Manx National Heritage and Treasury have agreed to split the £450,000 cost to get the Laxey Wheel turning again.

A further £300,000 needed for painting, pointing work and other minor repairs will also be split 50/50.

MNH says bringing forward planned works and combining them into one big programme will mean the Lady Isabella should be ready for early in the 2022 tourism season.

The wheel stopped turning for second year in a row last September after a fault was spotted in a connecting rod.

An engineering survey highlighted the urgent need for repair work to the wheel mechanism and rod duct system.

In a written reply to a House of Keys question on March 2, Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan revealed his department had turned down a series of MNH capital funding bids. These included the £450,000 plus £298,000 for the maintenance of Laxey Wheel as well as £2.18m over four years for a new visitor centre there.

Now MNH trustees have agreed to allocate funds from the sale of a property bequeathed by the late Donny Collister to fund their share of the project.

They say they recognise the challenges facing the Manx economy but insist using reserves like this is a ’one-off’ and not a long-term solution to funding issues.

Chairman of trustees Jonathan Hall said: ’We are very grateful that the Treasury Minister has given this his personal attention.

’The Laxey Wheel is an iconic symbol of the island and trustees are very keen to see it running again at the earliest opportunity.

’We fully accepted that it was not an "emergency" by comparison with other issues facing the island but felt that it was hugely important in terms of morale and pride in our island.

’In such circumstances, the trustees accepted that a more innovative solution needed to be found.

’MNH has been fortunate in recent years to have had a small number of significant bequests, including a property belonging to the late Donny Collister.

’Trustees felt that using this specific bequest on this occasion to match Treasury funding was a fitting tribute and would be supported by our wider community in these most difficult of times.’

SOLUTION

Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan said: ’I am pleased that we have been able to develop a pragmatic solution to this matter.

’The Treasury had been clear that only emergency bids were to be put forward in this budget round to maintain a balance of expenditure on our island’s critical operating infrastructure whilst reflecting the impact that the pandemic has had on available funding.

’Clearly the Laxey Wheel is no longer critical operating infrastructure but it is iconic and a cornerstone of our visitor experience.

’With this in mind I am pleased that we have identified this joint funding solution to ensure that the wheel turns again as we hopefully come out of the challenges of the Covid pandemic.’

Among other MNH capital bids for 2021-22 rejected by Treasury are £409,400 for a new entrance at Cregneash and £94,666 for the digitisation of newspapers at the iMuseum.