Tip strips back opening to 'sustain itself'

A tip in the north of the Isle of Man has stripped back its opening times to "sustain" itself due to a gap in funding, the chairman of the facility has said.

In April, the Northern Civic Amenity Site (NCAS) made the decision to terminate its lease after Bride Commissioners stopped contributing to the facility's running costs.

The site has now reduced operating days from seven days to five for the remainder of financial year.

Chairman of the NCAS board Karl Brew said the facility was "having to make changes to sustain ourselves over the next six to eight months".

The site now stays closed on Monday and Sunday to make sure staff have "adequate time off", while the facility is run using its reduced financial contributions from the remaining local authorities, Mr Brew said.

A joint facility featuring members of the local authorities in Andreas, Ballaugh, Lezayre, the Maughold ward of Garff, Jurby and Ramsey - and until recently Bride - took over the running of the site from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) in 2017.

In April, Bride Commissioners said it could no longer pay its annual contribution of £65,000.

Mr Brew said that authority's exit had made the board "think about what we are doing, and how we are going forward".

Discussions were ongoing with the DOI to find a solution to make sure the standards at the site continue until the end of the lease in March 2025, he said.

Staff had been "kept abreast of the situation" and the public was asked to continue to "respect" workers, Mr Brew added.

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