Plans to redevelop the Bowl in Douglas in time for the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011 have come to nothing.

Douglas Corporation, which was to fund around half the ?3.4 million cost, has pulled out of the project saying ratepayers couldn't be asked to foot the bill in the current economic climate.

The stadium was to have been the centrepiece of the Games and the venue for the rugby sevens, but councillors voted 10-6 against funding the revamp at an emergency meeting yesterday.

The Department of Tourism and Leisure has since confirmed it cannot meet the cost on its own.

Leader of the council David Christian says the financial challenges faced by the Island, following the redrawing of the VAT revenue sharing agreement, changed everything: