A new youth council has met Port St Mary Commissioners for the first time.

But its formation is a rare achievement for village commissioner Laurence Vaughan-Williams, who suggested the youth council, and said he has found being a commissioner ’very frustrating’.

The council, comprised of six representatives from Castle Rushen High School and King William’s College, was formed to improve communication betwen the village authority and young people.

’It is to get input from people who are a lot younger than ourselves, to find out what they want us to do,’ said Mr Vaughan-Williams. ’They will tell us what they want. We talk about having a skatepark in the village but I don’t know anything about skateparks.’

He wants to see youth councils rolled out across the island by other authorities.

’Two of the students hope to be lawyers. I was impressed by their calibre, they were smart, polite and interested. Anyone who criticises young people should meet these young people,’ he said.

CRHS student Luke Sharp, 17, said: ’It was interesting to see how it worked. It will give everyone a voice. We will gather ideas about projects or issues and take it to the board.’

But Mr Vaughan-Williams said it is one of two things -the other being mending a broken toilet seat - he has achieved since being elected in 2017.

He said Manxonia House could be rented out and should not be sold at a loss to the ratepayer.

And he believes the authority was ’completely wrong’ to end the kerbside recycling scheme.

’The rates increased, yet there is an asset sitting there (Manxonia House) which could be rented out, there is a potential income stream.

’My suggestion was to sell Manxonia House on a long leasehold basis so it is a future asset for the village. People have approached us they are prepared to rent it. It would be an income and enable us to keep recycling and keep the rates down.’

He added: ’We should not sell Manxonia House at a potential loss to the ratepayer. We have no reserves. Assets could be sold like Gellings Avenue toilets.’

He said reducing the size of the board from nine to five means there is a greater chance of an in-built majority. He disagrees with the move to the monthly meetings.

He referred to investigations into moving the commissioners’ office to another area of the town hall. ’I supported the decision to get a survey but should you spend more on the town hall when Manxonia House should be retained as an asset and let out?’

When asked if he would step down, he said: ’I’m an old-fashioned street fighter, I will stay until I’m thrown out. It’s very frustrating, the decisions are arbitrary and contrary.’

Commissioners’ chairman Michelle Haywood said she was ’disappointed’ he had decided to speak out against the board. ’

As he knows, all decisions are made on the basis of the majority of the board. That’s the beauty of democracy.’