Douglas Council is to consider the future of a cottage inside the town’s cemetery after rejecting a proposal to demolish it.

The cottage has been unoccupied for a number of years.

The council’s executive committee this week recommended that the council should demolish the cottage and replace it with an equipment store.

However, councillors opposed the demolition.

Ritchie McNicholl asked whether the council could offer the cottage to a charity.

He said: ’If it is structurally sound, then it is better than demolishing it.’

Councillor John Skinner said: ’I was assured at the budget that there were no plans to demolish this cottage and because of that I can’t agree to this.’

Councillor Natalie Byron called the plan ’insane’. She said: ’[We’re being asked to spend] thousands on a shed when we could help a charity or rent it out and receive some income.’

In the original executive committee meeting, only council leader David Christian voted against the proposal to demolish the building. He welcomed members saying they would vote against the proposal.

He added: ’This is not member-led. This has been officer-led. The cottage is structurally sound but it has been allowed to lie and decay while we’ve been given every excuse for why someone couldn’t do something with it.’

The council leader said that when suggestions had been made previously about occupying the cottage, officers said no one would want to live in a cemetery.

However, as he pointed out, the cottage had been occupied before, having previously been the home of the cemetery’s ground keeper.

Mr Christian said: ’I’m glad you are all going to vote against it.

’But if you’re thinking it will change anything with the officers, don’t hold your breath.’

The equipment store wanted by officers was a unit large enough to accommodate the cemetery digger and other equipment.

In a later debate on the regeneration committee’s minutes, it was revealed the planned unit was going to be of similar size to a container unit and hidden behind trees.

That committee had also considered selling the building, refurbishing it to get rental income or demolishing the current building, rebuilding it and then selling it or renting it out.