Shop closures among concerns in ancient capital

The increasing number of empty shops, parking provision, and the rising cost of living have been raised as issues facing voters in Arbory, Castletown and Malew.

Although stretching out to include the two parishes, at the heart of the southern constituency is the ancient capital of the Isle of Man.

Boasting Georgian and Victorian architecture and overlooked by the Medieval fortress Castle Rushen, concerns have been raised over a severe decline in the number shops in Castletown's centre.

Tearoom owner Patsy Lockerby said the drop in footfall had left small shops and businesses "suffering".

She said: "I'm the only shop open in Malew Street, so that sort of speaks volumes, doesn't it?"

"It's affected the town - people don't bother now, they bypass Castletown. You can't rely on the tourists and coaches coming because there's nothing for them."

She called for action from the government to help independent businesses in the short term to get up and running in the town centre.

"They need to come up with something that they can afford that would be beneficial to people who want to start a new business," she said.

Repeated closures of parking in Market Square by the commissioners in previous years was cited by her as a significant reason for shop closures due to dwindling footfall in recent years.

Fellow business owner Barry James agreed that parking in general was one of the biggest issues affecting footfall in the town.

"We've had parking problems – we've got an ageing population as well, a lot of retired people, and accessibility is not good," he said, adding it was an issue that also affected the coach passengers visiting.

"You can't make a car park that's not there, you can't expect people to walk too far either, but there are professionals who spend their time planning and they understand how communities work," he said.

"Rather than small, whimsical changes, you'd think there would be an overall plan for a town and that has to start to with accessibility."

A need for steps to address the declining number of shops was echoed by local resident Maggie Richards who said: "You see people arrive by coach and they're bussed in and they're saying 'where's the shops?'

"When I first came down here it was thriving, you had different shops and it was lovely, but it's just gone downhill."

She added that rents could be playing a part in the decline and it would "have to come from the government to begin with to help more" for shops to return.

For Scott Findlay, who runs his own window cleaning firm, the rising cost of living was an increasing issue.

"Everything just seems to have gone up, whereas the inflation in the wages doesn't seem to have gone up the same to capture it.

"It just becomes a bit harder once things get more expensive, and then if you have a bigger family it just becomes even more expensive because there's more of it."

Maureen Sloan said, as a pensioner on a fixed income, her outgoings on the basics including utilities and rent meant she was left with very little else to spend each month.

She also lamented the lack of a choice of Manx produce on the shelves of multinational supermarkets.

The cost of living was also on Lisa Corkill's mind. She described it as "absolutely shocking".

The government's stance on taxing some benefits was something she said presented a problem.

"Pensioners certainly shouldn't get taxed, they've worked all their lives and they get taxed on their pension," she said, adding: "I work hard, my partner works hard, and then they tax you on child benefit."

When it comes to casting a vote, she said she felt there was "no point" because "absolutely nothing will change".

But for first time voter in an Isle of Man election, Julie Essex, the Manx system has proven a refreshing change.

"I've lived in a Labour town, so our vote never made a difference because the Labour MP had such a big majority - but here our vote will make a difference," she said.

"And we've never had two votes before, so we really have to think about who we want to vote for."

She and fellow charity shop volunteer Loraine Sansbury both agreed one of the issues of concern to many parents was the ongoing need for a replacement secondary school for the area as the existing Castle Rushen High School was now "very old".