Newsbot Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 More government departments should relocate to sites around the Isle of Man, the chairman of Ramsey Commissioners says. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/7741494.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Cue the call for travel allowances for those relocated away from Douglas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Cue the call for travel allowances for those relocated away from Douglas. Hah, yes, one govt building did relocate north and look at the stink! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 I completely agree with this, but it should be done when the commercial property market is in better shape. There is just no need for most of these people to be in Douglas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Oh look Ramsey are bleating "gimme, gimme, gimme" again they won't be happy until every penny spent on this Island is spent there. It would be insane and wrong to locate to a Ramsey, Port Erin, Peel or anywhere but Douglas. Douglas is the hub of the Island's transport system, it is not possible to commute between Port Erin and Ramsey by public transport and it is not desirable to have the additional cars on the road. So over time civil service people will either move to the department based in their town, or move house to the departmental town. You'd end up with a situation where Ramsey is the DOT town, Port Erin the Health Town, and Peel the Education town. Not only based in that town but with most of it's staff living in that town. So what happens when the Health Department decide to open a new clinic in Port Erin instead of Peel, and Peel gets a new Primary School instead of Ramsey and Ramsey gets a monorail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesultanofsheight Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 The headline should read "Ramsey Commissioners finally realise that there is f**k all reason to go to Ramsey unless you work there" I wonder how Ramsey is going to fare in the forthcoming credit crunch? Its still not really recovered from the 1973 recession - its going to be really shagged moving forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontius Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 ... and as twat of the week, I'd like to nominate the Ramsey Commissioner who solemnly told us (on Manx Radio this morning) that moving a Government Department to Ramsey would reduce the several hundred cars commuting over the Mountain Road every morning! I'd like to suggest that he engages his brain before speaking (sorry - momentarily forgot - he's a Ramsey Commissioner) and realises that if you move a Department from Douglas to Ramsey you move the people too ... so ... the commuting actually increases - it just goes the other way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebrof Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 ... and as twat of the week, I'd like to nominate the Ramsey Commissioner who solemnly told us (on Manx Radio this morning) that moving a Government Department to Ramsey would reduce the several hundred cars commuting over the Mountain Road every morning! I'd like to suggest that he engages his brain before speaking (sorry - momentarily forgot - he's a Ramsey Commissioner) and realises that if you move a Department from Douglas to Ramsey you move the people too ... so ... the commuting actually increases - it just goes the other way! You're as guilty of making assumptions as the commissioner whom you deride. It may be that a majority of those who work in the soon-to-be-relocated department are in fact Ramsey residents. If so, there should be a reduction in traffic. It is just possible that the government will take account of who lives where when choosing which department to move. All of which is not to say that your assumptions are necessarily wrong. But they might be. S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontius Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 An assumption - yes - but I'd argue an entirely logical and reasonable assumption because: 1. People seem to prefer to live within a reasonable proximity of their workplace. Thus, if a Department which has been located in Douglas for all or most of its history suddenly moves a considerable distance out of Douglas, it is likely that most of those affected will be residents of Douglas or its environs. 2. Something like 51% (quoting from memory) of IoM residents live within 5 miles of Douglas. Thus, unless the Dept's workforce places of residence are skewed, something like 51% will be moved from working in Douglas to working ... wherever. 3. Of those working in Douglas but not living there, the main centres of population (apart from Ramsey)are around a)Peel and b) the South - the Port Erin/Port St Mary/Castletown/Ballasalla group. Neither of those areas is likely to be using the Mountain Road to head North to Ramsey. I do not object - in fact I support - relocation of ANY large organisation (Govt or private sector) out of Douglas but not on the basis of ill-thought-through sound-bites which smack more of desperate attempts to shore up an argument than genuine attempts to make a sound case for doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 More government departments should relocate to sites around the Isle of Man, the chairman of Ramsey Commissioners says. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/7741494.stm I'd have thought it would be more efficient to have all government departments in one building. It would improve communication and they wouldn't need a public relations manager each and a human resources department each. Also they wouldn't be paying rent to the private sector as the Department of Education has been doing for years. IOM is only the equivalent of a small town in England with 80,000 people. Government could be much smaller and more effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
integer Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I'd have thought it would be more efficient to relocate all government departments to approx 8 miles east of Douglas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElevator Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I'd have thought it would be more efficient to relocate all government departments to approx 8 miles east of Douglas. I would have thought just east of Crosby would be the ideal place. Quiet central, major road access and plenty of space to build one big Goverment building, housing all departments. The money we would save in rent of all the existing buildings WE pay for, would pay for itself in a couple of years and give local builders work for the next couple of years. Tell your MHK's to think for the future and not just for their elected term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triskelion Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 IOM is only the equivalent of a small town in England with 80,000 people. Government could be much smaller and more effective. How many of these 'equivalent towns' are spread unevenly over 220-odd square miles, responsible for their own healthcare, education, policing, judicial, economic, agricultural, transport, communications, energy and constitutional policy and geographically isolated by sea in every direction? The councils for English towns of about 80,000 people are responsible for Britain in Bloom contests and that's about it. Yes, many sections of the public sector could be moved out of state ownership, but there would be widespread objection and indignation. The article draws attention to the locating of the new Daff headquarters in St Johns, but does anyone really expect St Johns to become more prosperous and developed as a result? If any department headquarters was relocated to Ramsey, it would largely be for the sake of it, as no economic, governmental, operational or administrative argument has actually been made for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I'd have thought it would be more efficient to relocate all government departments to approx 8 miles east of Douglas. Don't you mean 8 miles below Douglas? ...next to Dr Evil's Dave Christian's secret headquarters - where he is ably assisted by his ever-growing army of little No 2's, all patrolled by numerous inept wardens guards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebrof Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 So over time civil service people will either move to the department based in their town, or move house to the departmental town. You'd end up with a situation where Ramsey is the DOT town, Port Erin the Health Town, and Peel the Education town. Not only based in that town but with most of it's staff living in that town. Sounds like a damn good idea to me. The island is too Doug-centric and things need to be homogenised a bit. So what happens when the Health Department decide to open a new clinic in Port Erin instead of Peel, and Peel gets a new Primary School instead of Ramsey and Ramsey gets a monorail. Total non sequitur. S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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