TT 2020 cost £960,000.00.

[pongo]

3 minutes ago, Max Power said:

I think we really need a proper venue set aside which could be multi purpose if we are going down this route?

If that were a business proposal then surely the obvious question would be: Wouldn't it make more sense to build it in England where it will be easier for most people to get to?

And if it isn't a business proposal then what would be the case for doing it.

[Non-Believer]

They've got Govt's Jurby airfield circuit which they're already using, there were pictures in the paper the other week? Why not expand their use of that to evenings and available weekends?

[TheTeapot]

Might upset the locals.

[Max Power]

3 hours ago, pongo said:

If that were a business proposal then surely the obvious question would be: Wouldn't it make more sense to build it in England where it will be easier for most people to get to?

And if it isn't a business proposal then what would be the case for doing it.

I often thought that too Pongo but if done correctly and for multi use I feel it would work, having seen the UK groups who come here to use Jurby and on a regular basis. The island has an allure for many wheeled sports and a proper facility could increase that. Apart from the increase in use from UK organisations and companies, it can have a positive use in helping to improve road safety instruction. If anything, it is worth further investigation, in my opinion. The newly appointed Jurby management have plans for the place, which could test the water for such a venture?

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

They've got Govt's Jurby airfield circuit which they're already using, there were pictures in the paper the other week? Why not expand their use of that to evenings and available weekends?

That is a possibility too NB. Unfortunately the stupid idiots built a prison on the site and not on the old parade ground. Jurby is ok but has limited potential, although it would benefit from some landscaping to make it interesting. 

Jurby has long been cited by aviation experts as the best place for an airport on the island due to its more favourable weather conditions. Because of this, and other reasons, it has been mooted that it could have been (heard that before?) a busy hub for the British Isles! 

(Source: A senior politician's discussion with a senior member of the island's airport fraternity)  

[Frances]

the bigger loss re airports was Burtonwood near Warrington - a major USAF airbase with very long runway that served as supply depot for American troops in Germany - the cold war went on just too long for it to replace both Liverpool + Manchester - would have had easy road + rail links.

Putting the gaol out at Jurby was IMO stupid - removed any sensible use of the airport site

[Derek Flint]

16 hours ago, Frances said:

the bigger loss re airports was Burtonwood near Warrington - a major USAF airbase with very long runway that served as supply depot for American troops in Germany - the cold war went on just too long for it to replace both Liverpool + Manchester - would have had easy road + rail links.

Putting the gaol out at Jurby was IMO stupid - removed any sensible use of the airport site

The most ridiculous aspect of it going there rather than where originally planned, is that it is now 20 miles from the Courts, and more Importantly, the Hospital. The hidden costs of this must run into millions.

[finlo]

2 hours ago, Derek Flint said:

The most ridiculous aspect of it going there rather than where originally planned, is that it is now 20 miles from the Courts, and more Importantly, the Hospital. The hidden costs of this must run into millions.

Nimby's!

[joebean]

3 hours ago, Derek Flint said:

The most ridiculous aspect of it going there rather than where originally planned, is that it is now 20 miles from the Courts, and more Importantly, the Hospital. The hidden costs of this must run into millions.

At the time most of the MHKs that has input into the decision had Douglas constituencies and the Ballafletcher site was abandoned in favour of putting it anywhere it could be built without objection. The site scoring was cooked accordingly. The additional costs would be someone else’s problem. 

[Non-Believer]

4 hours ago, Derek Flint said:

The most ridiculous aspect of it going there rather than where originally planned, is that it is now 20 miles from the Courts, and more Importantly, the Hospital. The hidden costs of this must run into millions.

I can remember the justification for this being a contribution to the regeneration of Jurby. Lawyers and legal offices were going to relocate there by the score, shops were going to open to accommodate the needs of visiting rels (hacksaws and cake mix?), it was all going to be rosy at the new Jurby metropolis.

That bollocks all fell apart when somebody else in Govt then said that lots could be done via video-conferencing. Lawyers didn't want to risk taking the sumps out of their Ferraris on Tholt y Will and the Clenagh Rd.

The real reason that it was put there of course was that the good people of Douglas and Braddan didn't want an edifice full of nasty crims on their doorstep. Despite consultants/planners saying that it needed to be in Braddan for all the above reasons. Plus demographically most of the internees being from Douglas area anyway.

Pressure was applied. And suddenly a perfectly serviceable emergency airfield was no longer capable of being such.

[Derek Flint]

38 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

I can remember the justification for this being a contribution to the regeneration of Jurby. Lawyers and legal offices were going to relocate there by the score, shops were going to open to accommodate the needs of visiting rels (hacksaws and cake mix?), it was all going to be rosy at the new Jurby metropolis.

That bollocks all fell apart when somebody else in Govt then said that lots could be done via video-conferencing. Lawyers didn't want to risk taking the sumps out of their Ferraris on Tholt y Will and the Clenagh Rd.

The real reason that it was put there of course was that the good people of Douglas and Braddan didn't want an edifice full of nasty crims on their doorstep. Despite consultants/planners saying that it needed to be in Braddan for all the above reasons. Plus demographically most of the internees being from Douglas area anyway.

Pressure was applied. And suddenly a perfectly serviceable emergency airfield was no longer capable of being such.

It does open up the potential for CIA rendition flights at some point in the future. Either that or repurposing the place a maximum security state penitentiary, where the maddest and baddest in the British Isles are incarcerated could generate several millions per year. The lower risk ones could be offered work in the cannabis farm glasshouses built on the site. The little bit of weed they smuggled back into the wings would be just enough to keep them subdued. Again, millions generated.

[Uhtred]

On 8/27/2020 at 3:57 PM, Frances said:

the bigger loss re airports was Burtonwood near Warrington - a major USAF airbase with very long runway that served as supply depot for American troops in Germany - the cold war went on just too long for it to replace both Liverpool + Manchester - would have had easy road + rail links.

Putting the gaol out at Jurby was IMO stupid - removed any sensible use of the airport site

The siting of the prison at Jurby made no sense whatsoever. None. But for one reason. It was the only community on the Island that wouldn’t go apeshit at the prospect and throw a spanner in the planning/political works. Because David Cannan bought them off with the promise of employment on their doorstep. Whether those jobs ever materialised I couldn’t say. It should have been in close proximity to the courts/Douglas.

[finlo]

2 hours ago, Uhtred said:

The siting of the prison at Jurby made no sense whatsoever. None. But for one reason. It was the only community on the Island that wouldn’t go apeshit at the prospect and throw a spanner in the planning/political works. Because David Cannan bought them off with the promise of employment on their doorstep. Whether those jobs ever materialised I couldn’t say. It should have been in close proximity to the courts/Douglas.

Or even part of them!