At a meeting of the Port Erin Commissioners on 26th January, Chairman Mr Nick Watterson announced, "The Board has considered the forthcoming year's budgets in great detail and is very pleased to announce that the rates will remain at their current level of 288p for 2016-17.
In the past 10 months, having accepted the transferred services from the Department of Infrastructure, we now have closer control over the cleanliness of Port Erin, which the Board believes have been a very positive step. A number of capital projects have also been completed such as the opening of the Tony Wright Bridge at Spaldrick, the introduction of a Bring Bank recycling service and the implementation of an electric vehicle to our fleet. There are also a couple more projects which we are hoping to complete before the end of this financial year. Port Erin Commissioners also added a further 19 units to its stock of Public Sector Housing stock, which has benefitted many people within the village. The administration at Port Erin Commissioners has continued to demonstrate efficiency improvements, which has been welcomed by the Board.
Looking forward to the next financial year, changes to the structure of how Local Authorities are charged for waste has shown an increase in cost to Port Erin, however, it is positive that domestic waste will no longer be subject to the Waste Escalator charge which would have seen domestic waste taken to the Energy from Waste plant, being charged at around ?170 per Tonne by 2018/19. We are estimating a small deficit for 2016/17, which will be drawn from our healthy reserves.
The budget for this forthcoming year also allows us to continue with projects such as replacing the festoon lighting along both the upper and lower Promenades, as well as a number of other exciting schemes which the Board believes will further enhance Port Erin as a place to live, work and visit.
It is positive to see that residents are taking a keen interest in Port Erin Commissioners business, with over 16,000 views of our online minutes in the past 12 months. With the Local Authority General Election on 28th April 2016, we hope that this interest will translate into candidates wishing to stand.”
Mr Watterson concluded by adding, "I must thank my fellow Board members, all the staff at Port Erin Commissioners, and everybody who has contributed to the smooth running of Port Erin this year.”
Photo - Courtesy of Ron Strathdee.
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