Plans to develop the Western Civic Amenity site in St John's are facing strong opposition from the local community.

The Department of the Environment wants to expand and redesign the site at a cost of around ?700,000.

But local residents see it as a costly white elephant, which cannot be justified.

A public meeting to debate the issue has been called for next Wednesday.

Marian Kenny reports (text, below, from attached audio file):

A petition against enlarging the facility has been circulating in the area.

One St John's resident collected sufficent signatures to call a parish requisition meeting.

But as the site serves the parishes of Marown, Michael, Patrick, Peel and German, a public meeting has been called instead.

Locals say the site functions perfectly well as it is and they argue going ahead with the project at this time would show scant regard to calls from government for budgetry restraint.

A representative from the waste management section of Dolge has been invited to the meeting, at St John's Methodist Church Hall next Wednesday evening.

A request for funding for the scheme is due to go before the July sitting of Tynwald.