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No repairs to damaged Douglas promenade walls before TT

BBC Damaged walls at sunken gardens on Douglas promenadeBBC
Parts of the 1930s sunken garden walls were levelled during a storm last year

Storm-damaged walls by the sunken gardens on Douglas promenade will not be repaired before the TT begins, an Isle of Man local authority has said.

The walls came down under high waves caused by Storm Barra in December.

Douglas Council leader Claire Wells said work cannot progress at the site until talks with insurers over compensation claims have completed.

Any rebuild had to fit into wider government plans for a sea wall along the capital's seafront, she added.

The council is waiting for a loss assessors report to be finalised, Ms Wells told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, adding this "realistically" meant the walls would not be repaired before the return of racing at the end of May.

It comes after local historian Charles Guard released a video of Douglas promenade online in which he criticised its appearance ahead of the tourist season.

Walls collapsed in Douglas promenade's Sunken Gardens
High winds caused by Storm Barra led to flooding on the promenade December last year

Ms Wells said: "it is not like you can have this magic fairy that comes along and waves their wand and everything is magically painted and fixed, it just does not happen that way."

The areas around the collapsed walls have been fenced off, with metal barriers put up as a replacement.

Ms Wells added she was "keen to spend ratepayers money once, and do it right", as any replacement structures had to fit in with the Department of Infrastructure's plans for flood defences on the seafront.

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