More uselessness from DBC

[Steady Eddie]

8 hours ago, FANDL said:

They all do it but Douglas holds the crown 

https://fearandloathing2021.wixsite.com/fearandloathingblog/post/getta-bloomin-move-on

A really good summary. Can you buy tickets to view the public meeting? 

[Filippo]

12 hours ago, Apple said:

It is inevitable for it to become an all island wide provision, like so many other services.  The pain goes away when we stop banging our heads against the wall. As for the fear, well, there are bigger things to be scared about. That's what Governments are for - create problems. solve problems, use other people money to avoid the personal risk, get name on a plaque. Or something like that.

  

13 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

2 out of 5 bins nicked from my mates apartment block! Nuts.

  

On 12/3/2022 at 2:05 AM, Viddy well said:

Perhaps you live in leafy suburbia, with a generous drive and a garage and the issues being raised don't affect you. I get it.

But if you live in a third floor flat in Tynwald Street then (a) you are competing with the other four tenants for trash space in the communal bin and (b) storing your new recycling bins in your lounge because health and safety prevents them from being stored in the communal area, you can't store them in the corridor to your bedrooms because that only leaves 30cm passing space and if you put them in your galley kitchen then you are constantly shifting them to get to the cooker, the washing machine and the tumble drier.

What do you do? You appeal to the Council for weekly bin collections to be restored and when that fails, you shrug your shoulders and just fill the back lane with binbags that never get collected.

This is a catastrophic failure of planning as well as a failure of local democracy, which is causing unprecedented distress to constituents and it is happening on the Council leader's watch. I can forgive an amateurish effort at reform but I can't forgive a stubborn entrenchment and the generation of a patently false counter-narrative.

After two months, the system hasn't "bedded in" but rather it's collapsing for a significant minority of the population. Why should that be acceptable?

  

On 12/2/2022 at 8:37 PM, Gladys said:

The time to raise objections was when the policy was fixed.  People should have made their views known then.  What has happened is people were complacent but now that the recycling and waste policy is being implemented, it is actually affecting them and they are objecting.

The objections now should be about how it is implemented, not that it is being implemented.   I am sure there are situations where the arrangements as currently in place are impractical and there needs to be an adjustment.  The recycling bins are not fit for purpose.

However, I totally get the zoom back view when the effectiveness and true 'green' credentials of the recycling initiative are being questioned. 

Glass and metal recycling is a bit of a no brainer.  Not sure that the cardboard and plastic recycling is quite the same, unless there are facilities here that can do something with that raw material. 

However what I would also say is the boat sails every day from here to the UK, whether it has recycling bound for a UK facility or not, or if it has nothing on board at all.  So, on that basis the environmental impact of getting stuff to the UK has got to be nil, surely?  There will be an impact for transport in the UK, but does that make it any different to UK grown recycling? 

 

  

On 12/2/2022 at 8:52 AM, CallMeCurious said:

The whole point of the green agenda is "It's not economically viable so we'll legislate to make you do it and damn the cost and consequences". And it is sold to the politico's as "you can say you are saving the planet" without having to prove it.

Net zero does not mean we don't produce any CO2 but that any CO2 we do produce (based on some criteria that presumably excludes resperation and focuses on energy use and production) is negated by taking the CO2 out of circulation by carbon capture/recyling.

What it will mean is in order to acheive this on (recycled) paper (with lots of fanfare and back patting) we will buy carbon credits at great expense (coz we've signed up to a treaty to get net zero and it would be very very bad if we didn't keep our promise that no-one voted for) to plant a tree in some far distant land (allegedly) with lots of middle men and brokers in between taking a cut. How many times can you sell the same tree I wonder?

A beautiful scam. Fudge a few numbers hear and there and all will be good. Human greed will find a way. At this stage I don't think it is global warming that will get us but plain stupidity and gullibility. It'll certainly is going to make everyone but the elite poorer and lower the standard of living.

  

On 12/1/2022 at 1:47 PM, majkul said:

A whole area of Douglas, bins still not emptied (supposed to have been emptied on Tuesday). People are now putting more bags next to their bins (saw more on my walk). No matter how they try to spin it, or how many "positive" numbers they pull out of thin air, it's a bit of a shambles, isn't it?

 

On 12/1/2022 at 5:59 PM, Happier diner said:

There was never going to be enough for a national petition.

The Facebook group is up to 750. Still not good news for DBC.

