2112 Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 Maybe Corparisation, Privatisation or Arms Lengths has been considered? Perhaps it could be transferred over to a charity to operate, such as MWT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 13 hours ago, finlo said: Was reading about this earlier according to them it costs £500,000 a year to run has 50,000 visitors each year yet looses £500,000 per year? cost 500k and losing 500k aren't the same thing , it will cost a lot more than 500k a year to run , the vets bills won't be cheap to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 4 hours ago, joebean said: The common theme is anything Government-owned losing money. Yet we still have the obsession with Government having its dead fingers in every pie. A little enterprise is required and that is the one thing Government haven’t got. Perhaps worth considering; Govt suddenly flags up that the WLP is losing £500k a year. To man in street, that sounds like a lot of wonga. But it's chickenfeed compared to what Govt wastes or squanders every year in other areas, including on itself. The real story is that it's a pointer towards the change in culture and the state of Govt finances. It's not about providing services or amenities, albeit maybe at a loss, to the general public anymore. It's all about revenue to fund the Govt payroll and liabilities - and if it's not providing revenue it's likely to face the axe, just like the Sound bus service. It is all about Govt looking after itself and funding itself, full stop and the public needs to get savvy to this. Where it ends is anybody's question because we could end up with very few services and amenities over here simply because they are not deemed profitable and don't feed the bottomless maw, that maw of course must remain unquestioned because nobody has the balls to stand up to it 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Mexico Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, hoopsaa said: Are you saying they linked their review of the wildlife park with the meat plant review? Kill two pelicans with one stone, as it were? Off topic, what happened to Barbers mission to find out how the current lot took over managing the meat plant? Did anyone find the .missing documentation? On the surface it's pure coincidence. In the cover letter in the link above Barber says: At the recent sitting of Tynwald I promised to circulate a copy of the Terms of Reference for a review of the Wildlife Park, please see attached for your information. At the same sitting I committed also to circulate the Terms of Reference for an audit for Isle of Man Meats, please see attached for your information. But there may be a sort of link in that I suspect these are both areas which she felt needed looking at when she was appointed and it had taken till July 2022 to get past civil service opposition (or at least inertia) to get some action. The Meat Plant audit then took place in September/October and was published in November, so there's nothing to say the the Wildlife Park one couldn't have been dealt with as quickly, but we've heard nothing for two years. Whether this is because it didn't happen because those outside DEFA interfered or because someone didn't like the results I don't know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ram Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) Is anyone really surprised this place loses money? I would have expected it to be more. It’s one of the many nice to haves that we either pay for out of taxes or do without. Its that simple. Any suggestion that if it wasn’t government run it would make a profit is just ludicrous. We simply don’t have the population to support it. See also Villa, gaiety, steam trains, MER, MNH etc etc. Edited July 19 by Roger Ram 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 20 minutes ago, Roger Ram said: Is anyone really surprised this place loses money? I would have expected it to be more. It’s one of the many nice to haves that we either pay for out of taxes or do without. Its that simple. Any suggestion that if it wasn’t government run it would make a profit is just ludicrous. We simply don’t have the population to support it. See also Villa, gaiety, steam trains, MER, MNH etc etc. Has the Wildlife Park ever made a profit, or broke even, in the past? Are we now noticing all these losses due to the parlous state of the islands economy? Same applies to the Villa/Gaiety and Heritage Transport. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asitis Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 49 minutes ago, Roger Ram said: We simply don’t have the population to support it. Government yes ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 And relating to what I posted above re. the Sound bus service - from the horse's mouth, there's that word, "revenue". Revenue that is being directed to pay a £600M< pa PS wage bill and also plug a £40M pa Pensions gap, because that's where it's going. If it doesn't produce "revenue" now then it's up for question. "Service" is no longer part of the vernacular. And addressing the needs for all this "revenue" as well/instead is apparently out of the question. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/search-for-new-wildlife-park-manager/ New manager was supposed to run it in a 'private sector manner' for the past 13 years. Edited July 19 by Moghrey Mie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ram Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 3 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/search-for-new-wildlife-park-manager/ New manager was supposed to run it in a 'private sector manner' for the past 13 years. And they can. Doesn’t mean they can suddenly turn something that will never in a million years even break even into a miraculous money making machine. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 It seems obvious to me that the days when "visitors" used to fund these items are long gone and it needs to be recognised that they're not going to be replaced anytime soon. Heritage stuff I don't have a problem with because if that goes part of my identity goes with it. Probably forever. That's not the case for the "Wildlife" park and the "benefits" it brings to the populace need to be weighted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 1 hour ago, 2112 said: Has the Wildlife Park ever made a profit, or broke even, in the past? Are we now noticing all these losses due to the parlous state of the islands economy? Same applies to the Villa/Gaiety and Heritage Transport. Most zoos etc are charitable trusts eg London zoo, whipsnade, Chester, jersey etc and get donations and entry fees are not cheap. As with all these things NSC, Villa, heritage sites etc. as I’ve said many times either we accept losses paid for from taxes are close losing amenities or try to sell which would be difficult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ringy Rose Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, Moghrey Mie said: New manager was supposed to run it in a 'private sector manner' for the past 13 years. The prices in the cafe and the gift shop suggest they do. 5 hours ago, 2112 said: Perhaps it could be transferred over to a charity to operate, such as MWT? It wouldn’t change the needle much, you’d just be giving a grant to the charity instead. 2 hours ago, Non-Believer said: Service" is no longer part of the vernacular. And addressing the needs for all this "revenue" as well/instead is apparently out of the question. Cannan is someone who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. I said as much when he was elected as Chief Minister and nothing has convinced me otherwise. I fully believe he’s softening the island up for privatisation, so his mates in consultancy and banking can pick up lots of juicy advice and management fees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoopsaa Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) I kind of think I have a contract with the government- through the different sources of taxation and costs, I give the government (in the largest sense) quite a large proportion of my wages. In return, they provide me with essential services and also some nice things, and, unfortunately, lawrie hooper. It feels they are reneging on this 'agreement' - they take more and more, get bigger and bigger, and we get less and less. It's broken. Edited July 19 by hoopsaa 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc84 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 8 hours ago, 2112 said: Maybe Corparisation, Privatisation or Arms Lengths has been considered? Perhaps it could be transferred over to a charity to operate, such as MWT? If you're feeding animals in a wildlife park, arms length is a good idea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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