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Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce Q3 Business Barometer free text to question: Please add any comments you may have on the topical matters of parking and/or the proposed sewerage charge. [Please note the comments have been directly copied with no changes apart from those so marked] there appears to be little thought by government about the devastating impact that proposed legislative changes and other proposals will have on the economy of the Island at a time when it is most fragile, Parking charges are a key example of this. Government is still fialing to reduce its own costs internally and the private sector and members of the public are suffering again. Charging for parking is fair and reasonable, as long as an alternative is made available for sirt stay, convenience, collection/delivery, etc. Simply imposing parking charges with no alternatives is unreasonable. The toilet tax would be more progressive if it were actually levied according to the number of toilets in each property. Bigger houses would pay more. Robin Hood would approve It would help to see a definitive list of all the money saving and revenue generating chnages being propsed (say for the next 3 yrs) and have some say in which ones get priority. It's hard to judge these two in isolation. Poor government of the island and lack of overall vision on how to dev and grow island economy. Is 2020 really working or being used or is it just another PR effort! No more TAX, less Government. Sewerage charges will cost our company in the region of £25K next year! Sewerage is a service like any other utility. My electricity bill is not based on rateable value. Put meters in and charge per use. On Parking, there is insufficient parking space in Douglas and unless the government wants to encourage out of town development at the expense of the centre more sensibly priced parking facilities should be built. Moving the burden of sewerage charges form private individuals to companies is thinly veiled electioneering. Not being able to pick up at the airport is rediculous - the current system works well with the warden moving on people who think they can wait longer periods in the drop off / pick up zone - why change? Parking on the land side of the prom will have to have a health warning if outside hotels - this seems ludicrous The sewerage charge has once again been over complicated. There should be an amount charged to every single individual who pays income tax that way people on benefit don't pay but earners do, that way the tax is spread fairly around the community. As regards parking fees, first of all there should be no free parking for MHK's or Government employees, everyone else has to pay in one way or another, so should they. Ultimately both are 'tinkering around the edges' of the difficult financial position the IOM finds itself in. We need to boost economic growth and take bolder steps to do so. e.g. to give the Douglas Masterplan momentum the Govt should make the first move and build on some of the land it owns e.g. bus station/sea terminal. This would show confidence and support, for example, the construction industry. Also the MEF facility at The Nunnery should be given the 'green light' to attract the new residents that the Island needs to diversify and drive its economy forward.......... "Charging for parking is likely to reduce the number of shoppers coming into Douglas and increase internet shopping. In turn that is likely to result in lower VAT income. Sewerage charges based on rateable values are probably fair as long as there is an all Island rate system. Without this Douglas residents/businesses subsidise other parts of the Island." Parking in UK Cities / towns hasn't been free for a long time and I am surprised this wasn't introduced years ago. After a short period of time people will get used to it. I think a park and ride system at the old summerland site would be a great option, making Douglas more pedestrianised. The empty sites around Douglas - Old Park raod school, old Nobles Hospital site and the Prison Site The contract for demolition should have included make suface fit for parking and all areas could have been charged at reasonable rate to park cars and or motor homes - bring in revenue not block off space Shortage of parking is an ongoing challenge which inhibits business in Douglas Parking charges in Douglas will drive more business online (UK) and away from shops/stores (IOM) "Parking: government can compulsory purchase unsightly/derelict buildings, demolish and use for parking? Sewerage charge: admin and implementation costs wasteful. Should add to an existing tax eg rates" We are protecting the vulnerable, we are protecting tenants in social housing With the income generated at the airport parking, it should provide for an extra one or two floors of parking above the existing. Self financed and extra revenue and convenience Re parking.. I cannot think of any other sizeable town centre where on street parking is free. While I benefit from this myself, I would not resent paying a charge of £1 per hour (max 2 hours) to park in Douglas town centre, so long as the revenue stayed within DOI for use in roads and other infrastructure. I frequently pick up passengers at the airport and use the 30 minute free parking. If I am to be charged I may consider parking nearby (roadside) and waiting until my passengers call me. This could create a road hazard? I really struggle to park in Douglas on busy days and assume the parking charge will alleviate the demand but if I have to pay I may do more on-line shopping. "Parking fees - Seriously bad news for Douglas economy. How can this not be obvious? Residents' charge for permits - Cut the manual bureaucracy (eg insisting on utility bills and not relying on say centrally held tax records for address verification) as opposed to introducing a new charge. Sewarage charge - should simply have increased the water rates after all that." Build a multistorey on the bus station My answer to airport parking charges was YES, but really only because you do not give me the facility to say " dont know"...or a link to tell me what the change is. I have no idea. the cumulative impact on business of these and other changes should be assessed Initiatives to balance the books within government focus more on passing costs down rather than reducing operating costs. In my sector we can not pass costs onto our customers, we have to drive cost improvement initiatives, government needs to take a similar approach. Burdening business with ever growing incremental costs is not a sustainable approach in an environment where government's stated intention is to grow the economy out of an income deficit situation. We need to encourage growth not stifle it. Government have NOT done their homework or carried out even the most basic impact assessment of these charges - I know because the Minister can't tell me how much, for example the Airport charges are expected to yield! Availability of parking for people who need to visit Douglas for business for 2/3 hours per day is getting worse (eg recently 20 -25 spaces in steam packet car park have become contract parking which is often empty). Suspect nothing is being done since key civil servants and MHKs have free reserved parking so don't have to waste 15 mins driving around mid morning/lunchtime trying to find somewhere to park. The recent parking demand survey suggested there is sufficient provision this is clearly wrong. Chamber should pick up and lobby for increased parking as a key enabler for future economic growth . (don't mind paying a reasonable fee based on PAYG model but I do mind wasting valuable time looking for an available space) Government should generally be focussing on restricting with the objective of streamlining and thereby cutting costs, not in preserving the status quo and introducing stealth taxes everywhere they can. This is no longer a distinctive and pleasant place to live; increasingly we've lost our differential to the UK "It is time water meters were installed so that people pay for what they use and can see the results of saving water in pocket-cash. Parking should be only for those who cannot use public transport. Some encouragement for retailers by giving more shoppers parking facilities should be considered to prevent further decline of the town centres." "I believe that parking for shopping should be free, this must be controlled to avoid abuse by commutters and retail staff. A graduated parking charge on the prom can be used. There is currently little/no provision for visitor parking. Maybe some for of permit issued by the hotels on the prom should be used. Some towns have not had the IRIS connections yet so a universal tax would be unfair. instead of a separate tax can this not be an adjustment to the Water Rate." Retail sector is suffering. Don't agree with parking fees. Do agree with charge for residential permits as there's an Admin cost associated with this. Sewarage charge seems fairer for individuals but not for corporates. No joined up thinking the small amount of revenue gained from parked will no way match the loss of revenue to Government from Internet sales which will lead to job cuts and less profit. The toilet tax could push some retailers over the edge - as minister Robertshaw has publicly stated - a step to far Government needs to join up and understand how petty revenue raising initiatives affect the community as a whole and come up with policies that benefit all parties It doe's appear very strange to me whilst some departments are trying to encourage people into Douglas to shop whilst the DOI seem to be doing everything it can to discourage this by charging to park on the prom and reducing the stay to 1hr. Gov asked the DOI to make savings totalling 5 Million but rather than address the overspends and make savings it would appear they seem to think the way forward is to charge joe public for every possible service. The general public only have so much to spend and we are being squeezed enough as it is already. Increase the sewerage charge to £2k per private household as this will force property sales and reduce property prices, benefitting first time buyers. Introduce a charge (£1k/annum) to enter Douglas by car.