Max Power Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 On 1/20/2023 at 8:25 PM, Mr Helmut Fromage said: I believe that the James Caine building is to be retained as a bin store to accommodate the shite generated and subsequently removed every fortnight - True fact. Not according to the artist's impression? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 4 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said: It will end up in here eventually if you know the postcode as it feeds through from registry. https://propertyprices.im It doesn’t surprise me in the least - how much (or out money) has been spent buying existing owners off this plot so that this can be developed? That certainly isn’t within the remit of the MDC. More likely land swaps? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Just now, offshoremanxman said: The Caines did a land swap with Dandara in the first place to flip out of their Athol Street shop in the early 1990s so maybe. But the point stands. The MDC is supposed to have a brief to develop unoccupied sites not spend millions of pounds buying out property owners so that it can develop sites that it wants to develop. How much extra will this development now cost if we’ve had to buy or swap people out of existing units on that site? It’s madness. There's only James Caine's, Keith Lord, Abrahams and the Scouts, the rest is all government property. The businesses would benefit from moving and I'm sure there are suitable places to relocate to already available. The Scouts seem to have a building within the development? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: The Caines did a land swap with Dandara in the first place to flip out of their Athol Street shop in the early 1990s No, It was sold to Cooney from the Channel Islands in the 80’s. ETA and the Demesne Rd property was already owned and used as a warehouse for a number of years beforehand. It used to be a builders yard (Creer Bros?). McArds were the builders used to redevelop the site. Nothing to do with Dandara at all. Edited January 22, 2023 by The Old Git 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 2 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: You seem to have ignored my point. Buying out existing property owners isn’t in the MDCs remit. It’s there to develop vacant brownfield sites nobody else is interested in. Why has our money (if it has) been used to buy out private owners freehold interests just to secure this site? I take your point but it is a very large government owned site interspersed with a few relatively small and low value privately owned sites. To make it a viable proposition I suppose it would be in order to do this, otherwise we'd be left with a cocked up mish mash, like a lot of non developments on the island? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: All for 137 housing units which is a staggeringly low number when you think about it. That site could probably accommodate 300 easy. A gated, HNW or speculator-aimed development complex would recoup the outlay....😉 Edited January 22, 2023 by Non-Believer typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 8 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: You seem to have ignored my point. Buying out existing property owners isn’t in the MDCs remit. It’s there to develop vacant brownfield sites nobody else is interested in. Why has our money (if it has) been used to buy out private owners freehold interests just to secure this site? How do you know what their remit is? Obviously if you’ve got a large brownfield site with a couple of businesses in the middle of it then anyone with common sense can see the merit in buying the other non owned premises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apple Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 5 hours ago, Non-Believer said: A gated, HNW or speculator-aimed development complex would recoup the outlay....😉 Actually I think that is a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshoremanxman Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Banker said: How do you know what their remit is? It’s on their website. Note use of the word “unoccupied”. In what way is the garage, James Caines, the Antique Shop and the Scout Hall “unoccupied”? They’re all active businesses or venues in daily use. Edited January 22, 2023 by offshoremanxman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) You can’t blame the owners of the shop/retail/warehouse/workshops, least of all in great Manx tradition, demonise them. This is down to policy of the MDC, which in turn being dictated to by IOMG, Messiah Thomas Housing and Communities Board, The Climate Change Transformation Board ……….. All said and done, there are loads of both taxpayer owned brownfield sites all over Douglas and sites around the island ripe for redevelopment. Another thing to note that all the properties on this main site, rates and water rates would have been paid, and taxes as well. Overall I hope the key worker housing is a success and doesn’t end up the usual Manx muddle, and scenarios develop where people are being housed, who shouldn’t be entitled to be housed etc, because no guidelines or procedures are put into place. I don’t think that offices are essential, and are only included to justify the remit of working and living in the village - so presumably the old nurses home is going to house, highly paid civil servants working for the DHSC, at the shiny new taxpayer funded reimagined Crookall House? Are new Nurses going to be housed there? A village by