it was going to be extremely difficult to have a standstill rate”, Mr Christian said.
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