Tip requests £67k from government to cover costs

A rubbish tip in the north of the Isle of Man has said it needs £67,000 from the government to cover its running costs or it will have to close.

The Board for the Northern Civic Amenity Site requested the support after Bride Parish Commissioners stopped using or contributing to the facility in March.

That led to the site terminating its lease, reducing its opening hours, and suspending its reuse shed amid staffing and cost pressures.

The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) said it remained committed to working with the board.

In a letter sent to the department, the board said without the financial input it would have to close the site.

It said there had been a "lack" of solutions provided by the department and the site could only continue if the current and future shortfalls were covered.

The board, which is made up of representatives of the Ramsey, Ballaugh, Lezayre, Garff, Andreas, Jurby, and - up until recently Bride - local authorities, took over operation of the site from the DoI in 2017.

Bride Parish Commissioners paid £67,000 of the £480,000 in running costs for the facility, which amounts to 14%.

In April, that local authority pulled out of the facility for financial reasons, and has since introduced a number of its own local waste management systems.

In its letter, the civic amenity site board suggested a number of solutions including removing Bride's business rate contributions or ceasing rent on skip movements to the local authority's former contribution value.

It also suggested charging the DoI for staffing and weigh bridge station costs, particularly when items were due to be taken to Wright’s Pit North to "balance" the contribution.

The board added that it wanted to work with the department "not against it" and requested a response by 7 October, in time for the rate setting process.

The DoI said it had "committed in April to work with the Northern Civic Amenity Site Joint Committee and this remains the case".

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