THESE photographs promise to have many people trying to work out exactly what happened after being published in today’s Manx Independent.

Luckily, the driver escaped without any significant injuries after losing control of her car and crashing through railings at Church Road Marina, near the Gaiety Theatre, in Douglas on Sunday.

The vehicle apparently mounted the pavement and came to rest on top of another section of the railings.

A witness in nearby Rochester Court said: ‘The driver was helped out of the car and was talking to the people who helped so there were no injuries of note as far as I could tell.

‘By the looks of it, the car was turning right from the prom into Church Road Marina and went through the barrier, then on to the pedestrian area before hitting the barrier again from the inside.’

The picture was taken by Isle of Man Newspapers reader Jordan Maddrell. If you see something you think might make the news email us at {mailto:newsdesk@newsiom.co.im|newsdesk(at)newsiom.co.im}.

FIFTY-FIVE jobs are to be created in the island’s flourishing fish processing industry.

The Manx Independent today revealed plans for an ‘Isle of Man Food Park’ in Peel and an expansion of jobs at Carrick Bay Seafoods in Port St Mary.

It comes as a welcome boost for the island’s jobs market.

More details are in this week’s Manx Independent.

A DOZEN more new buses will be delivered to the island in the next few weeks.

Questions about why new buses were being ordered when a number of older Isle of Man double deckers sold off to Blackpool were already refurbished and back in service in the Lancashire resort were raised in Tynwald by Kate Beecroft MHK (Lib Vannin, Onchan).

Twelve brand new silver Mercedes Citaro single deckers were officially handed over to Bus Vannin last summer.

In Tynwald, Community Culture and Leisure Minister Tim Crookall MHK said a further 12 vehicles of the same type were on order and delivery would take place this month and next.

Funding approval of £1.883 million for replacement buses was approved by Tynwald on Budget Day.

In the court this week, Mr Crookall insisted the new vehicles represented ‘excellent value for money’ and resulted in £100,000 of savings on the maintenance of older vehicles.

‘The fuel efficiencies we are expecting this year is £60,000 as these new buses are 50 per cent more efficient than the older double deckers. The reduction in staff maintenance on these buses is expected to be round about £100,000 this year and the reduction in parts, less need for costly repair for these buses, is about £40,000 a year.’

The Minister confirmed that in the last financial year, the 11 oldest double deckers in the Bus Vannin fleet had been sold to Blackpool Transport for £20,000 each along with four of the oldest single deckers, which were sold for £1,000 each [excluding VAT, tyres and shipping].

He said these 15 buses were shipped to the UK generating an income of £224,000.

Mrs Beecroft asked the Minister to confirm the average price per kilogram or per tonne actually received for the vehicles sent across and was it considered good value.

‘Could you also confirm whether any of these buses that were sent across have been refurbished in the UK and are now back in service? Did you actually consider taking this path in the first place yourself?’ she asked.

Mr Crookall explained that the double deckers were all over 12 years old and both the chassis and body manufacturers had gone out of business, making the sourcing of spare parts difficult.

‘On balance, I do not believe that repairing the older vehicles is a viable option,’ he said. He added that given the conditions of the vehicles, their sale to Blackpool Transport was believed to represent a good deal.

‘Each bus requires at least £20,000 to £25,000 to bring them up to an acceptable bodywork condition. We did not have the facilities on island to undertake this work or the spare cover for the length of time it takes to mend these vehicles.’

Graham Cregeen MHK (Malew and Santon) asked if the buses had been sold for re-use or scrap.

But the Minister replied that they had been sold to Blackpool Transport, which was refurbishing them at a cost of about £25,000 each to give them a further three or four years of service.

Mrs Beecroft asked what the cost was of shipping the new Mercedes Benz single deckers to the UK for repair.

Mr Crookall said that all of the new buses would be repaired in the island unless they were subject to serious accident damage that could not be repaired here.

THE island needs to get out and sell its cultural strong points to attract tourists.

That’s the view of Liam O’Neill, founder and chairman of the Archibald Knox Society, who is set to host a study tour for Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society (CRMS) enthusiasts this weekend.

He believes it’s a good start for cultural tourism.

‘When I set up the Archibald Knox Society I modelled it on the CRMS,’ said Mr O’Neill.

‘I have built up a very good relationship over the years with them and one of the first visits by us was to Glasgow [where the CRMS is based]. Over the years I have been encouraging them to visit the Isle of Man and now they have decided to do this.’

Mr O’Neill said 29 people would be taking part in the study tour, which begins today and will end on Monday, April 23.

