GringoQ

At the Kirk Michael meeting last week she stated that we are a Christian society and the Bishop should have a vote on all matters, especially ethical matters such as abortion. 
 

The groan from the audience suggested she lost quite a few votes with those comments! 

On 9/8/2021 at 10:50 PM, Duncan Livingstone for Ayr said:

I have kept my Manifesto brief to try and engage all generations. I am using this page to expand on the ideas I am considering. Please use your vote!

My manifesto topic today is housing. This is probably the biggest issue that all candidates are hearing about on the doorstep and it's actually a personal one for me as I have three sons who at the moment have no real likelihood of aspiring to their own homes on the Island.

I am optimistic that the new administration will tackle this as all potential MHK’s are being pressed on it and recognising that it has to be sorted. It's a complex issue and I don't have the answers yet but if I'm elected these are some of my ideas for fixing our housing crisis.

I believe a healthy housing market will be a 'mixed economy'  providing affordable houses to buy, an affordable private rental sector as well as social housing for those in need. We can't carry on building on greenfield sites without knowing what local people need. The results of the recent census should give us some of this information.

Anecdotally, it seems that houses are being snapped up by off-island property management companies and then posted as rentals. If this is true it has to be stopped. There is a place for some buy to let and for holiday rentals but I would suggest it's best delivered by local landlords with an interest in our quality of life - not faceless corporations. My initial thought is that some kind of Residency Act is needed - not as a way of keeping out people who genuinely want to live here and contribute to the island but to protect the market from exploitation by developers.

I have no idea how much (if any) new development we need but I'd like to see proper analysis of how many empty properties there are and how they might be brought back into use. I'd also like to investigate how much brownfield development is possible and whether there's any potential to convert commercial buildings into residential. In other words, greenfield building can't be the whole solution. And we need transparency - it certainly feels as if the system is unfair to the little people.

We clearly need to do more for first time buyers - first thoughts on this are contracting the building of first time buyers properties, insisting that new developments have a good proportion of properties reserved for shared ownership and perhaps very cheap finance for young tradespeople who are willing to renovate and move into old properties which otherwise might not get a mortgage.

Finally - social housing. We have a hidden problem with people who aren't exactly homeless but whose housing situation is precarious. Some are 'sofa surfers', others in overcrowded accommodation on sufferance with relatives and some may be at risk of losing their homes because COVID has hit them financially. I don't know how big this problem is and I don't have the solution but I want to work with the people who do know (primarily charities and local authorities).

I'm no expert on any of this so I'm throwing my thoughts out there.  

Thanks for taking the time to read.
Duncan

"I have no idea"

"I don't have the answers"

"I don't know"

"I'm no expert"

Not exactly installing confidence with words like this, i suppose you are being honest but unfortunatley we need people with an idea, answers and who are experts.

2 minutes ago, Uhtred said:

She is indeed a disgrace. Off-hand, rude, patronising, arrogant and unprofessional. And it isn't Moulton she's treating that way...it's us...he represents us.

He doesn't represent us, he asks questions to create reactions to make money from his TV channel, surely you know how jounalists work? 

2 minutes ago, Gladys said:

Did you just hear how Dr Ewart spoke to PM?  Utter disgrace. 

Don't be silly, the guy is a bellend, about time one of them spoke back to him in that manner

3 minutes ago, reptar said:

Listen now, you need to realise that you are not particularly bright and you are trying to operate well beyond the recommended intellectual limits for your head. This is a simple counting issue. If I earned 50 beans yesterday and want to compare that to my bean earning power today, yesterday and today need to be the same length of time, otherwise we're simply chucking about random numbers.

It's doesn't really matter though, does it. It's a snapshot as they said. You need to chill out a bit and not get so worked up about it

2 minutes ago, Banker said:

Yes and sounds unlikely for this week as update later in the week 

Good move, need to make sure it's completely safe before sending kids in and making the same mistake again

3 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Whereas on the other hand I know a couple of families who haven't.

So it's not nonsense just because you know an example, its probably reasonably common, and indeed makes sense.

 

We had a positive result in our household yesterday and we have all been tested today

Still not working for me

i sent google an e-mail

 

They don't care. You'd be better off asking MT to take it up with Google - after all, if Sure customers don't have a problem then it's more potential revenue lost to Sure.

I'm with Sure and i can't access paid for apps either, never been a problem until yesterday.

ps they do own Paramount and the plan is to look at the site after completion of the Wave apparantly, as I asked the same question at the Council presentation

Oops, sorry thought it was still owned by a family I know

I'm pretty sure the Sefton group does not own Paramount city.

This thread is just what I've come to expect from my fellow Manx, moaning, whining, don't like change, set in their ways, never wanting to see any progress. Why do you have to jump on any new idea straight away and start with negatives ?

Just for once it would be great to see some positivity about new ideas from the Manx public instead of the doom and gloom, that will be shit, it'll never get built quotes we always get.

At last the government is actually looking to do something to move this place forward, perhaps if we supported it they might look at some of the other ideas the public has been lobbying for. Sometimes I have sympathy for the government (only sometimes!) when they suggest something that might actually make the Island a better place to live and visit and the first voices to shout are always the same ones trying to oppose it.