The photos of overflowing bins are repetitive. Maybe they'll get tired soon and accept their fate. Defeated. The overflowing bins sat like gravestones 😀

 

On 12/1/2022 at 1:21 PM, John Wright said:

It’s hard to say how many are affected @Happier diner.

There are about 15,000 households in Douglas. 30,000 people. Some live in houses in multiple occupation, they may be hard to reach. Others don’t have English as a first language. Others are tenants, town hall communication may be with landlords.

Ive no idea how many in the FB group(s) are householders, rent a mob, multiple members from one household. If it’s less than 1000 it’s less than 7%. Actually, for marketing and PR to hit 93% is pretty good. Of course I know that there’ll be a silent majority who are gritting their teeth ( for whatever reason ) and giving it a go.

I had an issue, made contact, chased, had a meeting, resolved. Didn’t even have to ask Amadeus to intervene.

 

I attach this letter from David Ashford, which is self explanatory, but please note the poignant bit in which Ashford explicitly accuses the Council of being motivated by ideology rather than any real cost issues or practical concern for the welfare of its residents.

When the policy was announced, I had wondered what the rationale might be, since the stated annual savings, only 20 grands, amount to a very little figure when divided by the number of properties in Douglas. Surely we would pay an extra few quids with our annual rates to see our city kept neat and tidy.

Personally, I have space to store rubbish indefinitely and wouldn’t even see it. Half of the garden is an overgrown inaccessible forest never had the courage to venture into. As for the detached garage, never been into it (you won’t believe that one; it is true unfortunately). Thus, some of the issues pointed out by Ashford (and other issues on this thread) had not come to my mind. My concern is how this city is going to look like in the longer term with this kind of policies. With a government to whom the relative degradation is of secondary importance to its ideological priorities. What is coming next? Imagine the planning decisions they are going to take for instance.

It reminds me of the only time in my life in which I ventured south of Rome; I went to an academic conference in Naples circa 28 years ago. Although the hotel was in one of the main thoroughfares, when I went out for a short walk got a bit lost, took a wrong turn into a back alley and tried to ask directions from a young "scugnizzo" who seemed to be speaking a different kind of Italian. I remember I could not understand what he was saying; and the piles of rubbish three meters high on the side pavement.

 

 

 

 

 

[BriT]

9 hours ago, FANDL said:

They all do it but Douglas holds the crown 

https://fearandloathing2021.wixsite.com/fearandloathingblog/post/getta-bloomin-move-on

If you’re relying on Daphne Caine to get this issue resolved then you’ll be waiting a very long time. 

[Apple]

10 hours ago, Amadeus said:

GR is long overdue but easier said than done. 

True but it shouldn't stop it happening. Neutralise the people who have vested interests in keeping it as it is and by pass the Commissioners. Bring in an LA Czar, create symbiotic relationships with local communities with better communication , messaging, openness, complaints its and standards systems etc.

Imagine the tears. Imagine the savings. 

[Augustus]

 Is a herbal practitioner basically a hippy?

[code99]

12 hours ago, 2112 said:

This has puzzled me. She has nothing to do with DBC or anything to do with the refuse crisis, yet she is sticking her beak into something that really doesn’t concern her. The decisions that DBC made are for DBC to rectify or they will face the consequences from both ratepayers and the electorate, which will also impact on Douglas MHKs. 

Seeing as Daffy wishes to interfere, perhaps she can put right the shenanigans on Onchan Commissioners, seeing as being Garff MHK encompasses parts of Onchan.

As Daffy was given ‘Chair’ of the Climate Change Transformation Board, the power seems to have gone to her head, the same applying to that other arrogant MHK Minister Thomas, not forgetting that expert on all matters financial, medical and shredding Professor Ashford, who all seem to think they are right, and don’t like anybody disagreeing with them. 

Having to operate separate rubbish collection services in a country of this size seems to be a duplication that could easily be handled by a single authority for the whole of the Island, but I stand to be corrected.

I would have thought that a policy which is driven, not only by the local matter of saving circa £25k pa for DBC, but also by a ‘green agenda’ item (that supposed to be a cornerstone of the Island-wide environmental policy) of increasing recycling rates, should had been squared off with the chair of the Island’s Climate Change Transition Board before being announced. Otherwise, it looks as if left hand does not know what right hand is doing. Daphne Caine is now asking DBC to “share their data” about how the increase to 15% recycling rate was achieved and is being measured. Was the increase in output based on volume, weight, etc.? Given the dramatic increase in recycling in such a small period of time, I wonder if other LAs are interested in adopting similar policies to DBC’s?