rights would have retail units - village shop, but it’s worth noting that until recently, some villages had no facilities - Crosby for example. Westmoreland Road is well served for retail, cafes etc and it’s less than 5 minute walk along Demesne Road, Kensington Road across to The Terrace and Windsor Road. One thing missing in this village is lack of leisure facilities. Not everyone wants to play bowls, snooker or tennis. There is a children’s playground with a basketball court around the corner. Why isn’t the HBN School sports pitches used extensively by the local community? Perhaps the school could have more facilities, a gym etc? Edited January 22, 2023 by 2112 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyandy Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 3 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: Who is demonizing anyone? But the fact is buying them out will have added about £3M to this project. And this from an agency that only has a primary mandate to develop “unoccupied” brownfield sites not acquire fully operational business premises to knock them down. We’re paying for this with public money and there are plenty of other sites in Douglas that don’t need people to be bought off. As for 137 units it’s laughable. If they’re going to this level of cost it should be 300 units or more or good quality fairly priced mixed social/private residential not mixed use and replicating commercial and retail units that are already abundant in town or in Braddan. It’s starting to feel like the MDC is playing at being Dandara and not doing a very good job of it with our money. The negativity when anyone tries to make progress on this post little island is embarrassing! Do you think that money spent if it is 3 million will generate more or less than 3million in additional income across the whole site when it’s complete? Of course it will. More property to sell or rent and the properties will also be more attractive because they won’t have scabby old buildings in the middle of the development. Its great new for Douglas and don’t worry about Park Road as that will be following soon 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 3 hours ago, offshoremanxman said: Who is demonizing anyone? But the fact is buying them out will have added about £3M to this project. And this from an agency that only has a primary mandate to develop “unoccupied” brownfield sites not acquire fully operational business premises to knock them down. We’re paying for this with public money and there are plenty of other sites in Douglas that don’t need people to be bought off. As for 137 units it’s laughable. If they’re going to this level of cost it should be 300 units or more or good quality fairly priced mixed social/private residential not mixed use and replicating commercial and retail units that are already abundant in town or in Braddan. It’s starting to feel like the MDC is playing at being Dandara and not doing a very good job of it with our money. We haven’t missed your constant whining & slagging off any progress during your absence!! Must be a mate of Eddie 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 2 hours ago, randyandy said: The negativity when anyone tries to make progress on this post little island is embarrassing! Do you think that money spent if it is 3 million will generate more or less than 3million in additional income across the whole site when it’s complete? Of course it will. More property to sell or rent and the properties will also be more attractive because they won’t have scabby old buildings in the middle of the development. Its great new for Douglas and don’t worry about Park Road as that will be following soon Completely agree. It’s a shame we can’t attract big money into Douglas. Flatten most of it, get rid of living in the past and regenerate much like Liverpool and Manchester have done. Acknowledge the past but don’t keep painting and plastering the same old crumbling area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Montgomery Burns Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Just now, Satan666 said: Completely agree. It’s a shame we can’t attract big money into Douglas. Flatten most of it, get rid of living in the past and regenerate much like Liverpool and Manchester have done. Acknowledge the past but don’t keep painting and plastering the same old crumbling area. But the fault for that is mostly down to the planning department which is government. Again the reason why most of these brownfield sites exist in the first place is government planning officers making it economically unviable to develop them by being over prescriptive. Now in comes the MDC, which is also government, to take on sites that governments own planning officers have made it unviable to develop with our money. It’s a 360 degree shit storm of incompetence. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 2 minutes ago, C Montgomery Burns said: But the fault for that is mostly down to the planning department which is government. Again the reason why most of these brownfield sites exist in the first place is government planning officers making it economically unviable to develop them by being over prescriptive. Now in comes the MDC, which is also government, to take on sites that governments own planning officers have made it unviable to develop with our money. It’s a 360 degree shit storm of incompetence. Whole heartedly agree with that. Plenty of missed opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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