'Totally unreasonable' for council to compensate prom businesses, says Christian

Authority budgets £100k to pay rebates

The leader of Douglas Council says it's 'totally unreasonable' for the authority to compensate those affected by the promenade scheme.

The council has been forced to take £100,000 out of reserves to budget for rate discounts, which a number of businesses have applied for. 

It's understood the Rent and Rating Appeal Commissioners have already approved a number of bids for rates rebates, with more expected in April. 

David Christian says ratepayers should not be asked to pay for disruption caused by a national project.  

His comments came at a council meeting today (29 Jan), where he announced a rate rise of 2.5% and set out budgets for the year ahead. 

The £100,000 set aside to pay the anticipated rates discounts leaves the council's reserves at roughly £730,000, which is around 6.5 per cent of current budgets.

The council leader says reserves have now dipped well below the 10 per cent agreed by the authority as a sensible 'safety net'. 

Mr Christian wants Treasury and the Department of Infrastructure to cover the financial impact of the scheme, and will be asking them to introduce their own rebates. 

He spoke to Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne: