The island’s Rotary clubs are appealing to the Manx public for old bicycles.

They will be used as part of a drive to help educate children in Africa.

Spokesman Nigel Dobson said: ‘We firmly believe that the best way to help Third World countries is with sustainable aid, and nothing is more sustainable than an education.

‘One of the difficulties in many parts of Africa is the sheer distance that children often have to travel from their villages to the nearest school, often involving walking many miles which is not the best way to start a day of learning.’

Now the island’s Rotary clubs have joined forces with an organisation called Jolerider (pronounced Jolly Rider) which takes secondhand bikes, reconditions them and then ships them out to schools in Africa.

Mr Dobson added: ‘Jolerider already work with over 200 Rotary clubs and have developed reliable contacts where schools take possession of the refurbished bikes and lend then to suitable students aged 11 and upwards to travel between their homes and schools for the duration of their education.

‘The bikes are then returned to the school and offered to another student.

‘We hope to collect enough bikes to fill a container – around 330 – and Manx Independent Carriers has offered to transport the bikes to the UK free of charge where Jolerider will take over and transport them to the schools.’

Each bike costs around £10 to transport from the UK to Gambia and the Rotary clubs are organising a variety of fundraising events to help cover these costs.

Mr Dobson said: ‘If you have a bike you no longer use, stuck in the back of the garage, one the children have outgrown, the bike you used before you treated yourself to a new one then please contact us.’

For the south and west contact Brian Coole on 493648, in the east Carol Howard on 620829 and in Laxey and the north Nigel Dobson on 215515 or email nigel@suremail.im to arrange to drop off the bike or for Rotary to arrange collection.

The next event organised by the island’s Junior Chamber of Commerce will explore digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple and Ethereum.

All of them virtual, yet some will say are starting to become more relevant in our move towards a digital economy.

Paul Davis, founder and chief executive officer of the Manx Digital Currency Association will deliver a presentation which will explore these new cryptocurrencies, how they work and what opportunities they hold for the Isle of Man.

The event is sponsored by Wi-Manx, an on-island network and hosting provider who already has experience in the Bitcoin space and believes this breakfast briefing will be an opportunity for people to learn more and ask questions relevant to them and their industry.

Joe Hughes, managing director of Wi-Manx, said: ‘I welcome any conversations regarding e-currency especially in relation to discovering new opportunities for Manx organisations looking to capitalise on this new and vibrant marketplace.’

Owen Cutajar, chairman of the JCC, said: ‘We haven’t had a presentation like this before at the JCC.

‘I’m really looking forward to the event itself and it has been great to work with the Manx Digital Currency Association. I’d also like to thank Wi-Manx for their continued support and look forward to welcoming members and non-members to the event.’

It takes place on Wednesday, June 18 at the Cushag Suite, The Palace Hotel and Casino (7.15am registration and breakfast, presentation starts at 7.45pm and finishes 8.45am).

Entry: £10 each for JCC I0M members and £15 each for guests, including buffet breakfast. Booking: Book online at www.jcc.im

JCC IOM is operated by an executive council of 10 voluntary members. The current chairman, Owen Cutajar has been on the executive committee since 2010. He has always had a passion for all things technical, but combines that with a solid background in management disciplines.

Injured TT competitor Joe Faragher remains stable in hospital after an incident at the 26th Milestone during the Superstock race last week.

A TT spokesman said the Isle of Man rider was taken to hospital by the airmed helicopter with fractures and was later transferred to the UK for treatment.

The incident on the second lap of the race claimed the life of British Supersport and Superbike racer Karl Harris. ]

The race, which was postponed to Tuesday, June 3, from Monday’s schedule, continued with marshals displaying waved yellow flags on the approach to the 26th Milestone.

A mechanic working for Grant Wagstaff who was engulfed in flames during the Supersport 2 race on Wednesday was treated in hospital immediately afterwards and then released.

Austrian Horst Saiger, who crashed at Pinfold Cottage in Friday’s Senior TT, was treated in hospital and released on Saturday.

Computer equipment seized by police investigating the Douglas East by-election proxy vote fraud are to be returned – after the court ruled developer Dandara was the rightful owner.

