More uselessness from DBC

[Amadeus]

1 hour ago, offshoremanxman said:

I have to say I agree with the above how on earth can it cost £20K to put on a poxy carnival? Officers precious time? Don’t make me laugh most of them are doing sod all 9/5 any ways. It seems to me that everything we do is total overkill to the point that there’s no point in having any fun at all and then it’s all canned for cost reasons as someone has decided it’s too much effort to try.

Comments like that show how little people know about the effort required to put this on and saying our officers do sod all is not nice. They do a lot with very stretched resources. I’m on the Regen and community committee and maybe have better visibility of this and all the other things they do. I still feel we need to better communicate with the public what it is everyone does in DBC and how much effort goes into things. It’s often not obvious from the outside looking in.

The public can also come along to council meetings but just like almost every time, this is what the public gallery looked like last Wednesday:

I will try and do more from my personal capacity to increase transparency and improve communications and I know many of my colleagues think alike. We’re here and approachable, happy to answer questions. We’re here for you after all. 

[Two-lane]

3 hours ago, Amadeus said:

including officers time, cost money and are sparse.

That applies if they have to work additional hours for which they are paid additional money. Otherwise, they are paid a fixed salary.

[Amadeus]

42 minutes ago, Two-lane said:

That applies if they have to work additional hours for which they are paid additional money. Otherwise, they are paid a fixed salary.

An officer has x hours in a day. If we vote to have a carnival (or any other event) y number of hours of that x will be taken up by it, meaning that officer has less time to do other things. Additional hours can of course come into it as well as many events are at weekends, in the evening, etc. In the end it’s a balance between economic return and putting on something nice for the community. The Xmas lights event fills Douglas and has a clear economic benefit for shops. The carnival didn’t. Again, if someone wants to put one on, happy to support it but budgets are tight right now and will only get tighter. 

[louis]

2 hours ago, Amadeus said:

Comments like that show how little people know about the effort required to put this on and saying our officers do sod all is not nice. They do a lot with very stretched resources. I’m on the Regen and community committee and maybe have better visibility of this and all the other things they do. I still feel we need to better communicate with the public what it is everyone does in DBC and how much effort goes into things. It’s often not obvious from the outside looking in.

The public can also come along to council meetings but just like almost every time, this is what the public gallery looked like last Wednesday:

I will try and do more from my personal capacity to increase transparency and improve communications and I know many of my colleagues think alike. We’re here and approachable, happy to answer questions. We’re here for you after all. 

Perhaps the gallery is empty because the vast majority of people are at work.

[cissolt]

Interesting to hear that chap on the moaning line talking about the golf course footpath. Have they really spent 100k and got the wrong pipe?

[Gladys]

TBH, carnivals are "of an age" unless you go for a Caribbean/Latino vibe.  Did it attract much business to Douglas?

With regard to recycling, the recycle boxes aren't fit for purpose, the shower cap lids split so you can't leave paper or cardboard out the night before for fear of rain. The two weekly household waste collection works if people recycle, did it in the London Borough O lived in well over 30 years ago and it worked fine - household of 4 including a baby, plus occasional stays of step children and we never had an overflowing bin.

Get the recycle containers right and it is fine.  Can't comment on the differing views on the extent of actual recycling and the environmental impact, nor the EFWP argument.   

[John Wright]

20 minutes ago, Gladys said:

TBH, carnivals are "of an age" unless you go for a Caribbean/Latino vibe.  Did it attract much business to Douglas?

Pride, which is a carnival, was a very successful. It’s get the theme right, the organisation, the fund raising, the working with community groups.

[Gladys]

8 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Pride, which is a carnival, was a very successful. It’s get the theme right, the organisation, the fund raising, the working with community groups.

Yes, agreed.  The old formula of lots of low loaders covered in hydrangeas, with odd tableaux, is no longer relevant. 

[Happier diner]

1 hour ago, Gladys said:

 

With regard to recycling, the recycle boxes aren't fit for purpose, the shower cap lids split so you can't leave paper or cardboard out the night before for fear of rain. 

I think that's a very good point and whilst I am a bit sceptical still, having a proper recycle bin (maybe blue) where we can put paper and card board as well as plastic would certainly help.

We dont really recycle paper and card much as it either blows away or turns to mush..

I guess the issue will be that the wagons used for the collection are not suitable for wheelie bins. 

[Apple]

6 hours ago, Manx17 said:

Damp houses will happen because of the cost of gas. They must have something in place. I’m sure a damp house is more important and  will cost more to fix than a vandalised public toilet or filling a plant pot. 

I have to agree and remember then then Councillor Ashford strongly advocating the installation of gas boilers. Then came the condensation problems and the damp. Cost a fortune to put in new insulation and stuff I'll bet.

BTW - I agree the carnival has run its time. 

[Omobono]

most damp is caused by poor ventilation ,  you cant expect people to dry washing over radiators and not produce condensation ,  thats a common problem these days ,  houses need to have the windows opened up now and again , and too much heat in the house will only make it worse and produce black mould , 

[Andy Onchan]

13 minutes ago, Omobono said:

most damp is caused by poor ventilation ,  you cant expect people to dry washing over radiators and not produce condensation ,  thats a common problem these days ,  houses need to have the windows opened up now and again , and too much heat in the house will only make it worse and produce black mould , 

Correct.

Not so long ago when we moved into a new (to us) house in Onchan, the wife's uncle (who was a retired site manager for Costains the builders across)who used to stay with us to watch the bike racing said, "Aye very nice house our Andrew but I think you're going to have problems with damp...... where's the air bricks?" They were covered up with tarmac by the path that ran around the perimeter of the property. Needless to say they were cleared and we had very little in the way of condensation from that point on.

[Happier diner]

2 hours ago, Omobono said:

most damp is caused by poor ventilation ,  you cant expect people to dry washing over radiators and not produce condensation ,  thats a common problem these days ,  houses need to have the windows opened up now and again , and too much heat in the house will only make it worse and produce black mould , 

 

2 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

Correct.

Not so long ago when we moved into a new (to us) house in Onchan, the wife's uncle (who was a retired site manager for Costains the builders across)who used to stay with us to watch the bike racing said, "Aye very nice house our Andrew but I think you're going to have problems with damp...... where's the air bricks?" They were covered up with tarmac by the path that ran around the perimeter of the property. Needless to say they were cleared and we had very little in the way of condensation from that point on.

I beg to differ. Most damp is caused by leaks. 

[Apple]

Easy question then - how much has Douglas Council spent on condensation and damp in their properties over the past say 8 to 10 years which when debated in chamber was attributed to gas boilers? 

What will the replacement of gas boilers cost rate and rent payers  as we hurtle towards zero emissions?

[finlo]

13 minutes ago, Apple said:

Easy question then - how much has Douglas Council spent on condensation and damp in their properties over the past say 8 to 10 years which when debated in chamber was attributed to gas boilers? 

What will the replacement of gas boilers cost rate and rent payers  as we hurtle towards zero emissions?

Do you mean because people can't afford to run them or they somehow discharge the flues internally?