City of Douglas

[Omobono]

1 hour ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

I dunno. Does anyone in Douglas (or anywhere else for that matter) give any kind of a toss whether Douglas becomes a city or not? Except for Douglas councillors of course. I was outside the town hall the other week and there's a photograph of all of them on an announcement board outside. Massive hats! I wonder how many of them will be standing in the next general election? Not zero, you'll see! There are already manoeuvrings. Not least of all on MF. 

trouble is you have got them for the next 4 years like it or Not ,, it will be a metropolis next , all this is costing money ,

[hissingsid]

The trouble is there is not a lot of incentive to serve on the council, no real money in it just expenses  so little interest shown to stand and the very low turn out by voters indicate there is very little interest in who gets elected.   The public don’t seem to be aware how much power the Town Council have from setting rateable values to deciding how to spend the revenue they raise.

[ManxTaxPayer]

2 hours ago, hissingsid said:

The trouble is there is not a lot of incentive to serve on the council, no real money in it just expenses  so little interest shown to stand and the very low turn out by voters indicate there is very little interest in who gets elected. 

It's a springboard to get further up the hill and if you can get in uncontested then happy days! Mark my words. 

[Roger Mexico]

An article here listing every place that has applied with increasingly derisive commentary.  Though he's wrong putting Douglas so high and Peel (and Gibraltar) so low.

[hissingsid]

Peel should get it hands down Douglas has little to be proud of.

[ManxTaxPayer]

What is the Primary Authority of Douglas? And was permission sought/granted?

[AOR]

52 minutes ago, hissingsid said:

Peel should get it hands down Douglas has little to be proud of.

I don't disagree with you, but why should Peel be a City?

[Declan]

41 minutes ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

What is the Primary Authority of Douglas? And was permission sought/granted?

Presumably DBC.

[hissingsid]

Why should a lot a lot of the places that have applied be made cities ?   It is a celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee year and an idea that has been dreamed up by a civil servant who is trying to get the event noticed and inclusive it will cost the British Government nothing , will not mean a lot, but apart from changing stationery and putting a few signs up it will not cost the earth but give the town some prestige.   So why not Peel it is one of the prettiest parts of the Island that has not been concreted over with a Cathedral, and the most beautiful sunsets and views popular with locals and visitors.  Douglas on the other hand…….

[hissingsid]

Re reading my post there is a comma missing after😜 not being concreted over

[ManxTaxPayer]

16 minutes ago, Declan said:

Presumably DBC.

That rather presumes that a primary authority is a thing. Which it might not be. 

[Declan]

14 minutes ago, hissingsid said:

Why should a lot a lot of the places that have applied be made cities ?   It is a celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee year and an idea that has been dreamed up by a civil servant who is trying to get the event noticed and inclusive it will cost the British Government nothing , will not mean a lot, but apart from changing stationery and putting a few signs up it will not cost the earth but give the town some prestige.   So why not Peel it is one of the prettiest parts of the Island that has not been concreted over with a Cathedral, and the most beautiful sunsets and views popular with locals and visitors.  Douglas on the other hand…….

I think the Manx Government should declare them both cities - one for historical reasons and one for the role it currently plays. But if it can be only one I'd favour Peel. 

[ManxTaxPayer]

4 minutes ago, Declan said:

I think the Manx Government should declare them both cities

Is it in their power to do that? One would have thought a nation state would be able to do such a thing. And if it can't, well it just shows how purely symbolic the arrangement is. 

[Roger Mexico]

34 minutes ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

That rather presumes that a primary authority is a thing. Which it might not be. 

Oh it's a thing, all right.  It's the local authority that has primary responsibility for the area.  So in the case of the Cornish village it would be the County Council as Cornwall now doesn't have District Councils.

In most cases the primary authority will be the same one that made the application for City status, but the application for Bangor (NI) will need to have been supported - and was probably put forward by Ards and North Down Borough Council (which is based at Bangor Castle in the town).  

[hissingsid]

I thought it was the Queen or one of her distinguished employees that granted City status on her behalf I don’t think local councils can rock up and declare themselves a City.    Anyway I am rooting for Peel The Sunset City of the West as us old Manxies knew it and it advertised itself as that.