CLICK to Download The Planning Template Letter & Email ASAP & In Any Case Before May 23rd
The download (ABOVE) is an example of how you can write an objection letter - but it is better to create your own. Use it as an outline but use your own words where possible.
NOTE: there are TWO IMPORTANT POINTS YOU NEED TO MAKE:
1. You must say what your interest is in the horse trams e.g. you live in the Isle of Man and ride on them, or you are a visitor who has/intends to ride the horse trams.
2. You must say which bits of the planning application you are objecting to e.g. removal of the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway from Loch Promenade.
Forward All Letters To:- [email protected] or the address on the letter. The Promenade appears not to be on the Planning Committee Agenda for May 23rd, so there is still time to send in your comments which "can be made at any point prior to the application being determined".
PRESS RELEASE FROM
THE MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY SOCIETY
_______________________________
DOUGLAS HORSE TRAMWAY
PLANNING APPLICATION
_______________________________
Following on from the refusal of Douglas Borough Council to operate the historic and iconic Douglas Bay Horse Tramway and the subsequent decision of the Department of Infrastructure to step into the breach and to run the tramway for one season only whilst efforts are made to find a more permanent solution, the MERS has been dismayed to learn that an application has been made for planning permission for a road scheme which will involve the ripping up of the horse tram tracks for good.
The application;
• Is by the very same Department which is supposedly stepping into the breach, the Department of Infrastructure.
• Is not supported by any statistics one way or the other showing the value of the Horse Tramway to the Manx economy as a whole (in circumstances in which on the Department of Infrastructure’s own figures, the Isle of Man Railway the MER and the Snaefell Mountain Railway are all net contributors to the economy after deduction of operating costs, bringing millions of pounds in, so it is likely that that is true of the Horse Tramway as well).
• Is for what amounts to development within the Douglas Promenades Conservation Area and removes a large piece of the most obvious feature of that Conservation Area without any proper public debate.
• Will cut back the Horse Tramway to the Villa Marina thus removing an important feeder for another heritage asset which has been proven to be important to the Manx Economy; the MER.
• Will remove an important link in the vintage transport network whereby with only a short walk along the North Quay a visitor can travel from Port Erin to Ramsey by vintage transport.
• Will replace the present vintage street scene with the usual modern substitute including traffic calming measures which would be wholly un-necessary if the horse trams were left.
• Will make it easier to justify getting rid of the rest of the line because with the cut back from the Sea Terminal fewer people can be expected to use it; it will go from “Nowhere to Nowhere”. (Experience has shown when in the past the railway to Port Erin was cut back and when the MER was cut back from Ramsey there were no cost savings but increased losses).
It is understood that before the Department of Infrastructure took over responsibility for the line they had already ordered replacement track sufficient to permit operation from Derby Castle to the Villa Marina. If so this appears to be a political fait accompli from the man who spent a great deal of money so recently on that vital Manx artery the Sloch. It is in our submission legitimate to question whether there is a hidden agenda in operation here motivated by dark forces who want rid of this ancient Manx institution to satisfy their parking desires. Such individuals will have no interest in the delight of future generations.
The MERS has set up two on line petitions and has received shocked communications from all over the world, people frequently describing their horror and how they will never come here again. That this is a raw nerve is indicated by the fact that over two thousand people have signed our petitions in addition to the other petitions in existence.
Anyone who cares about the Horse Tramway can e-mail the Planning and Building Control Division and express your views - you can download the template letter below.
We also call upon the Manx People to put pressure on their elected representatives to stop this folly.
CLICK to Download The Planning Template Letter & Email ASAP
Objection leter template.doc
Forward All Letters To:- [email protected] or the address on the letter.
USEFUL LINKS:
Read the MER Society Submission in full on the Planning Website
Webpage of Murray Lambden's Keep cars and horse trams off the walkway
Read the whole of the independent planning inspector’s report here
Manx Residents sign the MER Society's Save Our Horse Tramway PETITION
Non Manx Residents and visitors sign the MER Society's Save Our Horse Tramway PETITION