Northern rubbish tip to be run by seven authorities

Seven local authorities are to be brought together into a new joint board to run the rubbish tip in Balladoole, under an order going before Tynwald.

The Northern Civic Amenity Joint Board would be made up of representatives from Ramsey town and the parish authorities of Andreas, Ballaugh, Bride, Jurby and Lezayre, along with the Maughold ward of Garff parish district.

Without the proposed board in place, the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) said it would potentially be liable for the £725,000 annual operating cost.

Both Bride and Lezayre Commissioners were concerned about the funding model for the site, arguing that their residents are paying too much.

According to the DOI, the order is designed to resolve long-standing governance, legal and financial problems surrounding the refuse sites' operation.

The DOI says the previous Joint Committee arrangement no longer provided a workable framework after the Bride Commissioners' authority withdrew over a funding row, leaving questions over its legal powers and ability to operate effectively.

Bride previously withdrew its support for the site over the contribution it was being asked to pay for the site.

Bride and Lezayre Commissioners are objecting to the proposed Northern Civic Amenity Site Joint Board because they believe the current funding model places too much financial pressure on their residents.

Bride Commissioner Ivan Burton said the system "unfairly penalises" households in the parish, by overcharging them for the refuse site operations.

While Lezayre's Chair, Karl Brew, said the funding issues needed to be resolved first, adding that "trying to start afresh with a board wouldn't work" while concerns remained.

Because the board would be established under the Local Government Act 1985, it cannot come into force without Tynwald's sign-off.

The Department says the order carries no additional cost to the government itself, since it is designed to formalise and recover costs already being incurred.

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