Back in 1969 Quincy Jones penned a tune entitled Getta Bloomin’ Move On, now better known by the title of The Self Preservation Society, as part of the soundtrack to the original The Italian Job starring Michael Caine. The plot of the film is the ultimate roller-coaster of disposal logistics where Charlie Crokers' team of Mini driving rogues ultimately manage to deliver several loads of stolen gold to a bus situated just outside of the City of Turin using a labyrinthine network of overground and underground routes - only for the heist to be thwarted at the eleventh hour when their final escape goes wrong.
As the film ends with the precious cargo hanging precariously over a cliff we hear Michael Caine utter the immortal words “Hang on a minute lads, I’ve got a great idea” which is exactly where we suspect Claire Wells, leader of Douglas Borough Council, currently is in relation to the whole Douglas bin collection saga.
Just like Charlie Croker and his team Ms Wells and her fellow Douglas Council members seemingly managed to pull the initial heist off well, but they have now been left dangling on the edge of a ratepayer precipice unable to get to the end game where they presumably planned to retreat to a safe place and count the spoils of their endeavours under some sort of Council cost saving exercise.
To add to the complexity of the situation Tynwald eco-warrior Daphne Caine (surely no relation to the former Maurice Mickelwhite Jr) is now questioning the rationale of this particular raid on the bullion of ratepayer plastic, glass, paper and wood that Douglas Council now seeks to sell on. We say sell on as we suspect the ultimate purpose of the changes is not to encourage more recycling but to simply save Douglas Council money on gate fees charged by the IOM Energy from Waste Plant (EFW). We suspect that Mrs Caine also suspects that this is exactly what this whole false initiative has been about as increasingly it looks less and less about a genuine desire to help the people of Douglas recycle more of their waste.
So what has happened?
Well the good citizens of Douglas, a newly minted City currently operating along the lines of New Gotham, have been told that they now have to accept fortnightly refuse collections on environmental grounds. There seems to have been little debate around this and in effect the process seems to have substantively been instilled by direct edict from Douglas Council. In terms of the format of this process along with a black wheelie bin for general waste a household can also have a green bin for green waste only (which itself is only collected between March & November) and a few different coloured small recycling tubs or buckets in which to deposit their glass and paper or cardboard. The black bin and tubs, and the green waste will be collected on alternate weeks. So from day one there appears to have been clear capacity issues for those who do actually want to recycle.
Why are people so annoyed
Well it seems that rather than do any actual research or engage with anyone in advance Town Hall sages such as Ms Wells have simply decided how this system should operate in advance. This appears to have created problems for households which fall outside of the middle class masses who have either the time or the space (or the ability or available transport to dispose of any additional waste) to conform.
What happened next?
Well several Douglas MHKs are now involved and a point by point hyper passive-aggressive letter of rebuttal has been provided to former Douglas Councillor David Ashford (current MHK for Douglas North) by Ms Wells which appears to answer none of the concerns that Douglas ratepayers have in favour of screaming in a rather hysterical way about how unfair it is that people who contribute to the running of Town Hall have dared to challenge how their rates money is to be allocated.
IOM Newspapers report of the letter from Ms Wells to David Ashford
A reproduction of the actual letter sent by Ms Wells by Gef:
In a democracy of course we suggest that those affected should have the right to challenge any rules that are arbitrarily imposed by those appointed to govern over them. And with so much green-washing going on to question the true motivations for initiatives brought in on so-called environmental grounds. This is more important in the case of Douglas Council which has a rather chequered history in relation to uncontested seats. By this we mean the process whereby councilors end up on Douglas Council purely because nobody else is interested in standing.
As an example the 2021 Douglas Council Election results are linked below:
In relation to general principles of democracy here we observe that Steven Crellin, Frank Schuengel, and Claire Wells (the current council leader) received absolutely no votes from the general public in Douglas and yet quickly acceded to their seats on Douglas Council to pursue this strategy. In contrast we observe that Mr John Skinner, the second highest polling of any standing Douglas Council member, did not vote for the refuse collection changes. So we also ask has democracy been served here at all? Or are we simply seeing a heist by a few self-serving members of Douglas Council pushing their personal agendas on the people of Douglas?
As we’ve said before - never trust a hippy - especially a hippy that nobody even voted for.
So over to you Mrs Caine. Speaking to several Douglas ratepayers nobody seems to have seen any meaningful statistics to back up any of the recycling or cost saving claims quoted - and a public meeting has now been called for the 12th December 2022 where Ms Wells and her team will be required to justify their stance to the attending public. We trust that perhaps a sense of democracy and openness might finally prevail after this meeting which seems to have been sadly lacking at every stage of the process so far.
Douglas Borough Council: The Self Preservation Society