The tour will include a visit to Cronkbourne Village, Tromode, birthplace of Archibald Knox; access to the Knox archive at the Manx Museum in Douglas, which includes Knox’s stunning silverware and watercolours; and a trip to the ancient monastic site of Maughold to view the ancient Manx crosses and the Hall Caine memorial, which was the last monument designed by Knox.

The weekend will also include a tour of the work of H.M. Baillie Scott.

Peter Kelly, an architectural historian and leading light in the Isle of Man Victorian Society, will talk about Baillie Scott and conduct a tour of Baillie Scott buildings. Mr O’Neill will deliver a lecture on the life and work of Archibald Knox.

There will also be an opportunity to view the work of the renowned Manx artist J.M. Nicholson and the Irish stained glass genius Harry Clarke.

And there will be a gala dinner at which Rushen MHK Laurence Skelly, a member of the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure, will speak about cultural tourism.

‘From the point of view of their [the CRMS’s] interest in Knox, it really is setting him in context by bringing them to the Isle of Man,’ said Mr O’Neill.

‘Auction houses often say nothing else about his island links other than that he was born in, or was from, the Isle of Man. They never make reference to the enormous influence the Isle of Man had on his work. The Isle of Man played such an important role.

‘This is the first of many such visits, we hope. I think it’s an ideal way of selling what we have got here in the Isle of Man internationally,’ said Mr O’Neill.

One of the delegates on this month’s study tour is coming over from New York after hearing Mr O’Neill speak on a recent lecture tour of the US.

‘I am trying to get the Department for Economic Development more interested in being proactive,’ he said.

‘We can’t sit here and wait for people to come, we have got to get out there and sell it. This is a big opportunity to do that. I think the present government is aware of the importance of it and of finding new niches.

‘I think Archibald Knox has really never been promoted to the full extent. We don’t actually market Knox, I think, and he and the Isle of Man are synonymous. He’s like a modern-day Manannan representing the island. It’s impossible to speak, in my opinion, of one without the other.’

For more information, visit {http://www.archibaldknoxsociety.com.archibaldknoxsociety.com}.

• What do you think? Is this the sort of tourism the island needs? Email {mailto:opinions@newsiom.co.im|opinions(at)newsiom.co.im}, write to Your Views, Manx Independent, Publishing House, Peel Road, Douglas, IM1 5PZ – remembering to include you name, address and contact number, or sign in to add your comment below.

PRINCE Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will visit Peel and the National Sports Centre in Douglas on Thursday next week.

Charles and his wife will start their visit at the National Sports Centre where they will watch the young people take part in an outdoor cycle race, before meeting World Champion cyclist Peter Kennaugh and members of the Team Royal London 360 Isle of Man Cycling Club and their parents.

The couple will spend a lot of the afternoon in Peel, where they will be meet food producers and view some of their produce at the House of Manannan in Peel. They will also be introduced to young farmers, representatives from charities and politicians.

They will also be introduced to the crew of the ‘Vital Spark’, a replica Viking longship that will be taking part in the Thames diamond jubilee pageant.

Charles and Camilla will then meet local fishermen on the quayside in Peel, before attending the launch of the regeneration of the Isle of Man Food Park in Peel, touring a sustainable scallop processing facility and unveiling a plaque to mark the start of the redevelopment.

They will finish their visit by meeting the RNLI volunteers, coastguards and members of the emergency services at Peel Lifeboat Station.

COULD budget airline easyJet be about to launch a new route between the Isle of Man and London Gatwick?

Some island customers who logged onto the easyJet website found flights being advertised to London Gatwick starting in October.

The flights started from £25.49 each way with the route operating in October, November and December.

But reference to the new route was subsequently removed from the easyJet website and it is not possible at the moment to book any tickets,

A spokesman for easyJet said there had been no official announcement about the new route.

No frills airline easyJet launched services between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Ronaldsway in May 2010. It carried more than 64,300 passengers on the route last year.

MANX2 has scrapped all ‘hidden’ booking fees and payment card surcharges – in a move which many passengers hope will be followed by other air operators serving the island.

From yesterday (Thursday) it announced it is abolishing all charges on credit and debit cards and all booking and transaction fees, meaning that customers can book knowing they’ll be paying no more than the advertised price for the flight.

Chairman Noel Hayes said that additional fees being levied across the aviation industry were creating ‘bad feeling’ among the travelling public – and he did not believe the move towards incremental increases in booking fees were justifiable.

He said: ‘What’s happened in the aviation industry over the past two years is that the level of charges has been pushed up above what I would regard as acceptable.

‘We’ve got to the stage where we’re not going to follow the industry trend. It’s not something we want to be part of.

‘Passengers don’t know what they are going to pay until they get to the end of the booking process. It generates bad feeling. We don’t get a lot of complaints but proportionally we get more complaints about additional fees.

‘So in the interests of charging transparency we have done away with all these additional charges and what you see is what you’ll pay.’

Manx2.com’s prices also include all taxes, a guarantee of no fuel surcharges, a free 10kg carry-on bag allowance, free online check-in, free transfer to an earlier flight on the day of travel as well as free parking at Blackpool and Gloucestershire Airports.

The only extras will be £9.99 for hold luggage and £3 if you want to pay for priority boarding.

Mr Hayes said there were no plans to increase fares to cover the cost of losing the extra fees and surcharges – and the company would absorb the cost (about 2 to 3 per cent of the ticket price) of processing credit card transactions.

He said it was hoped that scrapping these extra charges would generate additional passengers volume that would offset the lost income.

Manx2 has always charged a fee for booking by credit card but it introduced a booking fee 18 months ago of £4.50 per single journey.

Additional fees per booking were capped at £20.

Last year, a super-complaint from Which? to the UK Office of Fair Trading resulted in Westminster government announcing measures to try to outlaw credit card surcharges. However, many companies have responded by simply transferring card charges onto higher booking fees instead.

David Buck, managing director of Manx2.com, said: ‘Many companies impose charges you can only avoid by using an obscure payment card and we hope that passengers will show their support for our honest pricing and vote with their wallets.’

Infrastructure Minister David Cretney MHK congratulated Manx2 on the move, saying: ‘I sincerely hope others follow your lead.’

EDUCATION Minister Peter Karran has caused an outcry after suggesting some parents would rather buy cigarettes than pay for pre-school education for their child.

He made the comment as he answered questions in Tynwald on Tuesday about plans to privatise nursery provision. It had been suggested parents would be willing to pay towards keeping the existing service.

To that Mr Karran said: ‘You charge and the problem will be that there will be a number of parents who would prefer to pay it on cigarettes and other things than pay it on pre-school education and they are the very children that we should be protecting.’

He went on to repeat the assertion during a debate later in the sitting, this time replacing the word ‘cigarettes’ with ‘fags’.

Amy Burns, who has spearheaded the fight for the nurseries, posted on the Facebook group dedicated to the campaign: ‘I would like to say Mr Karran, I for one don’t smoke. I would also say 99.9 per cent of parents would go without the air in their lungs for their children. I’m thoroughly disgusted it came from our Minister of Education’s mouth. I spoke to Jersey’s government again this morning, updated them on what was going on, and the horror in the gentlemen’s voice when he heard what our Education Minister said!’

She called for members of the Facebook group to register their disapproval with the Chief Minister and a large number of people responded to her statement with horror.

Campaigners believe the proposed credit system is flawed. It provides that all parents of nursery-age children will receive £350 a year towards their costs, regardless of income, while those who currently would qualify for free school meals would be entitled to a credit of £1,150.

The DEC has estimated that the cost of five half-day sessions per week (which is what is provided free of charge now) is likely to be a minimum of £2,000.

A survey carried out by Mrs Burns was circulated by Brenda Cannell (Douglas East) during the sitting. In five days 728 people responded and the results showed 94 per cent believed education was the most important factor of pre-school provision, while the remaining 6 per cent considered childcare as the most important factor. Again, 94 per cent said they would be happy to contribute financially to keep the current provision going, with 6 per cent saying no.

They were asked how much they would be prepared to contribute – 44 per cent said £7.50, 36 per cent said £5 and 20 per cent said £10. There were 20 people who added they would pay more.

Asked if government had made the right decision, 85 per cent said no, 9 per cent said yes and 6 per cent were unsure.

And 76 per cent said they were not happy for taxes to be used to fund the voucher scheme, while 14 per cent said they were happy with that idea and 10 per cent said there was no choice.

Our Pumps 4 Kids campaign has hit its £20,000 target and it’s all thanks to you, our generous readers.

Launched in conjunction with the Manx Diabetic Group in early March, Pumps 4 Kids aimed to raise the money to eradicate the children’s waiting list for pump therapy for Type 1 diabetes. Pump therapy completely replaces the need for injections.

We set ourselves a target of achieving the total by Christmas, but we have done it in just six weeks.

