Commissioner says four play areas would be too much for authority to maintain

Ramsey Commissioners met this week and were joined by the newly elected commissioner for the south ward, Sandra Cottam-Shea.

She was presented with a certificate to commemorate her joining the board by Town Clerk Tim Cowin.

A planning application for houses on the Vollan Fields stirred up debate between the commissioners.

Public open space and four play areas in the development will be transferred to the local authority once built.

Commissioner Luke Parker raised concerns about the cost of maintaining the separate play parks.

He said having an ‘encompassing’ area would be ‘great’, but having four separate would be ‘four times the cost’.

Mr Parker added that when the equipment come to the end of its life it will have to be replaced like for like.

A proposal was put forward by Commissioner Juan McGuinness to have a meeting with Hartford Homes and do some research into what is expected in the transfer.

It was also announced that there is a delay on the conversion of the towns big Shoprite into a Tesco.

It was due to be closed and refitted in April but this will now take place in June.

Commissioner Lamara Craine put forward a proposal to install motion detector cameras to catch and deter people who leave dog poo around the town.

The motion was partially backed by the board, which agreed to do some research into what other local authorities on the island and in the UK are doing to combat the issue.