Ramsey Boundary Extension?

[Non-Believer]

Just been listening to the latest RTC release on this matter (3FM), RTC Chair Andy Cowie now saying it's not about a Rates grab, it's purely about Ramsey running out of development space and also "community benefits" (that point not expanded).

[WTF]

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

Biggest? By what measure?  Certainly not population.

The difference in rates is a wider island issue.  I'm sure Lezayre rate payers enjoy the use of Mooragh Park whilst paying fuck all towards it.

Anyway, you live in "perfect" Cornwall etc.

the whole island enjoys mooragh park , ramsey should think bigger.

[Two-lane]

4 minutes ago, WTF said:

the whole island enjoys mooragh park , ramsey should think bigger.

I appreciate the park being there, but there is a cost that is borne only by Ramsey rate-payers. Last year it was £280,000, which is a significant amount per household (actually, I could not find a figure for the number of properties).

And the figure for administration alone is £906,000 - so what is that per household.

I could not find any data at all for Lezayre - I wonder what their figure for administration is.

[WTF]

12 minutes ago, Two-lane said:

I appreciate the park being there, but there is a cost that is borne only by Ramsey rate-payers. Last year it was £280,000, which is a significant amount per household (actually, I could not find a figure for the number of properties).

And the figure for administration alone is £906,000 - so what is that per household.

I could not find any data at all for Lezayre - I wonder what their figure for administration is.

see below.

Edited October 6, 2020 by WTF

[WTF]

1 minute ago, WTF said:

we had all the same shit with the horse trams in douglas, in fact everything every LA has been funding by itself since the year dot,   people will visit other towns and use public facilities,  maybe ballasalla should be getting ramsey to contribute towards silverdale ?   the idea of these things is that they bring in visitors/tourists to spend money as well as being an amenity for the locals,  maybe non ramsey rate payers should be charged upon entry to mooragh park ?

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by WTF

[Non-Believer]

Just leaving aside for the moment the usual argument that country mansion owners aren't paying enough; what about the more modest property owners who live in these proposed expansion zones? Say for example you've got a modest 2 bed bungalow or an old cottage. Depending on whether you're originally in Lezayre or Garff, your Rates are going to double or triple on current levies (after any period of clemency).

So precisely what benefits can you hope to see for all this extra outlay? Your bin will get emptied once a week rather than fortnightly (assuming they do move to that). If you've been accustomed to fortnightly for years that's not a benefit. 

Northern Parishes already contribute to the joint management/running of the Northern Amenity Site, so you've already been paying for that if you use it. Ditto the Swimming Pool.

So what are you going to see for the doubling or tripling of your Rates?

Edited October 6, 2020 by Non-Believer
Typo

[WTF]

21 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

 

So what are you going to see for the doubling or tripling of your Rates?

new vehicles all round at a guess and wage increases along with a few more staff as family move back from college 

Edited October 6, 2020 by WTF

[Kopek]

So what are you going to see for the doubling or tripling of your Rates?

Pretty much nothing, I would surmise???

Although I would not support ''Land Grab'' or, more precisely, 'Rates Grab' by big bully neighbours, if we put this in context of 'All Island Rating', this disparity of rates would disappear anyway in time?

It could be argued that the small parish areas have many years of low rates while the the nearby Town has borne the brunt of the costs?

Whether RTC and DCorp have operated in a fiscally efficient way is for debate!

I'm sure Ramsey people have used Tesco for a shop and a day in a 'decent town'??? So should they watch their borders?

All Island Rating, which is generally supported will leave many Parish areas complaining and with a Gen Elect coming up, that would give 5-6 candidates a manifesto promise to oppose such?

Edited October 6, 2020 by Kopek
Space grab!

[Out of the blue]

4 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

So you think Ramsey shouldn't take over parts of the parishes because that would be a bad thing, but instead should take over all of them[1].  And you think that local authorities should be bigger because that will be better and also that the biggest LA is the most "wasteful, over staffed and [...] poor value". 