So we’ve decided, with your help, to keep going. It will hopefully mean that, in future, no child will have to wait again for a pump.

We’ll keep our charity account open and hope you’ll keep letting us know about any events you’ve organised. For our part, we’ve got some events lined up too, including a Pumps 4 Kids entry in the Parish Walk.

THE two MHKs who broke ranks with their minister in a vote over pre-school education in Tynwald this week have been sacked from their government department.

Zac Hall (Onchan) and John Houghton (Douglas North) were absent from Tynwald court for Tuesday’s vote.

As members of the Department of Education and Children they would normally be expected to share collective responsibility for the decisions of the department and vote for its policies.

When members strongly disagree with a department policy, the usual course of action is to resign from their departmental role. That was what Dudley Butt MLC did over the same issue.

However, Mr Hall and Mr Houghton simply stayed away from the vote.

Related article: {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/education/fags-more-important-to-some-than-kids-education-karran-1-4464447|Fags more important to some than kids’ education - Karran}.

The Council of Ministers met yesterday over the issue and decided to remove them from the department.

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK confirmed Mr Houghton and Mr Hall MHK had been removed as members of the Department of Education and Children and replaced by Tony Wild MLC and Juan Turner MLC.

He said: ‘The Council of Ministers agreed to terminate the DEC membership of Mr Houghton and Mr Hall with immediate effect, taking into account the collective responsibility expected of departmental members. At the same time Council approved the appointment of Mr Wild and Mr Turner as new members of the department.’

Neither MHK has another government departmental job. So they will now face a loss of income of £11,076 a year. Mr Butt is also a member of the Department of Health and did not, therefore, lose that income.

The Minister of Education and Children, Peter Karran, relied on the block vote of the Council of Ministers - another form of collective responsibility - to push through his policy to privatise government-run nurseries.

For Mr Karran, Mr Hall’s betrayal must be particularly galling.

Both are members of the Liberal Vannin party and both are members for Onchan.

They campaigned together - with some believing that Mr Hall secured his place on the coattails of his party leader, who has topped the poll in the district for several elections.

Mr Hall and Mr Houghton told the President of Tynwald they would be absent from the vote. But neither sought permission from her. They therefore contravened Tynwald’s rules.

We have been unable to get in touch with either Mr Hall or Mr Houghton.

BUDGET airline EasyJet has confirmed it is launching a new service between the Isle of Man and London Gatwick.

Following days of speculation, EasyJet announced today (Friday) that it will begin operating a year-round service to London Gatwick from the Isle of Man this autumn.

Related article: {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/easyjet-flying-to-gatwick-1-4464450|EasyJet flying to Gatwick?}.

Flights on the new route will go on sale on Monday (April 23), with fares starting from just £22.99 (one-way, including taxes). The inaugural flight will depart from the Isle of Man Airport on October 1.

The route will operate six times a week, and will cater for both business and leisure travellers.

Ali Gayward, EasyJet UK commercial manager, said: ‘I am so pleased to be able to announce the launch of new route to London Gatwick from the Isle of Man. The new route is the ideal gateway for business and leisure travellers looking for easy and affordable travel to the capital for a summer jam-packed with momentous activities.

‘We hope that the new six-times-weekly route demonstrates our commitment to our passengers on the Isle of Man to provide flexibility and choice across the airport’s routes.’

Passengers will have access to 97 onward destinations available from London Gatwick.

EasyJet already operates daily flights from the Isle of Man to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with the frequency on these flights recently increased to cope with demand for travel to and from the island during the TT. This additional frequency will continue into the winter.

A COMPANY involved in the production of home products for people with mobility needs is celebrating with expansion.

Around 65 staff now work for DLP on the Snugborough Trading estate, Union Mills.

The company is also working towards a situation where the diversity of skills is such that 100 per cent staff cover is available in all production units.

And Tim Baker, group finance director at DLP Limited, of Union Mills, praised the firm’s ‘flexible manufacturing facility’ as it takes on more work.

Bosses say DLP is a market leader in the provision of showering, daily living and kitchen solutions for people with mobility needs.,

DLP – which has operated from the island for more than 20 years – previously designed and fabricated easy access showering, in the form of trays and screens, from four units on the estate.

Meanwhile, the kitchen side of the business was handled by its subsidiary, AKW, at Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire.

Now, this aspect too has been transferred to the island which has resulted in an expansion of the workforce, including the employment of a Manx Government-trained joiner. The latest development means that around 40 per cent of everything produced by DLP comes from its Snugborough factory, with production of higher volume lines being sub-contracted to a global network of supply partners.

