Press Release from Douglas Borough Council
It is with very great regret, following detailed discussions and
meetings, that Douglas Borough Council is to discontinue the
Douglas horse tram service because of the increased financial
burden on Douglas ratepayers.
The
decision to terminate the service was passed at a special meeting
of the Council on Thursday January 21 2016.
The decision follows a proposal by the Council to
amalgamate the Tramway Terrace stables site with the tramway hub
at the Strathallan site, a scheme estimated, as of December 2015,
to cost in the region of £2.9million. When this was received at a
joint meeting of the Executive and Regeneration and Community
Committees in December, Members determined the scheme was not
financially viable and presented a number of unresolved issues,
and therefore decided not to progress the project.
The proposal was to finance the scheme by a thirty
year loan, which would have cost the Council £4,800,000 over its
life.
Key factors determining the
resolution to end the service, which comes in the wake of the
Council’s budgetary projections ahead of setting the rate levy on
January 27 for the 2016-2017 financial year, were the service’s
year-on-year deficit, currently running at £263,000, coupled with
the associated loan charge equating to an annual impact on the
rates of over £420,000.
Council Leader
Councillor David Christian MBE JP said: ‘The Council must always
act in the best interests of the ratepayers of Douglas. To
continue operating the horse tram service would place an
unacceptable level of burden on the ratepayer, not only for the
coming financial year, but also for the foreseeable future. The
Council recognises the important contribution the service has
made to the Island’s vintage transport heritage but Douglas, as
with all local authorities, is having to make difficult decisions
to fund, protect and develop key services.
'The Council has a duty to face and adapt to stark financial
realities, to maintain a firm grip on its finances and deliver
value for money to the ratepayer. Were the Council to continue
operating the horse tram service it would be failing in that
duty.'
Regeneration and Community
Committee Chairman Councillor John Skinner said: ‘I should like
to take this opportunity to thank the tramway staff for their
hard work and long-standing commitment to the service, also to
the many local residents and visitors who have supported the
horse tram service over the years.
‘The
Council recognises the affection in which the horse tram service
is held, both in the island and around the world, but these are
difficult times that demand rigorous examination of expenditure,
current and future. Against this background the horse tram
service is, regrettably, no longer sustainable.’
The Council will be relocating the service’s horses
to good homes and offer the rolling stock to transport museums,
either in the Island or the UK, while the Tramway Terrace/stable
site and the Strathallan site are to be offered for sale. This
will therefore mean that the horse trams will not operate for the
2016 season.