DOUGLAS HORSE TRAMWAY PLANNING APPLICATION
Mr Gawne, the Minister who, fresh from his victory in forcing horrible and unnecessary modernisation of the Steam Railway Station, has been encouraged to put himself forward as a Champion of the Horse Tramway, and has now set a planning agenda to reduce that asset to a meaningless stub. A line from nowhere to nowhere.
This individual is presently the Minister for the Department of Infrastructure which has recently announced that there is “little justification” for the service going (from the Derby Castle end) beyond the War Memorial and that if the Horse Trams were to survive… …it would be on the basis of a “reduced service”. In the context of the Minister’s words, this means that the self-styled Champion of the Horse Tramway has put his name to ripping up the tracks from the War Memorial to the Sea Terminal.
Yet in a recent submission to the Planning Committee his Department states that it is “both practical and feasible” to incorporate a horse tram track between the War Memorial and Peveril Square “at any point in the future should the need arise”.
This suggestion is in any event disingenuous since the “practical and feasible” route, (along the promenade walkway) has been rejected by the independent planning inspector.
The present application is an attempt to push through half of the rejected scheme (the part between Broadway and the Sea Terminal) as rejected by the independent planning inspector last time but leaving out the horse tramway along the walkway and pretending that the independent planning inspector did not reject the removal of the tramway from the roadway in the first place.
We do not suggest that the Minister originated this application. We have no confidence in his capacity to do so. It may be that he really believes that he is the Champion of the Horse Tramway.
The consequence of this application, should it succeed, may well be that a vital and profitable heritage asset is diminished and destroyed. Why?
Recent announcements, signalling the impact of the Chief Minister’s wonderful regulated economy will reduce parking pressure at the Sea Terminal end of the Promenade; the ugly RBS building is to be vacated by NatWest and a major insurance company is to abandon its Athol Street base.
It is entirely possible that the Sea Terminal end of the Horse Tramway is being deleted in the hope that someone will be persuaded to buy empty, useless and obsolete large offices vacated by the financial sector as a result of Isle of Man Government policy.
Who on earth would suggest the destruction of part of our viable tourist business to the altar of the personal interests of shareholders of whichever company owns the land?
Who calls the tune for the Minister of Infrastructure? Who is the Piper?
There has been no proper assessment of the impact of a “reduced service” in the context of digging up the lines. Nor has there been any publicly announced assessment of the impact of this drastic proposal on the economy of our Island, nor in particular how this would impact upon the tourist economy, nor, focussing more closely on the profitability (for they are wonderfully profitable on the Department’s own figures) the Isle of Man Railway, the Manx Electric Railway and the Snaefell Mountain Railway.
Ironically, the Minister’s own department appears to have achieved improved passenger figures as a result of a new timetable and a fresh approach. Instead of building upon this opportunity, the Minister proposes abandonment of half the line.
The Manx Electric Railway Society therefore makes two blunt points:-
1. Why, if the horse tramway is as profitable in the same real terms to the Island as the Railways, does the self-styled Champion of the Horse Tramway wish to cut it back, when by the words of his own Department it is both “both practical and feasible” to incorporate a horse tram track between the War Memorial and Peveril Square “at any point in the future should the need arise”?
2. Why the rush? Is there a hidden agenda? Is the hidden agenda now out of date? Is the Minister reacting to events which have overtaken him? Is the Isle of Man Government in denial about the importance of tourism?
We have now been told that there is no operator for the line from the War Memorial to the Sea Terminal beyond 2016.
So the Department, headed by the Champion of the Horse Tramway has made a decision which confirms the fait accompli decided long ago when they ordered only enough new track to stretch from Derby Castle to the Broadway. We called it a fait accompli then and were criticised for saying so. The Minister made personal remarks on the radio against an officer of our Society which we shall not sink to responding to.
Why cannot existing track be left in place and the road be restored around it (at vast saving of public expense)?
In their recent contribution to the Planning Committee, the Department of Infrastructure seeks to justify the use of expensive materials in the proposed tram-free Douglas promenade. They ignore that they are proposing to dispose of a priceless asset which exists nowhere else in the world and they ignore the damage that will be done to the reputation of the Isle of Man by its replacement with expensive, ugly and modernistic materials. They are apparently obsessed with carrying out an agenda calculated to overcome what they accurately see as criticism by the independent Planning Inspector.
Have we heard this before in the Isle of Man? Does it strike a chord? Has anyone ever heard our Government or anyone associated with it admit they got it wrong?
Why is there no operator for the horse tramway beyond 2016?
The self styled Champion of the Horse Tramway Mr Gawne was emailed by the Secretary of our Society in the following terms on the 27th January 2016.
"The Manx Electric Railway Society wishes to register as being an "interested party” in the rescue of the horse trams.
Despite our name we have since our foundation sought to protect the horse line as part of Manx heritage and have more than 1800 signatures on two petitions (in addition to those petitions raised elsewhere), to secure the future of the line.
We want to help and (I believe) have a number of constructive submissions to make.
We would be grateful for information as to the decisions taken tonight and the identities of those on the new committee.”
We received no response. (Other reputable politicians were copied in to this email). We ask why?
The public may consider whether it is the case that Mr Gawne has never intended to work with us and whether the present initiative is in truth coming from elsewhere.
Have the officers of his Department long since decided to give in to pressure from those who do not have the interests of the Isle of Man at their heart?
It is of course for the public to decide whether they are being cynically manipulated or not?
We call on the Champion of the Horse Tramway to go before he wrecks a priceless and unique asset which brings money into the Island and which in any civilised society would be the subject of an application by its Government to be listed as a World Heritage Site.
Our Island deserves better.
ENDS
Background information
Originally formed in 1973, the MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY SOCIETY is charged with the express purpose of protecting and promoting the retention and development of the MER and other Island tramways at a reasonable cost. It successfully campaigned for the reinstatement and re-opening of the Laxey - Ramsey section of the MER during 1975-77. The Society became a Registered Charity in 1978.
The Society proposed the 1993 "Year of Railways", a series of events to mark the Centenary of the MER. Initially brushed off by management who had planned "a special tram with some ham sandwiches", the Society persuaded politicians who in turn put pressure on Isle of Man Transport and the opportunity was eventually embraced, producing some 25,000 extra visitors during the year, and inspired a series of follow up events throughout what was left of the 1990s.
In 1999, the MER Society vigorously and successfully opposed a new bus service, the 11B, which would have followed the same route as the MER, leaving 5 minutes before every tram and charging bus fares at least half the price. This was seen at the time as the biggest threat to the survival of the railway since the Ramsey line closure in 1975.
Since its formation, the MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY SOCIETY has continued to offer help, advice and assistance to the railway, and remains as a resolute and constant guardian in an unpredictable and at times hostile world.
The MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY SOCIETY is the only Island based organisation concerned with all aspects of Island transport and pursues an active and direct interest through its comprehensive and fully illustrated magazine, MANX TRANSPORT REVIEW. This journal deals with road, rail, sea and air transport topics, and is distributed free to members. As well as a round up of news and comment, the magazine contains special features, historical and technical articles and forms a vital forum for the exchange of views.
In February 2015, the Society officially launched its new website, designed to complement the magazine with historical and political content aimed at promoting interest and retention of the MER, and featuring public and members only pages and online membership to extend further the reach of the Society to a worldwide audience.