DBC seem to be in a receipt of very few complaints from residents – maybe this is because the residents have been haranguing the mayor about the issue, who has had to call a “requisition meeting following a petition from more than 12 electors”? Presumably, the proof as to whether people are really as chagrined about the change will be revealed in the public meeting scheduled for 12 December.

[Lilly]

Sorry to change the subject. I've noticed in the last few days the digger that usually just moves seaweed has been shifting sand away from the beach walls, only addressing the slipway near Broadway to War memorial. There is a drop now of mostly more than a metre, uncovering steps l can't remember seeing before. I wonder if this will continue along the wall and will it stop over topping?  As it is something l've often thought maybe should be done,  is there another reason why it is being done? Does anyone know? If not, well done for taking this action.

 

 

[Non-Believer]

48 minutes ago, Lilly said:

Sorry to change the subject. I've noticed in the last few days the digger that usually just moves seaweed has been shifting sand away from the beach walls, only addressing the slipway near Broadway to War memorial. There is a drop now of mostly more than a metre, uncovering steps l can't remember seeing before. I wonder if this will continue along the wall and will it stop over topping?  As it is something l've often thought maybe should be done,  is there another reason why it is being done? Does anyone know? If not, well done for taking this action.

 

 

If this is indeed the case then maybe some common sense has at last started to seep into either DBC or DOI 🙏🙏. 

[WTF]

2 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

If this is indeed the case then maybe some common sense has at last started to seep into either DBC or DOI 🙏🙏. 

it is the alternate way of raising the sea wall    😉

[Amadeus]

4 hours ago, 0bserver said:

There's nothing difficult about it. 

You smash a few (proverbial) heads together, trample on a few tiny political empires while you burn the current system to the ground. Then replace it with a workable, value for money system. 

When can you start, and can I have the movie rights? 

[Omobono]

1 hour ago, Lilly said:

Sorry to change the subject. I've noticed in the last few days the digger that usually just moves seaweed has been shifting sand away from the beach walls, only addressing the slipway near Broadway to War memorial. There is a drop now of mostly more than a metre, uncovering steps l can't remember seeing before. I wonder if this will continue along the wall and will it stop over topping?  As it is something l've often thought maybe should be done,  is there another reason why it is being done? Does anyone know? If not, well done for taking this action.

 

 

during the recent south easterly gale , the sand covering the old sewer pipe that runs down broadway  and down the beach  has been scoured to such an extent that  a manhole and pipework has been exposed  which could  result in  damage to the pipe  or its joints , this all leads back to the removal of the wooden  Groynes   which prevented this scouring  ,  the result of which we have thousands of tons of sand and shingle  pushed to the top of the beach and almost level with the promenade ,   also the DOI wants to place rock armour and large stones at the Derby Castle end of the beach instead of carrying out repairs to the sea wall , All this will do is  act as a trap  for the  seaweed  that is being pushed along the beach by the tides , and trap it in the stones , the smell  will be  horrible and the area  covered in sand flies in warmer weather ,  the obvious remedy is to get a decent bulldozer and push the sand and shingle back down the beach and start to replace some of the wooden groynes that have worked and proved to be  a success on Douglas beach for over 100 years , but sadly its the DOI were dealing with ,and no common sense 

[Len Trench]

There seems to be a bloke using ground penetrating radar at the summerland site this morning. Are there moves afoot I wonder.

[WTF]

7 minutes ago, Len Trench said:

There seems to be a bloke using ground penetrating radar at the summerland site this morning. Are there moves afoot I wonder.

his granny lost her wedding ring when the old summerland was dropped and it is a family heirloom worth millions, apparently it used to belong to one of henry the 8ths wives.

Edited December 4, 2022 by WTF

[Jarndyce]

8 minutes ago, Len Trench said:

There seems to be a bloke using ground penetrating radar at the summerland site this morning. Are there moves afoot I wonder.

He’s found the underground bunker where DHSC stored the excess stock from the Covid period, along with the spare doctors and nurses.   The Jurby hanger is just a decoy for the easily fooled.

[0bserver]

1 hour ago, Amadeus said:

When can you start, and can I have the movie rights? 

Tomorrow. 

£50k pre-consultancy fee. 

 

And no, sorry, you cannot have the movie rights. I've already agreed a £5m deal with CineManx/Pinewood.

 

ETA: The DBC Offices will make a nice wine bar when the purge is complete. Any new authority will surely be based out on the business park at Braddan or even better, in Ramsey

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by 0bserver