All of the product design is also handled at Snugborough, where the workforce totals around 65 staff. All the products are sold to its AKW subsidiary, the sales and distribution arm of the organisation.

Group finance director Tim Baker said: ‘We have a flexible manufacturing facility which is excellent at low volume, small batches and bespoke products.

‘What we have proved here is that while there are obviously higher perceived labour costs, compared with somewhere like the Far East, it is more than compensated for by flexibility.’

Flexibility is the name of the game at Snugborough with screens and kitchens production manager Scott Findlay, and his team, working towards a situation where the diversity of skills is such that 100 per cent staff cover is available in all production departments.

Scott said: ‘This obviously means a lot of training so staff can cover any job within the factory’s manufacturing side, but everyone is enthusiastic about the concept.’

DLP began life in the Isle of Man from premises at Fort Street in Douglas manufacturing shower trays. Three years later it moved to Snugborough and added shower screens – both off the shelf and bespoke - to its portfolio. The manufacture of shower seats and grab rails soon followed.

Now, the kitchen side of the business is under the DLP umbrella and there is also an expanded made-to-measure screen facility which means increased volumes are flowing through the Snugborough factory.

Some sales are made in the island, with products being displayed in the Independent Living Centre at Westmoreland Road, Douglas and in some bathroom showrooms.

However, the company’s main market is the UK, mainly providing products to local authorities who are seeking to make home adaptations so that the elderly and disabled can remain in their own homes.

In addition, the company has a significant presence in Europe, largely France and the Benelux countries, and a relationship with a distributor who sells the products in America.

The decision to transfer the kitchen side of the business to the island followed a strategic review of the company’s operation.

Mr. Baker explained: ‘There was a kitchen production facility within the group, the background being that AKW had sold adaptive kitchens into the marketplace for a number of years and had acquired the supplier of those kitchens when the owner was looking to retire.

‘The business had been moved from the West Midlands to AKW’s base in Droitwich. Kitchen manufacturing was undertaken within the remainder of AKW’s facilities so, literally, it was being carried out in a corner of the warehouse – almost a business within a business.

‘We felt the situation wasn’t giving us the right quality, efficiency or cost-effectiveness. It was basically a non-core activity in AKW as they are a sales and distribution business.

‘We identified the fact that we needed to move it to DLP which is a dyed-in-the-wool manufacturing concern with all the disciplines, processes and controls that companies of this kind need.

‘Since relocating it, we have been delighted by the way the team have embraced the changes and by the results we are already achieving.’

THE Manx Electricity Authority has announced that it is to cease retail trading and close its five shops in Douglas, Ramsey, Castletown, Peel, and Port Erin.

MEA Showrooms have been selling electrical appliances on the island for several decades.

‘However, as has been well publicised, retail across the British Isles has been significantly affected by the economic downturn and this has brought into question the MEA’s proposals to return the business to profitability,’ the MEA said in a statement released this morning (Friday).

It added: ‘Following a full review of the entire retail operation, and despite the sterling efforts of the staff, the MEA Board has concluded that it is not possible to turn the business around from its current loss-making position. The Council of Ministers has confirmed its agreement with this decision.’

TWO-YEAR-OLD Richard Jamieson is one of the children who is already benefiting from our Pumps 4 Kids campaign.

Recently diagnosed with diabetes, Richard has been able to go straight onto pump therapy instead of having to endure four or five injections of insulin a day.

The toddler, who lives with his family on the Ballawattleworth Estate in Peel, will have better control of his condition because of the pump – and it’s all thanks to the generosity of everybody who has supported our campaign.

Related article: {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/you-have-raised-cash-for-these-kids-1-4464882|You have raised cash for these kids}.

Richard’s mum Donna is something of an expert in type 1 diabetes. Her husband, also called Richard, was diagnosed at the age of 18 and the couple have an eight-year-old daughter, Maisie, with the condition. They also have a three-year-old, Emilia, who doesn’t have diabetes.

Donna said: ‘My husband had a pump but there wasn’t one available for Maisie, who was diagnosed at the age of three. She had injections for a couple of years and then we decided we would raise the money ourselves to buy her a pump. Because of the Isle of Man Newspapers and Manx Diabetic Group campaign, our son got a pump as soon as he was diagnosed. We feel very lucky.’

Donna has noticed the difference having a pump has made to Maisie’s life and is confident toddler Richard will cope well with one.

