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CRINGLE: Fears that are not all at sea
ONCHAN MHK and Liberal Vannin Party leader Mr Peter Karran has warned about the increasing threat to Douglas seafront from rising sea levels caused by global warming.
This is altruism of a high order. Mr Karran lives in Onchan and I don’t think the sea will be lapping his doorstep in his lifetime.
But his warning is timely and important.
The Examiner reported that Mr Karran has written to Chief Minister Bell asking if the plans for re-surfacing the promenade roadway have taken into account the risk that it will be flooded when the tide is high in the near future, which it nearly is already.
I share Mr Karran’s concern, even though where I live at Blackberry Lane will not be lapping my doorstep in my lifetime either.
Think about it . . .
In the first place, when we have a really big tide, the Villa Marina will be more marina than villa.
The sunken gardens on Loch Promenade will be well and truly sunk without trace.
The Sea Terminal will be all at sea
The Summerland site will be naturally re-developed as an open-air swimming pool and those still surviving old diving platforms which were in the Aquadrome will come in handy.
And what about the horse trams when the tide’s in? You try and get wellies on a horse.
As for the Tower of Refuge that will be a danger to navigation, not a safe place for shipwrecked sailors.
Mind you, this is just thinking about Douglas. There’s the rest of the Isle of Man to be considered and I am sure Mr Karran will agree with me.
The Point of Ayre will become pointless in every sense and the Northern Plain will be more like the North Sea.
But a much more serious matter will be the future of the TT races, especially when you consider the Sulby Straight and Parliament Square in Ramsey. Underwater motor cycle racing is unlikely ever to become a viable spectator sport.
Langness will be water-logged. But this is unlikely to discommode JC. Not, not Him. It’s Jeremy I’m talking about. There will no longer be insensitive people walking their dogs past his premises and peering in through his kitchen windor.
The Calf Sound will be a good deal wider. This means customers of the restaurant there demanding fish as fresh as humanly possible will be issued with fishing rods at the door.
Finally, Snaefell. No, I don’t think the sea’s going to get anywhere near the Summit Hotel. But it is the Isle of Man’s only mountain by definition because it is over 2,000 feet above sea level. Only by a few feet at the moment however.
People should listen to Mr Karran, if not to me.
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LES Crellin has been on to draw attention to a court story in the Isle of Man Courier in which £450 in fines were imposed on a motorist – ‘who drove a car without a driving licence, insurance, and faulty lights’.
Not exactly a shining example to others.
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OFFER in the front page of last week’s Examiner: ‘Win £200 worth of high-tech prizes from HMV’.
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This week we have Karl Campbell’s last Manx crossword clue: Misanthrope’s lie here in tax haven (9): Isle of Man (Times Cryptic.)
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Weather for Isle of Man
Saturday 18 May 2013
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 8 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
