Ramsey Boundary Extension?

[Derek Flint]

37 minutes ago, joebean said:

People that argue for an all-Island rate are usually the same people that live in the high rate areas. As someone who does not, I am not a great supporter of the idea. It might be appropriate to have an all-Island rate if we have the same access to services. I have a refuse collection once a fortnight, no street lighting, no nearby amenities that I utilise and I am quite happy paying a rural rate to receive comparatively little in return. Local authorities should not be acting like MT who, for example, charge the same broadband rate island wide whilst delivering an inferior service to those in rural areas. 

 

6 minutes ago, Out of the blue said:

I too am in a low rare area with similar services to what you describe, and although I do not want to pay increased rates, I can see the inequities with the current system and do not object to an all island rate system. We are a small island and feel that my family personally benefit from most of the towns services to justify that stance. MT, now that is another matter. I would happily take a 50% discount to compensate for the shocking service I recieve in the sticks.

Town and rural rates were OK 50 to 60 years ago, but on a small, mobile island, they make no sense. In the UK, if you live in a leafy village out in the sticks, you still pay the same as someone in the nearby town. It needs balancing out over here, and although I favour a single unitary authority, merging all the northern ones would be a start.

3 minutes ago, The Dog's Dangly Bits said:

Unless you are compulsory purchasing and flattening large areas that isn't working on any king of scale.  So new sizeable developments are always going to be on the out skirts of town.  In the Ramsey example there is nowhere to build any kind of volume of house perhaps aside of the money losing golf course.

Clifton Park has now been developed.  The old Gas site the same.  I would say there are very few options in Ramsey and it seems that Lezayre is the most likely place.  I dislike Dandara as much as the next person but I dont think a few more new houses etc in Ramsey is a bad thing.

There seems to be no problem selling them - but to whom is the question? I still don’t see this massive population growth we need occurring any time soon. The problem is that this artificially created “building boom” makes it look like our economy is growing, which I’m not sure it is. You can build all you like, but you need people and businesses to occupy what you put up. Eventually we run out of steam doing it this way.

[Derek Flint]

1 hour ago, Non-Believer said:

It's the age old argument. One man's amenities are another man's excesses and profligacy.

However, that second man's argument is strengthened when there are ever rising rates bills with little signs of effort being made to constrain costs.

This is very true. I consider my rates very steep for what I actually get. 

[Banker]

2 hours ago, Out of the blue said:

You are correct, but it serves to illustrate the point that brown field sites are a pain and therefore less profitable for the developers to get done, which is why they prefer greenfield sites. There needs to be more flexibility by all depts and quangos to enable brownfield developments, including tax breaks where necessary, otherwise the towns centres become hollowed out, whilst the surrounds turn into Dandaraville aka Peel.

Bill Shimmins and Chris Thomas have been trying to get the government to encourage more building on brownfield sites eg Nurses Home, park road school, Vic road prison.

However as usual with IOM it’s complicated by individual departments being owners of the sites and wanting to hold onto their own assets & empires.

Decent private housing in central Douglas would be great and regenerate it rather than expanding out into more greenfield sites

[The Dog's Dangly Bits]

15 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

 

Town and rural rates were OK 50 to 60 years ago, but on a small, mobile island, they make no sense. In the UK, if you live in a leafy village out in the sticks, you still pay the same as someone in the nearby town. It needs balancing out over here, and although I favour a single unitary authority, merging all the northern ones would be a start.

There seems to be no problem selling them - but to whom is the question? I still don’t see this massive population growth we need occurring any time soon. The problem is that this artificially created “building boom” makes it look like our economy is growing, which I’m not sure it is. You can build all you like, but you need people and businesses to occupy what you put up. Eventually we run out of steam doing it this way.

Well, people ARE buying them. 

Despite the misinformation some like to peddle a nunber of people have been relocating here for work.  It does have an impact. 

There's a mixture also of investors and locals buying. First time buyers.  Some selling up in town perhaps.  But the property market has been fairly buoyant the last three years, certainly to 450k ish area.

