Grianane Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I wonder why the powers that be don't look at some of the successes in the UK and apply them here Aye, but a possible problem with adopting the same tactic is that towns in the UK can often in part expect their developments to draw increased numbers of visitors, which helps spread the cost. I'm not saying we couldn't do it, just that we've got the Irish Sea and the expense of getting across it standing between us and the visitors if we're to build or develop anything really beyond what our numbers suggest possible (i.e. small run down market town fare), which makes things a bit more difficult and risky. Ultimately what makes a town what it is is commerce and culture, but we're in a tricky position thanks to geography and the smallness of the market we can offer to both industries. Also it's true that Douglas looks a bit run down, but then so do a lot of places on the Island: Ramsey looks like something out of a documentary about how grim the 70's were, and Port Erin looks like somewhere someone started building but then got bored and stopped halfway through. The problem being that any proposal to tart up Douglas a bit has to first be justified to the rest of the Island which has seen itself even more neglected. Totally, the perverse thing here of course is that its not really that long ago that Douglas had the whole of Strand Street and Market Street paved, as has Castletown. Douglas has also had the whole promenade resurfaced. Allan Bell is whinging now that more should be spent on Douglas when his own constituency is being totally ignored, Parliament Street needs decent pavements and the last work on the Promenade was to infill the holes where the internment camp fences were removed from 60 years ago. If they spend a 10th on the roads and pavements in Ramsey as they'd spent in Douglas over the past 20 years it would make a considerable difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 He's right, though. Douglas is the commercial and legislative capital, and the town with the highest population. Ramsey's a village by comparison, with a few corner shops, a handful of businesses and zero facilities. Alright, so it's got Fenton's Ironmongery, but it's still a bit of a hole with nothing of any appreciable value happening there. Why waste money on it when the money would be much better spent on Douglas, the only real town on the island ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesultanofsheight Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Ramsey looks like something out of a documentary about how grim the 70's were Ramsey is actually vaguely reminicent of the inside of a hermits arsehole. Its a bombsite of missed opportunity. Douglas is not much better despite all the initiatives aimed at making it better. The sad truth is that if Heritage are not interested then it does not happen. The only reason the North Quay is being dressed up is so that it looks nice for when apartments are being dumped on the Tesco site. Maybe we could start by developing for the community as a whole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Douglas has also had the whole promenade resurfaced. Er... no it hasn't. That's just the walkway/cycle path on the seaward side. In fact I defy anyone to find a stretch of road with more 'patchings' on it. On average, I'd reckon about one every five yards for the whole two miles or whatever length it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 He's right, though. Douglas is the commercial and legislative capital, and the town with the highest population. Ramsey's a village by comparison, with a few corner shops, a handful of businesses and zero facilities. Alright, so it's got Fenton's Ironmongery, but it's still a bit of a hole with nothing of any appreciable value happening there. Why waste money on it when the money would be much better spent on Douglas, the only real town on the island ? I tend to agree that Douglas should be afforded a degree of priority when it comes to investment, but an argument could be made that a little would go a long way to improving somewhere like Ramsey - which has been largely ignored whilst Douglas has seen investment but still manages to looks like crap. My own view is that if it can be done, then more should be done to invest in and redevelop some of the larger towns on the Island. If possible, luring businesses to Ramsey, Castletown, or Peel may even end up easing some of the strain on Douglas' infrastructure. Indeed, that Ramsey is currently small could even be used as an argument for a long term plan of investment: expansion may be easier to execute than in Douglas where you've got a tiny, densly packed commercial hub surrounded by swathes of residential property. Also it's hard to see how even the biggest mentalist of a redeveloper could "ruin" Ramsey as it is now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopsticks Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Also it's hard to see how even the biggest mentalist of a redeveloper could "ruin" Ramsey as it is now That's an insult to mentalists! Well actually it probably isn't, but I'll remain indignant anyway, just 'cause I like the posture of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltire Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Regardless of rivalry between Isle of Man towns, Douglas is the first thing you see when you sail in. Surely that should be priority if you are trying to attract visitors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Wasn't the winning project in the Manx Executive Challenge on this very subject? Perhaps they should implement some of their findings. I think the main problem is that there are too many run down areas like Peel road where there are run down building that are waiting for developers to buy them, or there are a few buildings that developers own and they are waiting to buy other properties around their buildings to make the development plot big enough for their needs. Perhaps govt should be looking in to these and help some of these schemes get under way or demand that they are fixed up or demolished. The project on tourism won by a short head from the town centre image project. Both projects are well researched, high quality, thought-provoking pieces of work. Produced at no cost to us taxpayers as opposed to the six figure sum that most consultancy projects cost. Tourism project: http://www.iom-managers.org.uk/reports/Red...am%20Report.pdf Town Centre project: http://www.iom-managers.org.uk/reports/Yel...%20Creation.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Ramsey looks like something out of a documentary about how grim the 70's were, That's an insult to the 70s! not sure about the 70's but I worked in Ramsey in the late 60's and it was a very busy place, lots of choice in shopping, at least 2 chemists, a number of shoe shops, couple of bakeries and cake shops, 4 or 5 dress shops, 4 tv shops, 2 or 3 chippies, 5 garages (or more?), 3 agricultural merchants, 2 post offices, 2 railway stations, lots of work going on (Maughold 'Ballawheni' being built), the timber yard near where I worked was always busy, especially when the timber boat arrived from scandanavia and when the grain drier was running. The RAF were still in Jurby and various other houses around the north, and the harbour was busy with fishing boats, air-sea-rescue launches and trip boats out to Caroline in the bay. ... so did it really go down-hill so quickly in the 70's ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Well Ramsey now has : 3 chemists, 4 supermarkets (albeit one its only a little co-op), 3 shoe shops, 1 book shop, 4 banks, 5 take away shops, 3 bakeries, 1 post office, 4 garages (poss more), 1 tram station, one bus station, 0 tv shops, about 4 estate agents, 2 mobile phone shops, got to be about 3-4 dress shops, and about another 10 shops after that. Perhaps there is more now then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 There's actually 5 estate agents (god only knows how they all make a living). Oh, and you forgot to mention the 30 charity shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 ... so did it really go down-hill so quickly in the 70's ? Possibly not, but the point is it looks like a rough old town during the seventies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finlo Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Douglas has also had the whole promenade resurfaced. Er... no it hasn't. That's just the walkway/cycle path on the seaward side. In fact I defy anyone to find a stretch of road with more 'patchings' on it. On average, I'd reckon about one every five yards for the whole two miles or whatever length it is. Go find a dictionary and check the definition of promenade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langweilig Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Well Ramsey now has : 3 chemists, 4 supermarkets (albeit one its only a little co-op), 3 shoe shops, 1 book shop, 4 banks, 5 take away shops, 3 bakeries, 1 post office, 4 garages (poss more), 1 tram station, one bus station, 0 tv shops, about 4 estate agents, 2 mobile phone shops, got to be about 3-4 dress shops, and about another 10 shops after that. Perhaps there is more now then? And the supreme irony is... There's a shop called "Model World" I've seen better so it should be re-named, "Model-that cardboard box in the corner." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Douglas has also had the whole promenade resurfaced. Er... no it hasn't. That's just the walkway/cycle path on the seaward side. In fact I defy anyone to find a stretch of road with more 'patchings' on it. On average, I'd reckon about one every five yards for the whole two miles or whatever length it is. Go find a dictionary and check the definition of promenade. Its debatable that this would ever have been done without IRIS. The promenade was crap for years and its only when they dug the tanks for IRIS that it got re-surfaced. Its more by accident than design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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