IOM government conference

[SleepyJoe]

17 minutes ago, Newsdesk said:

Yes me too. If I didn’t think the future economic strategy was just a load of pie in the delusional bullshit to keep civil servants in jobs before I certainly believe it now. They are going to piss all the money we have in reserves up the wall in an attempt to try and find some shit that sticks. 

This is the thing - I wouldn't trust Cannan to make a rational decision as to what's vital in our economy. His record as Treasury Minister is presiding over massive overspends on major capital projects that were not the most important when it comes to repositioning the island

[Omobono]

what I cant understand is if they could live stream the proclamation sitting of Tynwald  to the great unwashed , why couldn't they do the same for the  Government conference  which is being held in one of the most inaccessible places in the Isle of man  2 hour parking ,and most of the population back at work following the bank holiday for her majesties funeral , from the pictures shown on Manx radio  there are very few people in attendance , 

these are crucial times for the isle of Man ,and its very important the taxpayers and public at large  know and understand what the aims and objectives of government actually are ,and why we are not delivering on anything at the moment just wasting money  on cosmetic projects , 

[Newsdesk]

7 minutes ago, SleepyJoe said:

This is the thing - I wouldn't trust Cannan to make a rational decision as to what's vital in our economy. His record as Treasury Minister is presiding over massive overspends on major capital projects that were not the most important when it comes to repositioning the island

Cannan doesn’t give the impression that he’s actually running the show. 

[SleepyJoe]

Particularly with Allinson and Thomas onboard

I'm surprised they support his plan

[BriT]

8 minutes ago, Newsdesk said:

Cannan doesn’t give the impression that he’s actually running the show. 

No he doesn’t. A lot of his answers were just evasive waffle. There was no substance to anything he said and the video presentation at the start was clearly done by someone on crack. It was just a civil servants wet dream fantasy of what’s needed to continue to pay all the civil servants wages.

[snowman]

36 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said:

No doubt they will launch the former nurses' home as a brownfield site once again.

What about a decent bus station for Douglas? We have only been waiting 15 years.

we dont need a bus station. they cost money to build and maintain.

we need commercial development on the lord st site to bring in revenue.

 

if anything, busses could call in at the sea terminal to allow people somewhere to wait indoors if absolutely necessary.

there could still be the stops in lord st if people didnt want to walk to the sea terminal (from strand st).

and when the sea terminal is very busy (at the time of departures and arrivals) they could potentially ignore the sea terminal (or alternatively just put proper traffic management in place)

Edited September 20, 2022 by snowman

[The Phantom]

1 hour ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Companies are not coming here because the island is so far behind the times as regards 'green energy' and recycling etc etc. Most of them have sustainability goals these days and they are serious about achieving them.

 

I'd have to disagree.  Maybe large PLC type companies would have such targets, but not many of those would want to come here as we flat out don't have enough employees and they are not going to ship over 100s of their existing staff (where would they be housed?).  In my experience very few SMEs have such targets.  Of course if you have examples, I would be interested to hear them.

I have been involved in attempting to get a few companies to come here over the years.

The vast majority have not come here as either they find out that they need to be licenced or regulated somehow, when they don't in other jurisdictions.  Or, they have initially heard about the Gov being 'forward looking/pro-active/wants to develop X industry', they then try and talk to someone in Govt and either there is no one to talk to (or even answer the phone) or they assign a chimney sweep with zero relevant experience to liaise with the company. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by The Phantom

[Banker]

Just been to health one, Rob had obviously been practicing as delivery was good for his slides.

The pet presenter then asked the panel some questions which they answered ok ish but waffled a lot. Some questions from audience mainly around Staff shortage etc.

92 nurses short & trying to recruit from abroad & 14 new consultants recruited.

Too short & lacking details & lots of waffle 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Banker

[cissolt]

1 hour ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Companies are not coming here because the island is so far behind the times as regards 'green energy' and recycling etc etc. Most of them have sustainability goals these days and they are serious about achieving them.

 

There is zero evidence to suggest that is the case. Our current digital businesses don't seem to care about green energy or recycling.

We are no longer an attractive proposition for businesses because our health service, property prices and availability of skilled staff are an absolute shambles.  

[0bserver]

1 hour ago, Steady Eddie said:

Numbers were relatively low as the day progressed. Largely pensioners and general government brown-nosers from the CoC. 

This is accurate. 

[The Phantom]

11 minutes ago, cissolt said:

We are no longer an attractive proposition for businesses because our health service, property prices and availability of skilled staff are an absolute shambles.  

To be honest property prices are not that much of an issue for these guys.  Most of these firms pay quite well and we're still cheaper than the London and the surrounds.  It's actually availability that's the problem, there are very few suitable properties and when they appear they are snapped up by people that have already got their 'names down' with the agents for X bed house in Y area.

I know 2 properties in Mt Murray went recently within a week of going on the market (which means they got full asking price) and were realistically sold before they were even 'issued' onto the market.  That's just done by the agent to make it look like it's not a blatant stitch up. 

Both properties were ideal family homes.  4 beds, garden etc.  One has been sold to a single old man (he seems nice, but it would have been preferable to have a family there surely).  No idea about the other, but it didn't even go on the market, just a Sold sign appeared outside one day.  

The IOM angle for bringing people over, is it's a great place to raise a family.  Yeah sure, if they can find a property.  By coincidence in the last month I've seen a few open calls on FB of families moving over, they've got jobs, but still can't find suitable property.

Lots of decent sized rentals are also in the process of being dumped in light of the Govts wise Landlord Torture coming in imminently too.  These would be ideal as many people don't want to buy before they try living here. 

[BriT]

2 hours ago, Omobono said:

which is being held in one of the most inaccessible places in the Isle of man  2 hour parking

The parking was terrible you’d think given the DOI had about 20 staff there that they would have got a parking order for outside the War Memorial to encourage more people to go. Loads tried to find a park then just drove off. 

[snowman]

14 minutes ago, BriT said:

The parking was terrible you’d think given the DOI had about 20 staff there that they would have got a parking order for outside the War Memorial to encourage more people to go. Loads tried to find a park then just drove off. 

was chester st shut ?

[Banker]

4 minutes ago, snowman said:

was chester st shut ?

Make people walk 400m in lovely sunshine, tge cheek!!

There were also empty disabled spaces across from entrance 

[NoTail]

I was there this morning. The first bit, the economy and plan to spend £1bn to get more people to live here was largely boring and uninformative. Lots of Motherhood and Apple Pie stuff. As stated above Alf does not give an impression of being in control but he can certainly speak for a while without saying anything.

After coffee the second session about the Climate Change and how we will save the world was, to me more interesting and engaging.  Unfortunately Daphne opened it with a presentation designed to scare us about the impending destruction of the planet and how there is no alternative but that we must act, and act now, to save the human race. This presentation took so much time that there was little time for any questions from the audience. The consensus was that we must start going green and in a big way. It was emphasized that the Island is graced with a lot of wind and so we could generate up to 20Gw of energy quite easily. Never was it explicitly stated that we will build offshore windmills but certainly that was implied.  At no stage was the implication/practicality of cost of this explored. I suppose us, the great unwashed, are too ignorant to understand these aspects.

Personally I quite like the windmills and would have no problem with looking at them outside my window. In fact I already look at the UK ones in the distance. I appreciate I am likely in the minority so I could only imagine the uproar when we decide to build our own windfarm. The planning problems and objections will delay everything by years. 

 I left with the impression that we are doomed.

Not going tomorrow.