We don't need "massive" population growth.  A few hundred purchasers into our housing market has an enormous effect

[finlo]

1 minute ago, The Dog's Dangly Bits said:

Well, people ARE buying them. 

Despite the misinformation some like to peddle a nunber of people have been relocating here for work.  It does have an impact. 

There's a mixture also of investors and locals buying. First time buyers.  Some selling up in town perhaps.  But the property market has been fairly buoyant the last three years, certainly to 450k ish area.

We don't need "massive" population growth.  A few hundred purchasers into our housing market has an enormous effect

I'd wager that more than 90% will become BTL.

[The Dog's Dangly Bits]

Lol. Course they will.

[finlo]

2 hours ago, The Dog's Dangly Bits said:

Lol. Course they will.

Walking past a previous half built development of FTB's I happened upon a big fat old dude with obligatory cigar and tiny Asian wife with a Dandara saleswoman and was pointing at them proclaiming I'll have that one and that one and that one etc which I thought was against the rules?

Edited October 3, 2020 by finlo
Spelling

[Derek Flint]

17 minutes ago, The Dog's Dangly Bits said:

Well, people ARE buying them. 

Despite the misinformation some like to peddle a nunber of people have been relocating here for work.  It does have an impact. 

There's a mixture also of investors and locals buying. First time buyers.  Some selling up in town perhaps.  But the property market has been fairly buoyant the last three years, certainly to 450k ish area.

We don't need "massive" population growth.  A few hundred purchasers into our housing market has an enormous effect

For some reason there isn’t an ability to measure net immigration on a monthly basis, when you’d think that would be easy to do via the tax office?

[Max Power]

21 minutes ago, finlo said:

Walking past a previous half built development of FTB's I happened upon a bit fat old dude with obligatory cigar and tiny Asian wife with a Dandara saleswoman and was pointing at them proclaiming I'll have that one and that one and that one etc which I thought was against the rules?

I don't know if there are any rules as far as purchase is concerned? There are rules in applying for a government FTB mortgage but not who you can sell to, as far as I'm aware.

[piebaps]

17 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

For some reason there isn’t an ability to measure net immigration on a monthly basis, when you’d think that would be easy to do via the tax office?

Even easier right now as all inward migration requires cabinet office permission.

[Non-Believer]

1 hour ago, finlo said:

I'd wager that more than 90% will become BTL.

A large number on the development I'm on are BTL. Regular turnover in neighbours in that respect too. Dandara's own directors are said to be the landlords of quite a number of the properties they've built at various locations around the Island too.

[pongo]

18 hours ago, Banker said:

There should definitely be one all island rate or as a maximum 4 local authorities

Nope. Contrary to what many Douglas rate payers wrongly believe, Douglas is no longer a facility willing used by but not paid for by the rest of the island. Douglas already disproportionately benefits from the rates of businesses staffed by people who come into Douglas from other parts of the island. Though many of those businesses would work just as well out of town.

Douglas also effectivelty often prevents sensible and much needed out-of-Douglas retail development. Where there is more space and much better access.

18 hours ago, Banker said:

The money saved would be astronomical in clerks & various administrative salaries 

Unlikely. The old fashioned idea of "economies of scale" belongs to the era of quasi-socialist centralisation and planning. Modern lean practices are all about the efficiency, agility and effectiveness of smaller and more focused teams. Perhaps sharing common resources - but able to act independently.

[pongo]

9 minutes ago, Roxanne said:

somewhere with a small holding where they can be reasonably self sufficient and live out their lives like Tom and Barbara

We're more like Margo and Jerry these days.

[pongo]

1 minute ago, Roxanne said:

True.  Very true. Arseholes. Both of them.

They're both very nice characters though. That's part of the point of them and why the programme worked so well. Margo covers up her insecurity but is fundamentally decent. And Jerry is just an all round good guy.

[pongo]

Which is what matters most.