Charles Buster Lewin, who was sentenced to three and a half years in jail after admitting conspiring dishonestly to secure proxy votes, claimed the Acer laptop and Compaq tower units had been given to him by his employer Dandara for use in the election campaign.

Dandara contacted police last year seeking return of the property seized in the criminal investigation.

By-election candidate Kevin Woodford, on whose behalf the campaign was run, confirmed through his advocate that the equipment was not his.

But Mr Lewin claimed the Acer laptop was given to him personally by his employer to replace his own faulty laptop previously used in the by-election campaign while the tower units were given to him as a gift.

The Deputy High Bailiff’s court heard he had been employed by Dandara as an office administrator in April 2007 and in 2010 part of his role included assisting in Mr Woodford’s election campaign.

He claimed he had been using his own personal Sony laptop for election campaign business as Dandara had indicated to him when he was interviewed for the post of office administrator in 2007 that they did not want their own IT equipment to be used for the election campaign.

Mr Lewin claimed he was told by a representative of his employer that he could have the Compaq tower units free of charge.

But Dandara submitted that no agreement took place in respect of either the Acer laptop or the Compaq tower units, and nor was there any discussion in 2007 about an election which was due to take place in 2010.

The company said Mr Lewin was employed to carry out various duties including identifying potential sites and pockets of land for development and that the property was provided to him in his capacity as an employee, for his use during the election campaign and not as a gift to him personally.

Mr Lewin continued to use the property until it was seized by the police on May 26, 2010 during the course of a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent proxy voting and forgery.

In a statement made to the police on that day – before he was aware there was any dispute as to the ownership of the property – Dandara director Seamus Nugent insisted: ‘The only way in which the Dandara group has assisted the Kevin Woodford election campaign is to supply it with an office at 1 Derby Square. We may have also lent some IT resource in that office.’

And in a written submission to the court, Mr Nugent said: ‘At no time did I agree to gift any of the computer equipment, including the laptop that was purchased by Dandara Group, to Buster Lewin.

‘Furthermore, I am not aware of any instances in which the Dandara Group have gifted computer equipment to current or ex-employees of the Dandara Group.’

In her judgment, Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said she was satisfied that it was never the intention of Dandara that ownership of the Compaq tower units should pass to Mr Lewin and that they were provided to him solely for his use in the course of his employment.

She said ownership of the Acer laptop was less certain. But she agreed that Mr Lewin’s account was ‘implausible’.

The Deputy High Bailiff found that property is, and always has been, owned by Dandara ordered that police return it to that owner.

New vehicular access and extra car parking spaces have been proposed as part of amended plans for a school in Belmont Hill, Douglas, in a bid to address concerns from residents.

Market Square Preparatory School, led by Jane Subachus, wants to open its doors at Eaglehurst in September, a year after opening to reception class pupils in Market Square, Castletown.

In the additional documents (14/00219/B), it states: ‘The majority of the local community have expressed a concern that we will impact heavily on the already congested, death trap known as Belmont Hill.

They also speak of their “peaceful residential area”. We understand that they do not want a noisy overpopulated school on their doorstep but they must understand first that this is not what they are going to get.

‘We are the equivalent size of about three classes of a normal primary school.’

The current access on Belmont Hill will be for vehicles entering the site. They will exit from a new access further up the road.

It says DEFA has approved the removal of many holly bushes on the site’s boundary to achieve a sight line of 75 metres.

Thirty car parking spaces, including 10 at the front of the building for parents of younger children, are now proposed.

In the additional documents, it states a traffic survey was carried out from 8am to 8.45am on a weekday morning. It found there was a maximum of two vehicles per minute.

‘As this was the busiest time of the day this is hardly a road that can be described as dangerous or treacherous.’

A letter has also been included from Castletown Commissioners town clerk Eddie Convery which describes the school as an ‘asset to the town’.

The private school for children aged three to 11 would have a maximum class of 10.

Flexible working patterns have allowed police to make better use of resources during the TT period but despite this there have been more collisions, compared with TT 2013, and 15 arrests for drink driving.

Inspector David Dobbie of the island’s roads policing unit said staff had been working flexible duty patterns during the fortnight so most resources could be deployed at the times of highest demand.

‘It has helped make sure resources were targeted more precisely,’ he said.

‘A full debrief has yet to take place but indicators are that we have a model for policing future TTs that is a good fit for the ever developing event that it is.’

Again, final collision figures are not yet compiled, but he said there had been more crashes reported to police and dealt with than last year.

He said the prime time for collisions seemed to be the period immediately before road closures – when people were trying to reach a particular location before the closure – and just after reopening when a large amount of traffic was suddenly mobile again.

‘It was certainly felt that the hours preceding and following the road closures for racing were busy for us in terms of collisions,’ he said.

Postponement of parts of the race schedule saw daily road closures from Monday to Friday last week but this had a knock-on effect of putting greater strain on the remaining road network.

‘There have been some collisions where people have been caught out by the unfamiliar roads,’ he said.

Police have also been active breath testing drivers and riders during the TT period and this has resulted in 15 drink driving arrests.

Of those people, nine have been charged with drink driving, four were found to be under the limit and no further action was taken and two are on bail pending results of tests.

Final official figures are yet to be released.

A large quantity of Loughtan lamb meat joints have been stolen from premises in a rural location in the north of the island.

It was taken over the past month.

Police say it is quite expensive to buy and officers are asking for information from anyone who may have been offered joints of meat for sale.

A police spokesman said: ‘It would be quite obvious from the packaging that the items would not have been purchased in supermarkets and consideration should also be given in relation to storage and hygiene of the items after they had been stolen.’

Constable Kathryn Giles from Ramsey police station wants to hear from anyone who may have information to assist the investigation.

The inquest into a motorcyclist who died during the TT festival will open later today.

Gary Stewart Hubble, who lived in Sulby and was 53 years old, died on Tuesday, June 3.

Detective Sergeant Neil Craig said: ‘Mr Hubble had been riding his blue Yamaha motorbike in a direction from Ramsey towards Sulby when he collided with another vehicle around 10.20am.

‘Following this collision, officers from the police’s collision investigation unit immediately attended the scene together with colleagues from the other emergency services.

‘A number of inquiries have been undertaken since the time of the collision, including statements having been obtained from witnesses who were identified at the scene.

‘However, I still wish to appeal to any person who was at or near the location at the time of the collision, and who may have information that could assist us with our enquiries, to contact either Constable Richard Goldie from the poads policing unit, or myself, as soon as possible at police headquarters on 631212.’

A luxury car dealer has found himself on a collision course with a leading island developer.

Steve ‘Bubs’ Williams of Elite Vehicles returned home from holiday in Ibiza to find the car lot on Peel Road, Douglas, had been fenced off – leaving between 25 and 30 vehicles trapped inside including a Porsche Cayenne, a BMW convertible, a Mercedes estate and Nissan 350Z.

Owner of the site, Dandara, had earlier put up notices instructing all vehicles be removed by May 24 before the entire showroom and forecourt was fenced off.

It has launched legal action to recover more than £3,000 it says is owed by Mr Williams.

Following talks with the landowner, Mr Williams moved all of the remaining cars over the weekend.

‘We took matters into our own hands,’ said a ‘media spokesman’ for Mr Williams.

He said a counter claim had been lodged against Dandara for ‘punitive damages’.

Ciaran Downey, housing director at Dandara, told iomtoday: ‘In August 2012, Dandara agreed to release Mr Williams of Elite Vehicles from his lease of the Athol Garage site and at his request we granted him a one year licence to occupy part of the forecourt on condition that he paid the outstanding rates and insurance, however, despite numerous phone calls chasing payment, this debt of £3,050 is still outstanding.

‘There was no ‘gentleman’s agreement’ allowing Mr Williams to remain ‘free of charge’ on the premises after the licence expired in August 2013.

Despite repeated requests to pay the outstanding debt of £3,050 and to enter into a new licence agreement or vacate the site, he has failed to do so. He has now been trespassing for almost 10 months!

‘Under the terms of the licence agreement we have lawful authority to remove any property (including vehicles) left on our land.

‘We have not used any of the heating oil that he claims to have left in the tank, he has not paid any of the electric bills since August 2012 (we have) and we are resigned to paying for the disposal of anything he may have left on the premises.

‘Athol Garage is one of a number of premises which we allow the Fire Service and police to use free of charge for training purposes.’

Mr Williams, aged 41, of Onchan, who set up Elite Vehicles in 1996, said Dandara had behaved ‘absolutely disgracefully’. ‘I genuinely have no idea as to why my vehicles were fenced in,’ he said.

He said he had previously had a good relationship with Dandara and ‘never missed a payment’ – and claimed he had continued to pay when the licence ended.

‘I tried to contact Dandara but according to them I had disappeared and they decided to fence in my cars,’ he said.

He said the value of the cars initially trapped behind the fence was £250,000.

Dandara has applied to transform the former Athol Garage site into 74 flats, having already secured approval in principle in December 2011 to redevelop the site for residential purposes.

Manannan services on Tuesday, June 17, are being cancelled to allow the damage caused to one of her engines by fishing gear during TT week to be repaired.

The Steam Packet’s fast craft had to operate on slightly reduced power for the last few days of the TT festival after ingesting discarded fishing gear which damaged a shaft bearing on one of her four engines.

Chief executive Mark Woodward said: ‘We managed to keep Manannan departures on schedule over the last few days of TT, despite having reduced power and the exceptional loads that TT brings with it. However, as we outlined last week, a repair is required to bring the vessel back up to full power again.

‘A permanent repair will take 24 hours to complete and has been scheduled for completion in Douglas on Tuesday, June 17, which is the day with least bookings. Manannan services will therefore be cancelled on that day and any passengers affected are being contacted and will be offered alternatives via Heysham or travel on alternative days.’

With Manannan back in operation for Wednesday, June 18, Ben-my-Chree will then make her scheduled trip to dry dock to have a stabilising fin, damaged during the heavy weather at the start of the year, refitted.

Mr Woodward added: ‘We inspected the damage to the fin in late January and made the decision to remove the fin and return Ben-my-Chree to service until the unit had been repaired. The Ben has had effective stabilising efficiency with only one fin operational, and there was no impact on the vessel’s ability to sail, nor to berth, safely.

‘After confirmation from the manufacturer, we announced in April that the Ben would be going into dry dock during a relatively quiet period from June 19 until June 21 and any passengers affected were advised at that time that a revised sailing schedule would operate. As previously advised, Manannan and our chartered freighter, MV Arrow, will provide services to Heysham and Liverpool while the Ben is in dry dock.’

Mr Woodward added: ‘We appreciate that any kind of disruption to services can be frustrating for passengers and we would like to thank those travelling next week for their patience and understanding.

‘These repair periods for each vessel are fairly short, particularly for Manannan, and by the end of next week we look forward to having both vessels back in operation ahead of the rest of the busy summer season.’

A delegation from the Isle of Man has recently returned from China .

They visited Moore Stephens Da Hua, the newest member of the Moore Stephens network.

Tim Shallcross, David Robinson and Simon Ford-Robinson visited five of their key offices; Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Xi’an.

They also visited Hong Kong which enabled them to meet with the local firm there as well as develop opportunities with potential business partners.

The trip was an opportunity to welcome Da Hua into the Moore Stephens network as well as introduce the services of the Isle of Man office and promote the Isle of Man as an offshore jurisdiction of choice.

‘The potential in China is awe inspiring,’ said Tim Shallcross, marketing supervisor in Moore Stephens.

‘Meeting with our Chinese family was both educational and auspicious and I’m sure both Moore Stephens and the Isle of Man will benefit from the visit. I’m very much looking forward to developing our meetings further in the coming months.’

Moore Stephens Da Hua joined the Moore Stephens International Network in September 2013.

With 25 offices and 3,800 partners and staff they are ranked one of the top 10 largest accountancy firms in China.

‘Business in China for Manx firms is developing at an exponential rate,’ said Clive Dixon, managing partner of Moore Stephens.

‘It’s exciting to have a substantial and recognised Moore Stephens presence in China; I’m looking forward to growing this important relationship.’

Students at Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel will have more space to eat their lunch if Tynwald gives the go-ahead for a new kitchen and servery and enlarged dining facilities.

The kitchen and dining room at the school, which opened in 1979, were designed for 450 to 500 students. But there are now 880, the majority of whom eat school meals.

Cold dining facilities created within a multi-purpose area of the Deans Building, which was added in 2008, relieved some of the pressure.

However, the main dining room needs enlarging, in keeping with the rise in student numbers, according to Richard Collister, director of estates with the Department of Education and Children.

Space for students to socialise is also lacking and improved dining facilities, as part of this scheme, would address this deficiency.

The new dining room would accommodate 222 students whereas the existing one holds 128, Mr Collister explained, with a new servery permitting two direction flows.

The kitchen has seen little modernisation in 35 years and there’s a need to bring the fabric and equipment up to current-day standards, he continued, adding: ‘Improved facilities would allow us to use an increased range of fresh and locally sourced products, promoting even greater awareness of healthier options among students.’

Staff changing areas, a plant room and new space for the caretakers, who would be displaced by the work, also feature in the plans.

Tynwald has already approved expenditure of £77,900 to get the project to this stage. Peel’s MHK Tim Crookall is also Minister for Education and Children, and he will this month ask the Court for £756,800 to proceed with the works.

If approval is obtained, McArd Contractors Ltd would start work immediately and – temporarily halting work during the summer 2015 exam period – would have the project finished in time for the start of the 2015/16 academic year.

The TT Riders’ Association’s secretary Frances Thorp was honoured during this year’s event when she scooped the Spirit of the TT award.

Mrs Thorp has been secretary of the association - which provides funds for injured or elderly ex-riders and their families who have fallen on hard times - for the past 11 years.

Until his death two years ago Mrs Thorp was helped by her husband Tom - himself an ex TT and MGP rider between 1956 and 1962. The charity also runs the popular 38th Milestone - which serves refreshments to members of the TT and MGP Riders’ Association during race periods. The TTRA was started by Freddie Frith in 1953.

The award is given to the person or team who best represent the evalues of the TT races, including decency, honesty, generosity teamwork and commitment to the development of the races. Previous recipients include Eric Alexander, in 2013 who has marshalled for 50 years, Conor Cummins in 2011 and Paul Owen in 2010.

David Cretney MHK said Mrs Thorp was a worthy recipient of the award.

He said: ‘The incredible work that she puts in to fund-raise for the TT Riders’ Association is second to none and many riders past and present have benefited from her efforts.’

A 5p charge for carrier bags in shops is to be introduced in the UK, which is expected to cut their use by at least three quarters.

The levy will apply to supermarkets and larger stores and is to be implemented by next October.

More than eight billion disposable bags are used in England each year, which equates to 130 per person.

Marks and Spencer here already charges 5p for a large carrier bag. So should the Isle of Man follow suit?

Cat Turner from Isle of Man Friends of the Earth said: ‘Friends of the Earth IoM has long been calling for the “taxing” – or better yet banning – of plastic bags.

‘Other countries have done so very successfully, and whilst stores and some consumers might grumble initially, a ‘‘no plastic bag’’ regime seems to become the norm surprisingly quickly - in the same way that the ban on smoking cigarettes in pubs was initially regarded as a disaster for the pub industry, but now isn’t an issue at all.

‘It’s not, after all, so very hard to bring a couple of your own bags with you when you go out.

‘Biodegradeable plastic bags are often put forward as a reasonable alternative, but in fact the time-spans for their degradation are considerable – and that degradation’s usually far from complete (so a bag described as ‘‘biodegradeable’’ might in fact only degrade down to small, but not negligible, particles of plastic – which in the end form part of the plastic soup polluting so much of the world’s oceans).’

Muriel Garland, chair of Zero Waste Mann, also welcomed the move saying that it makes sense to reduce their use on financial and environmental grounds.

Ms Garland said: ‘We don’t know how many are imported to the Isle of Man every year but it make sense to reduce their use on financial and environmental grounds.

‘We promote re-usable bags. We sell them at the Green Centre and whenever we go to events like Tynwald Fair Day and the Royal Agricultural Show.

‘For the last three years we have run a very successful campaign with IoM Prison at Jurby.

‘We provide the material and two or three prisoners sew them into Morsbags which we then give away free.

‘So far we have produced 3,765 bags for distribution around the island.

‘We would welcome a levy on plastic bags here on the island. It it easy to find alternative ‘‘bags for life’’. You just need to remember not to leave them at home or in the car when you go to the shops.

‘On a personal note I am trying to avoid plastic bags for the whole of this year.

‘From January to June I have only been given two by a local supermarket but otherwise I am managing to do without them.’

The financing of the swimming pools in Castletown, Ramsey and Peel is under discussion today (Thursday) as the government seeks ways to make them less expensive to the taxpayer.

At present the government subsidises the pools to the tune of almost £1.5m a year. This is ‘no longer sustainable in its current form’ wrote director of change and reform at the Cabinet office Daniel Davies, to the pool boards inviting them to the meeting to discuss ‘the future operating and funding model for the island’s regional pools’.

The Department of Education and Children (DEC) – now responsible for the pool boards – has been asked to develop a plan to reduce operating costs and has appealed for ideas on how the three pools ‘could continue to provide their valuable service to the community whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayer’.

At last week’s meeting, June 2, Castletown commissioner Kevin Weir, speaking about the Southern Swimming Pool, said: ‘I think the service we are getting is terrible for what we pay.’

Commissioner David Parnell, the authority’s representative on the Southern Swimming Pool Board said the DEC block books the pool for swimming lessons. There is a ‘very active’ Southern Swimming Club with 120 members that uses the pool on Tuesday and Friday evenings and this is the ‘biggest source of revenue’.

‘The problem is everyone wants to swim at the same time,’ he said and added they tried opening in the early mornings last year, but there were few takers.

In Peel and Ramsey swimming pools, there are two pools, meaning when the club has lessons members of the public can still access the second pool, which is not possible in Castletown, with one pool.

He said: ‘We have asked the manager for ways of being more creative with the pool times.’

Under the Education Act school students must be taught how to swim as part of the curriculum, he added.

Commissioner Andrew Thomas said: ‘If the Education Act requires swimming lessons, the cost should be passed onto the Department of Education, they should charge it to them, they will have to fund economies.’

This week’s Manx Independent includes a wallchart to help you follow the World Cup.

Also this week it’s our popular annual Pet Factor competition.

Readers from across the island have submitted photos of their furry friends for the competition.

You can vote for your favourite.

The front page looks again at the problems on Peel Road. Now the private contractor involved has his say.

With news and features from across the island, your Island Life features section, a seven-day television guide, the Isle of Man’s What’s On guide and our action-packed sports pages, the Manx Independent is an essential read this week.

It’s in the shops now

This week, Cat Turner finds out about how a local business group is helping to close the resources gap. The Strand Group comprises facilities management company Strand Facilities Services, secure document management company Storall, contract cleaning brand Krypton and newly acquired commercial refuse collection company, Clean A Way. And the group is proud to be doing its bit for the planet!

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This week I’ve been spending a good deal of time thinking about recycling and waste management.

In part, this is because Zero Waste Mann, which is based at the Green Centre, has just been given the contract to help raise awareness of the hows and whys of recycling in one of our Island parishes - of which more, in a later week.

But in looking into these issues, I tripped over a really inspiring story - a tale of how conscious resource management and reuse/recycling can help both the environment, and the bottom line.

The story involves two businesses which are part of the well-known Island based Strand Group - Storall and Strand Facilities Services.

For those who aren’t familiar with these organisations, Storall is Strand Group’s secure document management company. Among the services it provides is the shredding of confidential paper - the sort of thing generated by financial services offices and the like, in pretty sizeable quantities. Storall then bails, packs and transports the shredded paper to a paper mill in North Wales - Oswestry Waste Paper, a recycling specialist. The shredded paper is processed / recycled and a ‘parent roll’ is produced - basically a giant (and I mean GIANT) roll of paper.

These parent rolls are then bought by ‘convertors’ - businesses which reduce the parent rolls into a variety of paper products - everything from toilet rolls to handwipe rolls, and the like.

Which is fantastic, because it means rather than the remains of harvested and processed trees going to landfill, incinerator or otherwise leaving the system, they’re re-used; they have a second crack at life, as one recycler put it lately.

But it doesn’t stop there; things get even neater.

Strand Facilities Services then buys back said toilet tissue and paper towels from these converters, and supply them to their clients here on the Island.

These aren’t negligible volumes either; Storall are currently providing 26 tonnes of paper per month into this recycling loop, a terrific contribution to closing the loop, at least on this small sub-segment of our economy.

Whence comes all this waste paper?

Well, Storall offers electronic document scanning, document and archive storage facilities - a growing industry, especially in these days of data protection sensitivity; concerns over identity theft and fraud make it ever more critical that businesses ensure their customer and proprietary information is securely held, archived and ultimately destroyed when it’s of no further use.

It’s that final element of data destruction that leads to the recycling. (You can find out more about this, if you’re so inclined, at http://www.strandgroup.im/document-services.html).

I was interested in the drivers behind the process - is it really all about efficiency and profit, or are there other drivers?

Lourdes Otxoa de Alda, Storall’s operations director, was instrumental in developing the recycling aspect of the business, and says: ‘We’re very proud of this service.

‘Once there’s no longer a requirement for businesses to retain hard copy documents, we can arrange for them to be securely destroyed.

‘We then recycle this paper waste that has been tying up valuable space in our client’s businesses.

‘The fact that those clients may also buy back products made from this waste is very satisfying for everyone involved.’

I’d echo that - the idea of reusing scarce resources rather than burning them and harvesting more wood is extremely appealing, and where it involves protecting existing forest, also helps to cut our carbon footprint.

Hats off to Strand - let’s hear of more virtuous circles like this, so our island can play its part to an even greater extent!

Samantha Jane Carroll, of 9 Glen Darragh Gardens, Glen Darragh Road, Glen Vine, bought 7 Glen Darragh Gardens, Glen Darragh Road, Glen Vine, for £740,000.

It was bought from Richard James Morris, of Ardwhallin House, West Baldwin.

Other recent transactions lodged at the General Registry in Douglas are as follows:

Mavron Limited, whose registered office is situated at 11 Links View, Onchan, sold The Showroom, West Street, Ramsey, for £520,000, to Mayrnt Limited, whose registered office is situated at 11 Links View, Onchan.

Carlton Nigel Dodge and Elizabeth Ann Dodge sold 1 Farmhill Drive, Douglas, for £401,000, to Jonathan Hudson Marshall and Maureen Marshall, of 29 Brecken Bank, Tromode Woods, Braddan.

Carol Albinson, of Balladoole Beg, Bride Road, Ramsey, sold 14 Ballachurry Close, Onchan, for £287,000, to Patricia June Baker, of 25 King Edward Bay Apartments, Seacliff Road, Onchan.

Geoffrey Kenneth Leece, of 21 Birch Hill Crescent, Onchan, as executor, Christina Anne Higgins, of Wales, as executor, and Evelyn May Leece, by executors, sold 27 Laurel Avenue, Onchan, for £270,000, to David Brian Gimbert, of 3 Auckland Drive, Douglas.

Tracy Jane Christian, of Bahrain, sold 6 Brighton Terrace, Douglas, for £232,500, to Michael Byrne, of 34 Campion Way, Abbeyfields.

Stephen John Woodward and Christine Joanne Woodward, sold 45 Wybourn Grove, Onchan, for £214,500, to Andrew Isaac and Thomas Isaac, of 15 Murrays Lake Drive, Santon.

James Peter Nugent and Katherine Martina Nugent, of Clough Willey, Tosaby Road, St Mark’s, sold 20 Wallberry Mews, Douglas, for £180,000, to Brian Philip Waring and Susan Margaret Waring, of Lhergy Moar Farm, The Eairy, East Foxdale.

Department of Social Care, whose registered office is situated at Markwell House, Market Street, Douglas, sold 9 Reayrt Ny Cashtal, Castletown, for £150,000, to Kevin Anthony Cain and Connie Sara Marsden, of 18 Northcroft Apartments, Castletown.

David Charles Titcombe sold 6 Leigh Terrace, Castletown Road, Douglas, for £85,000 to Callin Developments Limited, whose registered office is situated at 18 King Edward Close, Onchan.

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We publish details of all house sales unless we receive a written request from the police or probation services.

terry

cringle

Vandals damaged two vehicles in Willaston earlier this week.

Both attacks happened in Barrule Road and saw numerous scratches caused to the driver and passenger doors.

The rear wipers were also removed, with one damaged beyond repair.

The incidents took place between 11pm on Monday, June 9, and 6am the following day.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Constable Lee Wright at Lord Street Police Station on 631212 or via email to lee.wright@gov.im

Alternatively, offer information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.