Port St Mary’s local authority has hit back after the village was accused of overloading a bin wagon by neighbours in Port Erin.
A letter from Port Erin Commissioners offered to collect waste from 150 households in Port St Mary as a solution to problems it said Port St Mary had with over loading and cleaning the lorry, which is jointly owned by the authorities but independently operated.
But when the letter was discussed, Port St Mary commissioners’ clerk Alastair Hamilton refuted the claims the lorry was overloaded and there could be cost savings in Port Erin’s proposal.
The authority followed this up with a letter to Port Erin asking for ‘inaccuracies’ in their letter to be publicly corrected.
Port St Mary Commissioners’ chairman Bernadette Williams wrote they work ‘comfortably’ within the vehicle’s capacity, in fact, their records show they operate at 10 per cent below maximium laden weight.
Port Erin commissioners’ clerk Jason Roberts said the letter was a ‘misinterpretation of what the whole discussion was about’.
He said the design weight is different to the UK plate weight and he has contacted the vehicle test centre to clarify which weight the lorry can operate at.
Commissioner Barbara Guy proposed they apologise for the ‘misunderstanding’.
Commissioners’ chairman Nick Watterson said: ‘We do not want this to be a continuing saga of correspondence back and forth.’