Speaking to Howard Caine on Manx Radio's MANDATE programme on Thursday, Manx Electric Railway Society Secretary Julian Nutter expressed the concerns of thousands over the Department of Infrastructure's latest plans to rip up for ever the horse tramway tracks between the Sea Terminal and the Villa Marina. "Now, there’s only one way to stop this, and that’s to oppose the Planning Application" he said.
The full programme can be heard on Manx Radio's website. Mr Nutter's interview is available to listen to HERE. A transcript appears below:
HOWARD CAINE: Now the Secretary of the Manx Electric Railway Society says he is “Horrified”. To put his words into context, at the Infrastructure’s latest planning application for Douglas Promenade. Of course we know the scheme doesn’t include any provision for horse tram tracks either in the carriageway or on the Loch Prom walkway. It is proposed that if the long term future of the horse trams is secured then the service would run and terminate opposite the Villa Colonnade with a proposed “tram corridor” from Strathallan to the War Memorial. That’s in line with the Department’s preferred location. There are amendments to resolve the concerns raised by the Planning Inspector.
Well, Julian Nutter says the Tynwald Committee looking into the future of the trams has yet to report but the latest application would involve ripping up the tracks between Broadway and the Sea Terminal for ever, as we know. And he says what’s more shocking is the Application has been made under the Minister, Phil Gawne, who’d actually “stepped into the breach” to save the trams.
Mr Nutter – not happy…
JULIAN NUTTER: The Department of Infrastructure is, we think, bouncing the horse trams committee with a plan to run only a stump of the tramway, before that committee has been able to look into the viability of the horse tramway. Now, there’s only one way to stop this, and that’s to oppose the Planning Application. And the Manx Electric Railway Society Facebook page has a link to our website with instructions to help members of the public who wish to object to this scheme.
Now, we understand, worse still, that before the Department of Infrastructure took over responsibility for the line, track had been ordered which was sufficient only to permit the operation from Derby Castle to the Villa Marina. Now, if this is the case, we’ve been presented with a political attempt to create a fait accompli. And this is the Minister, who no doubt will say oh, I’ve got no money, has just spent a great deal of money on that vital Manx artery The Sloch. Now, it’s our submission that it is legitimate to question whether there is a hidden agenda here motivated by ‘dark forces’ who want to rid this ancient Manx institution to satisfy their parking desires. Such individuals will have no interest in the delight of future generations, and we need to stop them.
HOWARD CAINE: When you say ‘dark forces’ though, are you talking about Ministers or politicians or are we talking about people within the civil service?
JULIAN NUTTER: It’s the usual thing in the Isle of Man. You can never actually get to the truth of those things. We suspect that there are people who are concerned in institutions at the Steam Packet end of the line who want better, more reliable parking. And they just want rid of the horse tramway and the Minister’s giving in to the secret pressure from these individuals.
HOWARD CAINE: Some people might say, you referred to the ‘stump’ of the track, some people might say well, surely this is a happy compromise. We’re going to keep some of the horse trams, they’ll come from the Derby Castle end up as far as the Villa Marina – they won’t go all the way but at least we’ll have some of the tram track there. It’s been losing money hand over fist. The other plans they’ve put forward have been kicked out – is it not a happy compromise?
JULIAN NUTTER: Well, it’s not losing money hand over fist. That is an assertion made by Douglas Corporation based upon its figures which to say the least are questionable. The test is as to whether or not, looking at the Island’s economy as a whole, the horse tramway is a net contributor. Now there’s something very interesting here. The Department of Infrastructure has figures which demonstrate that the steam railway, the Snaefell and the Manx Electric Railway, for all they are costing the government money to run them, are net contributors of many millions of pounds to the Island’s economy. Nobody has bothered to do the assessment on the impact of taking the horse line out. Now it may well be that parochial politicians in Douglas were entitled to say why should the ratepayers of Douglas subsidise an asset for the whole Island? It’s a very different thing to start playing around with that asset with horrible implications if things go wrong to the Manx economy, because we have received thousands of signatures on our petitions that we’ve set up supporting the horse tramway and a lot of commentary from people, including commercial people who send visitors over here, to the extent that they are effectively saying this is madness and they will stop coming to the Island. Well, this needs to be quantified. Before you take a decision to truncate a line like the horse tramway, somebody needs to do their figures and to work out what the net contribution of the line really is. And we don’t know.