Meeting hears call to scrap town square car ban

The revocation of a winter ban on vehicles accessing a town square has been called for at a public meeting.

The closure of Market Square from November to March by Castletown Commissioners was discussed at the gathering of about 100 residents and traders.

Those attending backed a motion put forward to lobby the Department of Infrastructure for the traffic order to be revoked amid fears it would harm trade.

The square has been closed during the summer months to allow for events and leisure activities in recent years, but has previously had parking reinstate in winter.

Thursday evening meeting at Morton Hall was called by two of the town's former MHKs, Tony Brown and Richard Ronan, and past chairman of the commissioners John Cringle.

They said the gathering had been called after their request to meet with the full board over the issue had been "refused".

But, in a statement from the board read at the start of the proceedings, members said there had been an offer to meet with some of the representative, which had been declined.

The meeting "had not been held in collaboration" with the local authority and the board was remained committed to "open" and "honest" communication, it added.

The meeting was attended by two current commissioners, Jimmy Cubbon and Colin Leather.

The meeting heard concerns that there had not been enough communication from the local authority on the decision, a potential drop in footfall for local traders, as well as the removal of accessible parking provision for those with disabilities in the winter.

The meeting also heard from a number business owners who said their takings were down, including Sheree Bolleurs who owns Gaslight Gift Shop, who said she had seen a 50% reduction on her returns on the year prior.

More than 80 of those who attended the meeting voted in favour of the motion requesting the infrastructure minister revoke the winter closure order "due to the adverse impact" on the town until a report setting out the advantages and disadvantages of the move was published.

The motion requests that during the winter months the minister "provides for closures" where events are to be held for the benefit of the community.

Speaking after the meeting, owner of Jac Stores Chris Blatcher said the winter closure was "harming trade" and several traders had expressed concerns over "whether they would be here" in a year's time.

Mr Brown said the message was "quite clear" that people were "extremely concerned" that the square was not available for parking during the winter.

Leather said he would "take away the concerns" and it was now something to "sit down, talk about all together, and see where we go from here".

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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