I can see the arguments in favour and against imposing a permanent 20 mile per hour speed limit on Douglas Prom and surrounding streets.
I think the public got it right. Of the roughly 100 people who have now participated (which, by the way, makes it one of the bigger public consultations on the Isle of Man this year) roughly 40% were in favour of the new speed limit, and 60% were against.
After listening to the public, it seems fair for the residential side streets off the Prom to be 20 miles an hour, and the Prom itself to be 30 miles per hour. That seems like the right balance.
You know what is deeply wrong, however? The way that the leadership of the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) has taken us all for a ride. I’m angry about the way that the leadership of the DOI has deceived all of us.
The Government put out a notice two and a half weeks ago, pretending to seek public objections to their speed limit plan. However, we now know that this was not done in good faith, because as you can see right here, they’ve already installed the permanent signs for the new speed limits.
We know the DOI has not acted in good faith, because the time for objections only closed last Friday. And I have an email from the DOI which confirms the person reviewing the objections is on annual leave, and they won’t even be back until next week. And only then will they look at the objections.
The public has acted here in good faith. People had their say in favour and against the new speed limits. But we have now discovered that the signs have already been installed before our views have been heard.
Whether you agree or disagree with the new speed limit, all of us can agree that it is wrong for the government to deceive us like this.
This is inappropriate behaviour by the leadership of the DOI. They have disrespected the great Manx public that they are supposed to serve.
We’re supposed to live in a democratic society where the public is in charge not unelected bureaucrats.
So on the 23rd of September, join us in sending a message that we need to have a government that serves all of us
People continue to have their say
People are continuing to have their say as part of the public consultation of whether to impose a 20 mile per hour speed limit on Douglas Promenade and surrounding streets. As I write this, there have been around 100 responses, which is a huge response, and almost as big a response as last year’s government consultation on their Climate Change Bill!
While the Isle of Man Government might have closed their “official” consultation on Friday 23 July, I’ll keep listening. Because I do love some data visualisation, I’ve created these charts which will continue to be updated as people respond1:
Separated by postal outward code
These are obviously much smaller sample sizes when broken down by Manx geography. IM1 is basically inner Douglas. IM2 is basically outer/suburban Douglas. IM3+ is the rest of the Isle of Man.