She said: ‘It’s hard at first but it does get easier. I think, for children, it’s vital to be on a pump.’

• If you would like to help Pumps 4 Kids, send your donation to The Treasurer, Pumps 4 Kids, 9 Hillcrest Grove, Birch Hill, Onchan, IM3 3HZ. Alternatively, a special account has been set up at Barclays, under the account name Manx Diabetic Group – Pumps 4 Kids. The account sort code is 20-26-74 and the account number is 33877280. Donations can be made in person at the bank or by sending the money to Barclays Private Clients International, Isle of Man International Banking Centre, PO Box 9, Barclays House, Victoria Street, Douglas, IM99 1AJ. Cheques can be made payable to Pumps 4 Kids.

If you are organising an event contact reporter Angela Gregory on 695642 or email angela.gregory@newsiom.co.im well in advance and we will cover your event and, diary permitting, provide a photographer.

BOSSES at the island’s abattoir are hoping that a crucial inspection will give it a clean bill of health – and lead to Manx meat going back on the shelves at Tesco’s store.

The supermarket giant stopped stocking Manx meat in February after an inspection raised concerns about auditing standards and the physical state of the meat plant.

This resulted in fears for the future of the government-owned meat plant if it were to lose the Tesco contract altogether.

Following urgent talks in London with Tesco’s technical director, it had been hoped that local meat would go back on the shelves within a fortnight.

But Agriculture Minister Phil Gawne MHK admitted that there had been ‘a bit of a delay’ until Tesco’s senior auditor became available to carry out the inspection. He said this, however, would now take place in the week beginning April 30.

Optimistic

Meat Plant chief executive John Dawkins said he was optimistic that the audit would go well and result in Tesco stocking Manx meat again. He said: ‘We’ve been ready for some time to receive the woman in charge of auditing at Tesco.

‘All the work that she pointed out has been done. Obviously there is more refurbishment to do to the plant over a two-year period, but I am hopeful.’

The price of processing at the Tromode abattoir is being blamed for more livestock being exported for slaughter.

Isle of Man Meats has warned that the meat plant could close altogether without government investment.

And bosses at Shoprite, which continues to stock Manx meat, say that a viable solution needs to be found.

It is understood that, between them, the contracts with Tesco and Shoprite account for 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the meat plant’s output.

WORK TO remove around 50 damaged Manx palm trees in Noble’s Park in Douglas is currently under way.

The trees have been severely affected by last winter’s exceptionally cold weather.

Graham Newsome, assistant head of parks, explained why they need to be removed.

He said: ‘The trees, Cordyline Australis, are not completely hardy and the frosts of last winter have caused irreparable tissue damage. This creates wounds that allow bacterial infection to set in or, as the RHS terms the condition, Cordyline slime flux. The bacteria are always present in the palms, but it is the freezing that releases the infection and allows it to penetrate and cause lasting damage.’

Chairman of the leisure services committee Councillor Stephen Pitts said: ‘While we recognise that these trees have been a part of the landscape in Noble’s Park for many years, it is imperative they be removed.

‘If left to deteriorate further the trees would become an eyesore but, more importantly, they could pose a risk to safety should any of their branches fall. If the damaged trunks can be cleaned thoroughly and rid of all infection, we would hope to recycle the timber. Additionally all the palms removed will be replaced with standard trees. Simply put, this is a matter of good housekeeping.’

Douglas Council has stated that there will be around 30 trees left after the felling. Cordylines are native to New Zealand and were later introduced to Australia, where they are often named ‘cabbage palms’.

MUCH-needed renovations to the organ at St Catherine’s Church in Port Erin are due to be completed imminently.

Organ builder Peter Jones and his team of helpers have been working on the 100-year-old instrument – built in the same year, 1912, that Titanic sailed – for a month and a half.

He said it had been painstaking work on the 15-stop instrument, which contains more than 900 pipes of all sizes, from those the size of a pencil to the 16ft bottom note of its Violone rank – around 5 metres long.

Mr Jones, who has been building organs in the Isle of Man for 30 years, said: ‘The original key mechanism of the instrument continues to function as well as it did 100 years ago.

‘But the pedal Violone stop is controlled by a pneumatic action which needs to have its many leather membranes renewed every 60 or more years.

‘Age and dampness at the back of the organ chamber had left it silent for over 30 years.’

He said: ‘The old leather is very thin and was put on with animal glue originally in 1912.

‘The components have to be removed and the old leather, which has perished, has to be removed by soaking it with warm water to dissolve the glue.

