Ratepayers in Douglas are being invited to quiz the leader of Douglas Council. 

David Christian will host a councillor surgery at the Henry Bloom Noble Library on Saturday. 

The sessions are an opportunity for people to find out more about future local and central government proposals. 

He says: “As we enter a new year of challenge and change there will be a whole raft of issues and projects on which we would welcome the public’s views. 

“By way of example the proposed Lord Street bus station scheme is set to be one of the Island’s largest and most ambitious mixed-use developments in recent years. 

“The council supports the scheme in principle but has a number of concerns and is liaising with the planning committee and monitoring the application closely. 

“Then there is the matter of the council’s proposal to reduce the number of wards from six to four and council membership from 18 to 12, with effect from the 2020 local elections. 

“This we believe will better reflect the growth of the Borough of Douglas and lead to fairer representation across four restructured wards.

“The council is also closely involved with the Cabinet Office in its draft proposals for the Area Plan for the East, which aims to identify the type of development that might be supported on seven key sites in Douglas, such as the Villiers and the Cambrian Place/Walpole Avenue/Middlemarch sites. 

“Although the formal consultation has ended we’d still be interested to hear people’s views for when we consider future planning applications, given that the way sites are developed can have a major impact on the town’s economy and quality of life.” 

Mr Christian will be joined by Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas who is also an MHK for Douglas Central. 

A second session will be held on January 26th. 

Both session will run between 11am and 1pm.