Castletown Commissioners vice chair 'overjoyed' pool will remain open

Local authority will support increased rate to keep the facility open

The Vice Chair of Castletown Commissioners says she's 'overjoyed' the Southern Swimming Pool is remaining open. 

It comes after Castletown Commissioners had its first meeting since the announcement that the facility would be saved.

The local authority has confirmed it will be supporting the increased rate to 6.1p to support the pool and ensure it stays open.

Beth Cannan had concerns that if pupils were travelling elsewhere for swimming lessons it would have a ‘detrimental’ impact on the children’s education.

Mrs Cannan says she was proud of how the community in the south pulled together to save the pool:

A planning application on the agenda brought a number of residents to the commissioners' meeting.

The owners of Reef House, College Green have applied for planning permission for a triple garage on the site, which the neighbours - who attended - were not in favour of, with one saying the proposal will ‘obstruct’ the public's view of the sea.

Another said if the application went ahead, it would ‘spoil’ a ‘beautiful’ view of Castletown.

Commissioner Jerry Ludford-Brooks said the board will be staying neutral on the application and Clerk Hugo Mackenzie said residents should submit their comments to planning.

Also on the agenda was a notice of motion from Commissioner Colin Leather about re-instating housing by-laws which expired in 2012.

Mr Leather said the current powers the commissioners have are to either do nothing or ‘take back’ the house from the tenant, which he called ‘draconian’.

This applies to minor problems as well as bigger issues like breaches of tenancy agreements.

If the by-laws are created the local authority would have the power to take someone to court or issue a fine.

He says it could also include an option to give the tenant a set number of week's notice to rectify the problem, and if it's not resolved then the court could decide an appropriate fine.

It was agreed unanimously to investigate further and then petition the idea to Tynwald.