‘When everything has been cleaned off and all the wooden surfaces have been planed true you can re-glue leather – less than half a millimetre thick – using traditional animal glue which has to be warmed up.

‘Then you have to screw everything back down and put it all back.’

He said the work would last for about 60 years before it would need doing again.

In addition, Mr Jones said that the 25 front display pipes of the organ, which had become dull and pitted, have been removed and repainted.

Mr Jones said that one of the most difficult parts of the job was removing the components: ‘A lot of work is in getting the components out.

‘They’re so big and the space inside the organ is so compact.’

But he said that other than ‘simple wear’ there wasn’t really anything that could go wrong with organs, and added that the pipework would never wear out.

But he did find that there were a number of rusty screws that needed replacing.

The reports mean that the instrument will be ready for use in the regular weekly services and also at special events, such as the series of summer concerts that have been a feature at St Catherine’s for some years. Everyone is welcome to attend the concerts, which take place on Wednesday evenings at 8pm from June 13 to September 19.

Mr Jones explained that the organ is the last of 10 or more church instruments to come from the island-based firm of Moses Morgan, who had workshops in St George’s Walk, Douglas.

He said that an almost identical instrument was built one year earlier in the Methodist chapel which is now the Erin Arts Centre. The 1911 organ can now be found in Port Erin Methodist Church, in Station Road.

‘Morgan must have been a busy man, running not only his organ-building business, but also a piano tuning round and a guest house, or hotel, at the same time,’ he said. ‘He is buried in Douglas Cemetery.’

While a 100-year-old organ may sound old, Mr Jones said that in fact, most church organs in the Isle of Man were older. It is believed, for example, that the organ at Sulby Methodist Chapel was installed in the old chapel (before being moved to the current building) in about 1750.

WITH news that outdoor fitness equipment could soon be installed along Douglas promenade, and with the recent addition of similar equipment in Noble’s Park and Peel, there is a sense that something of a trend is occurring.

Taking into account existing facilities in Ramsey’s Mooragh Park and Douglas’ Westmoreland Road, the island seems suddenly remarkably well-equipped for people who enjoy doing their chest presses and sit ups in very public places.

Equipping Noble’s Park with the seven exercise stations cost Douglas Council £20,000, and when news of plans for more of the same for Douglas promenade was announced on our website iomtoday.com, safe to say it polarised opinion among the members of the public posting comments on the story.

Comments ranged from ‘great idea, perfect location’, citing the potential benefits of free-to-use fitness equipment on public health and NHS strain, to ‘it’s a luxury we can’t afford’, and the more cynical ‘the lardies will still walk past shaking their jowels muttering “not for me”.’

Speaking with Leisure Services Committee chairman Councillor Stephen Pitts, the thinking behind investing in this kind of facility is to ensure the widest possible audience have access to leisure and recreational opportunities. It’s a quality of life thing, though an additional major influence is a current Department of Health strategy to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Cllr Pitts said it was the popularity of the equipment next to the children’s park in Westmoreland Road that drove the decision to create similar facilities elsewhere in the town, and though nothing is fully confirmed, plans for the promenade consist of six installations along the grass areas of Queen’s Promenade, appearing this year or next if sufficient funding is found.

The health argument is compelling. American College of Sports Medicine advocate the generally accepted minimum amount of exercise as 150 minutes a week, and ‘exercise’ means pretty much anything other than sitting on the sofa, including walking and gardening.

The concerning reality is that not enough people are even doing that. Simple to use and free exercise equipment dotted around the island is no doubt a gateway to exercise for those without the inclination to join a sports club or gym. The question is, is the money better spent on promoting healthier lifestyles rather than on outdoor exercise areas that as one canny poster on iomtoday.co.im noted, is ‘certainly not going to look like the foreshore of Miami Beach with the sea crashing over it in the winter months’.

So is the equipment any good? The eyes of the newsroom fell on to the one reporter who happened to have a gym instructor qualification, to help answer this by trying out the machines at Noble’s Park. So off I went.

Alone, the seven simple stations are not a replacement for a gym membership. As bodyweight is the only resistance, most of the exercises are very easy even for complete novices. But the intensity of each specific exercise is not the point. At Noble’s, the machines are dotted along a newly defined circuit along the perimeter of the park, which gives them scope to spice up a run, walk or circuit training rather than be a complete workout in their own right, which given the promenade’s popularity with strollers could also be the case there.

The target area of each machine and instructions for use are clearly laid out on each machine, and the equipment ticks the accessibility box; casual passers-by of all ages and conditions are far more likely to sit down and try these out – in winter or summer – than pop a few ollies in the adjacent skateboarding park.

The value for money of such a scheme rests now on us. The decision of Douglas Council to spend tens of thousands of pounds on this kind of equipment, in the context of public spending cuts elsewhere, can be vindicated only if the we, the public, get out there and make enough use of it.

In that sense, the ball is in our court.

ZAC Hall MHK has been suspended from the Liberal Vannin party.

The move comes after he defied his party’s leader, Peter Karran MHK, in a vote on pre-school nurseries in Tynwald last week.

He and Douglas North MHK John Houghton were sacked from the department on Thursday after failing to support Mr Karran, the minister in the Department of Education and Children.

In a statement released on Sunday night, Liberal Vannin party chairman Roy Redmayne said: ‘As chairman of the Liberal Vannin Party I have informed Zac Hall that he has been suspended forthwith from the party.

‘The Chief Minister had no other course of action but to dismiss Mr Hall and Mr Houghton from their positions as political members of the Department of Education as their behaviour on the April 17, 2012 was reprehensible and struck at the very heart of our democracy.

‘They had no respect for the debating chamber or the President by making themselves absent from a debate to which they both had responsibility to contribute. What could they have contributed to that debate? They offered no alternative solution to the nursery education scheme, only criticisms to it and had no plan other than to request more money which they knew was not available.

‘The public of the Isle of Man should be under no illusion. Both MHKs, since taking their positions in the Education Department, have continually undermined Mr Karran’s and the chief executive’s efforts to bring about an affordable and universal nursery school service on the Isle of Man.

‘I take exception to claims made in public that Mr Karran was unable to manage his department, after the debates on the 3rd and 17th April. It is self-evident that his political departmental colleagues were way beyond any management control and this led to them being sacked.

‘The Chief Minister called for unity from our politicians in the face of huge financial losses in revenue which will affect not only us but future generations.

‘The Liberal Vannin Party will continue to support the Chief Minister in finding a solution to our current fiscal difficulties, but question those who elected him to office why they cannot support the difficult decisions which have to be made to ensure future generations’ prosperity.

‘The party has to concede that Mr Hall has not performed to the high ideals that we set ourselves when our party was formed six years ago. Mr Hall led us to believe that he supported the party system and would promote our ideals. As a matter of mandatory procedure he signed his acceptance to the Liberal Vannin constitution and national manifesto and was willing to abandon his career as an airline pilot to represent the people of Onchan and Liberal Vannin

‘I also assure you that Mr Hall will be brought to account for his actions and his failure to adhere to our manifesto.’

The pre-school nurseries issue cost Mr Karran all three of his department’s political members. Dudley Butt MHK resigned over the issue last month.

Mr Houghton and Mr Hall have so far been unavailable for comment.

However, they have released a statement, which is reported in Monday’s Isle of Man Examiner.

USE your vote in the forthcoming local authority elections.

That’s the message from Infrastructure Minister David Cretney MHK as 12 local authorities – out of the island’s 24 – prepare to go to the polls on Thursday, April 26.

There will be a total of 16 elections – including in four wards in Douglas and two in Ramsey. This is double the number of the last local elections in 2008.

Polling will take place in Andreas, Braddan, Castletown, Douglas (Athol Ward, Murray’s Ward, Victoria Ward and Hills Ward), German, Laxey, Lezayre, Malew, Michael, Port Erin, Port St Mary and Ramsey (North and South Ward).

Infrastructure Minister Mr Cretney said that local authorities played an important role in the island’s community.

Once elected, commissioners (or councillors in Douglas) make decisions in a number of areas, including refuse collection, street lighting, car parking, libraries and public conveniences.

The elections will give people in these areas the chance to make their voices heard and use their vote to elect who they feel are the best people to represent them. A number of areas are not having elections because too few people have stood. There aren’t even enough candidates to fill the seats in Onchan, for example.

Mr Cretney said: ‘These elections can have a major impact and I would encourage everybody to use their vote on April 26.’

Local authority elections are held every four years.

The deadline for candidates to deliver their nominations was on March 29.

To find out more about how to vote, including details on how to apply for absent votes, visit {http://www.gov.im/transport/msd/local/elections.xml|www.gov.im/transport/msd/local/elections.xml} or contact your local authority directly.

• What do you think? Do our local authorities do a good job? Do we have too many of them? Do we need them at all? Email your view to {mailto:opinions@newsiom.co.im|opinions(at)newsiom.co.im}.