2bees Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 How is this news? Douglas has been a shit hole for years. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) 37 minutes ago, GD4ELI said: Sounds like Ramsey 10 years ago . It's got worse since then... IMHO, all this is indicative of Govt and LA'S existing to serve themselves and their own terms and conditions rather than their respective communities who pay for them. We also cut the coalface who do these jobs in favour of preserving and even increasing management structure. Additionally, nobody seems to be interested in enforcing any standards any more i.e. it's not good enough, go back and do it properly. The end result is the slide that you see. Edited September 10, 2021 by Non-Believer extra bit 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 not to be that guy, but is it Douglas corpy's responsibility for the upkeep of privately held buildings and land? and as for the general feel of the place, they will never fill the shops when the landlords want £65,000 a year rent for a shitty little shop on strand street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bees Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Douglas corpy are very quick to take people to court over the upkeep of their properties (when it suits them...). They should be encouraged to start throwing their weight around in the right direction (instead of picking on little old ladies and people who've dared to question their ethics). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Despite being a nice town, Falmouth (5 miles from me) is suffering but still has plenty of footfall during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De nada Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 58 minutes ago, pongo said: That's temporary... Depends how long temporary is. There's a whole generation coming along that don't know any different than the way Douglas is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De nada Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, pongo said: Edited September 10, 2021 by De nada Duplicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanShimmin Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 2 hours ago, Max Power said: I've had some friends over from the Exmouth region this week, and took them down to the prom and Strand Street yesterday. They seemed impressed with the work going on to improve the prom to be fair. Not so much with the state of Strand Street, Regent Street, Lord Street, Duke Street, Castle Street and the WW2 bomb sites around the place. The lack of basic maintenance is shocking, shops with moss and slime on the fascias, trees sprouting from the upper floors of buildings, dirty shop windows, the new, and expensive, seating areas in Regent Street covered in slime with the woodwork having lost its appearance and waterproofing, litter, fag ends and beer stains on the granite outside 1886 (along with the grey haired smoking boozers), not to mention the low standard of shops like the second hand gadget crap. We don't obviously see it, and if we do, there is no will to do anything about it. I found myself getting annoyed with them for their criticisms and defending the place, but then I realised that I was becoming part of the problem. DBC need to bloody wake up, get rid of the people who don't see the problems and make our town something to be proud of! How long do we have to endure living in a town akin to some grimy post industrial wasteland? Isn't this what the so-called 'Town Centre Manager' for? http://dtcm.im/ http://dtcm.im/about/ Does the existence of Chris Pycroft – Assistant Chief Officer (Regeneration) hint at the existence of a 'Chief Officer (Regeneration)? The very core of this problem is Douglas Borough Council - it's not fit for purpose. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 State of town centres is partly cultural. Japan like any country has good and bad things, but you'd be amazed that busy city centres seem litter-free despite a distinct lack of bins, and that there are vending machines and street furniture everywhere that aren't destroyed or broken-into. The machines remain unmolested and the streets are clean because people take responsibility for the state of their community - it's "normal" to take your rubbish home with you, and it's stupid to smash up stuff. Dump your rubbish on the floor, and passers-by will no-doubt have a stern word with you about it. It's just not "normal" to dump rubbish and expect someone else to take care of it. I think we once had that sense of collective responsibility, but as much of the comments on this thread indicate, there's now an abrogation of personal responsibility in favour of the council or the Police instead, to look for for someone else to punish instead of the community acting on it. Same with shop owners - cleaning windows shouldn't be a matter for the local council. Read IOM FB, and you'll see loads of complaints about stuff like litter, but no sense that this is something that a couple of minutes with a litter picker and a bin bag would sort. Beach Buddies are a total contrast to that - people have recognised that instead of a Facebook whinge, a bit of their own time for the good of the community is probably the best way forward. Manx society lacks that awareness that the quality of life in our communities is largely down to us, not some shadowy network of government/council/Police to pick up after us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightening McQueen Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Took a stroll along the Prom last week and the nice light grey paving at the culture quarter and broadway already had pavement pizza stains on, and DBC are never going to have the money to provide the constant cleaning they will need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finlo Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, Lightening McQueen said: Took a stroll along the Prom last week and the nice light grey paving at the culture quarter and broadway already had pavement pizza stains on, and DBC are never going to have the money to provide the constant cleaning they will need. A man with a jet wash would cost a lot less than their bar bill! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarley Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 1 hour ago, The Chief said: not to be that guy, but is it Douglas corpy's responsibility for the upkeep of privately held buildings and land? and as for the general feel of the place, they will never fill the shops when the landlords want £65,000 a year rent for a shitty little shop on strand street. High shop rent is one of the biggest problems in Peel as well, and that's mainly down to the greed of one landlord who owns several properties. He's recently closed his own shop and that'll be yet another empty shop for god knows how long. It's hoped by many that he'll be selling up soon and maybe we can get a decent selection of shops as a result. Saying that, his asking price for the properties will probably be all out of proportion to what they're worth, just like his rental prices, and so they'll still sit empty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danoo Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, GD4ELI said: Despite being a nice town, Falmouth (5 miles from me) is suffering but still has plenty of footfall during the day. Being on an island of nearly 70 million people will help. Edited September 10, 2021 by Danoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted September 10, 2021 Author Share Posted September 10, 2021 2 hours ago, The Chief said: not to be that guy, but is it Douglas corpy's responsibility for the upkeep of privately held buildings and land? and as for the general feel of the place, they will never fill the shops when the landlords want £65,000 a year rent for a shitty little shop on strand street. They don't have responsibility for actually maintaining private property but they do have responsibility for enforcing by-laws and maintaining council owned facilities. The shopkeepers pay enough in rates after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightening McQueen Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 43 minutes ago, finlo said: A man with a jet wash would cost a lot less than their bar bill! You’re forgetting the jet washing management team, supervisor, training team, and £300,000 machine! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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