The "will they, won't they" saga surrounding the possible ?3.2 million redevelopment of the Bowl into a new national stadium, in time for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, has taken another twist.

Douglas Councillors were less than impressed when the Department of Tourism said it couldn't provide up to half the funding because the Town Hall hadn't supplied enough information.

It's a classic "chicken and egg" situation, with council leader David Christian asking: "How could we commit rate payers' money to the creation of detailed plans, when we didn't know if the scheme would go ahead?"

He told Graham Bell why he and his colleagues had to pull the plug (play extended audio file):