At last night’s Executive meeting, members voted to delay making a decision on whether to spend up to £200,000 on a ‘Make and Mend’ solution to tackle the Totland landslide.
A significant landslide occurred on the Totland coastline a year and a half ago, in December 2012. The seawall at Totland suffered extensive damage impacting the use of the popular footpath that ran between Totland Bay and Colwell Bay.
Cllr Jordan, the Executive Member responsible for public health and safety, last night highlighted the detailed report into the failure of the sea wall compiled by consultants, Mott MacDonald, which sets out possible options to address the problem.
Choices offered in report
Do nothing, ‘make and do mend’ or a multi-million pound reconstruction were the options presented in the report.
Although the ‘make and mend’ option was originally recommended by officers, an option that would’ve seen the pedestrian link between Totland and Colwell reinstated, it was superseded last night by a new fourth option.
Defer decision until further information available
Members were advised to defer their decision-making until the ‘winter flood report’ – which is due to be presented to the Executive in July – had been considered.
It was suggested this would better inform Members of the possible expenditure needed across the Isle of Wight following the floods and other landslides that have occurred in the last 12 months.
This would undoubtedly have an impact on the resources available to the council to allocate to various projects, including Niton Undercliff and Cowes Enterprise College.
Impact on tourism
Cllr Jordan pointed out how the closure of the pedestrian link has resulted in “lost opportunities in the area to tourism”.
He added that tourism in the West of the Island is “quite different to the East Wight”, attracting more cyclists and walkers, rather than the beach holiday-makers the East sees.
The petition from local residents calling on the Isle of Wight council to take action to reinstate the footpath was also highlighted and acknowledged.
Decision made
The item was voted upon and the deferral option was approved along with instruction to officers to seek a firm quotation on the ‘make do and mend’ option.
Leader of the council, Cllr Ian Stephens sought to reassure West Wight residents that even if the council “can’t do anything at this moment in time, it’s not dead in the water. We will continue to keep on striving to find ways forward”.
It’s likely the item will to come back to Members at the 5th August Executive meeting.
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Image: © Used with the kind permission of the Isle of Wight council