Some of these things may well be correct, but they're not consistent and very typical of the way that people seem to look at the way local government operates.  They just have a selection of random prejudices that they throw about without bothering to consider if they make any sense put together.

 

[1]  This would be what happened in effect because the population of Ramsey (7845) is twice that of the combined four Northern parishes (Andreas, Bride, Jurby and Lezayre) in 2016 (3831).

Oh, come on Roger, stop being pedantic. I want the whole LA system simplified, but not in a bit meal mission creep fashion as would be the case with the selective Ramsey proposal, which incidentally has nothing to do with looking within and sorting out their current issues, but rather a cash grab to throw into their money pit. By simplification, apart from the number of LA's, I also mean simplifying creating a uniformity of approach to their roles and functions. 

[Kopek]

.......but RTC will regard that as looking after 'their' ratepayers interests? If you're a Ramsey rate payer, you will likely say 'Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'?

[Kopek]

Is this Rates Grab any different to the private envelopment of the vacant plot next door?

Many press notices show these take overs of ''Possession'' of the next door property.

I often wonder if this is a way to get a bigger garden and grow vegetables  OR a way to get a bigger plot to put on the market at a higher price or to immediately apply for planning for a new house!!!

On one hand it could be use of a vacant plot, on th other, it could be a developers dream of utilising a legal loophole to grab an adjacent plot for personal gain that was not otherwise  available???

 

Is 21 years still the requirement to declare lack of use???

Edited October 6, 2020 by Kopek

[The Dog's Dangly Bits]

1 hour ago, Non-Believer said:

Just leaving aside for the moment the usual argument that country mansion owners aren't paying enough; what about the more modest property owners who live in these proposed expansion zones? Say for example you've got a modest 2 bed bungalow or an old cottage. Depending on whether you're originally in Lezayre or Garff, your Rates are going to double or triple on current levies (after any period of clemency).

So precisely what benefits can you hope to see for all this extra outlay? Your bin will get emptied once a week rather than fortnightly (assuming they do move to that). If you've been accustomed to fortnightly for years that's not a benefit. 

Northern Parishes already contribute to the joint management/running of the Northern Amenity Site, so you've already been paying for that if you use it. Ditto the Swimming Pool.

So what are you going to see for the doubling or tripling of your Rates?

A fairer rates system?

[Non-Believer]

This picture was taken from an iomtoday article last week entitled "Hunt on for flytippers" and refers to an incident of "flytipping" in Ramsey.

I know that this picture is taken in a lane somewhereabouts the rear of the Mooragh Promenade in Ramsey where the flats in what were the guesthouses are served by large communal bins.

Clearly the bin is full so whoever deposited the broken-down units and ironing board couldn't get them in the bin so left them at the side (I appreciate that there is an argument that they could have been taken to the Amenity Site).

When the bin is full, residents will and do, also leave binbags at its side, as they do in other areas of the town. But the binmen aren't allowed to or refuse to pick them up. 

So clearly the bin is not being emptied often enough? But instead of considering this, we'll make a hullabaloo about flytipping.

Point to note here is that Ramsey's binmen work 6AM until @ 11.30AM most days of the week (and used to be occasionally less) which is a 5.5hr working day. Any Ratepayers interested...?

[GD4ELI]

6 hours ago, Banker said:

Can’t see them starting that until they’ve finished concreting over Ballasalla!!

Asbestos is killing the project atm  .

[Two-lane]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Just leaving aside for the moment the usual argument that country mansion owners aren't paying enough;

Property value will be irrelevant in a couple of years time when the rates changes from a tax-by-value to a tax-by-floor-area system.

Maybe there will be some surprises there, with people in old-fashioned 3-storey terraced Victorian houses getting a big increase. The gov. document even lists "outbuildings" as a property classification so maybe they intend to tax garden sheds too.