Residents of Undercliff Drive left last week’s Executive Meeting frustrated and disappointed, telling OnTheWight the meeting was “a joke” and “a waste of time”.
Members of the Executive were considering three ‘failure reports’ prepared by Island Roads and presented by Cllr Jon Gilbey.
Cllr Gilbey explained the reports were a requirement of the PFI contract and covered
- How the project network has been made safe following failures
- Future tests / inspections proposed to determine the full extent of the failure
- How it is proposed to mitigate the failure, including outlying of such options
Reports not intended to apportion blame
As explained during our live reporting of the meeting, Cllr Gilbey made it clear that these reports were not intended to apportion blame or examine the detailed management of the works to the carriageway, “That would require further work,” he said.
As previously reported, six options were put forward by Island Roads for future mitigation.
Cllr Gilbey went on to say,
“It is also clear that there has been ground movement along further parts of Undercliff Drive with climate change and stormy winters there is an increased probability of similar events along further sections of this roadway.”
He went on to say that he intended to supply full written replies to all the questions posed by residents and officers on the matter.
Consider drainage project
Deputy leader of the council and ward councillor for Ventnor West, Steve Stubbings, told members that any option they decide on should take into account the potential for a longer term drainage solution for the area, as highlighted by Undercliff Drive resident Tim Wright at the beginning of the meeting during public question time.
Cllr Stubbings feared significant amounts of public money being spent on the road and then councillors finding themselves in a similar situation in a few years time.
This was seconded by Cllr Hillard, who added she’d like to see a longer term strategy.
Undercliff is the lifeline for this area of the Island
As ward councillor for Niton and Whitwell, Cllr Dave Stewart (Con) was invited to speak,
“The Undercliff is the lifeline for this area of the Island and there are people there who are living in conditions now that they never expected to be.
“There are small businesses who have seen their income drop substantially and are struggling to try and keep that going.
“In the village of Niton, the impact of the traffic flow, if you think about all the coaches and cars that used to go through there, now coming through Niton and elsewhere, it’s quite significant and I really do think as part of the solution, those aspects need to be taken into account.”
Expand on the options
Leader of the council, Ian Stephens said he felt they needed to expand on the options in front of them and suggested an option seven be included,
“Which would be to go out and consult more widely with geo-technical expertise that is in and around the district.
“We’ve done some in the past, I know that members have unofficially gone and spoken with people. I think there’s a wealth of knowledge out there that can actually bring forward the possibility of a good chance to try and put the sustainable way forward.
“This administration needs to make sure that we explore all avenues for the people in the Undercliff area and indeed to visitors at Niton and through to Ventnor.
“That’s what we owe them, we owe them that commitment that we will try all eventualities to take this forward.”
Councillor for Nettlestone and Seaview, Reg Barry (LibDem) asked,
“Had the £14m awarded to the council in 2004 been spent on Undercliff Drive instead of being handed back to the government, would we be where we are now?”
This was met with calls of ‘no’ from the public gallery.
Cllr Gilbey: “An absolute catastrophe”
Cllr Gilbey summed up by saying,
“It’s an absolute catastrophe what has happened over there and I think we have a duty to make sure we do the right thing. We have an option to get this right now.
“What’s happened previously, what’s gone on before, we have to deal with that. That’s fine. What we’ve got to deal with is now. We’ve got the ability to make the right decisions at the moment, so I think we have to be mindful of going with recommendations.
“I think we have to be mindful of what we do now as far reaching possibilities not just for the next two or three years, but it has to be an ongoing solution. Not just a quick fix, this has to be a solution for many, many years to come and I think we need to look into every possible alleyway to see where we can actually go with this through various consultations and then come back at a later date with some hard costings and some good options that we can actually pick up on.”
Warnings from head of planning
Bill Murphy, head of planning at Isle of Wight council, was asked to comment.
He said,
“Clearly what has happened this winter and what has happened with previous landslips along the Undercliff has a major link to the groundwater regime. That is understood. What is less well understood and developed is the feasibility, practicality and cost of a long-time de-watering solution.
“I have to advise members that once you start on a track for a solution like that and then design other engineering works around it, you then have to maintain that associated regime in place with the ongoing annual costs that sit with it.
“I’m advising you of that from the perspective that we’re actually looking at one of the biggest areas of land instability certainly in the UK. It’s at least a 10km (in length) zone and evidence seems to demonstrate that further difficulties with the carriageway could occur at a number of different points.”
He warned members to not underestimate the amount of work and cost involved with the options of larger schemes. He added that from his correspondence with residents affected, that most of them wanted a decision as quickly as possible from the authority. He was concerned that option seven would drag out the process and decision-making.
“Nature has a way of winning”
Councillor for Ryde East, Roger Whitby-Smith (Ind) said,
“This scene could hemorrhage money forever if you make the wrong decision.
“Nature has a way of winning!”
A word of caution on costs
Bill Murphy confirmed that the options were not mutually exclusive and members could pick and mix if needed. He went on to urge caution on the costs presented by Island Roads, which were, he said, “extremely high level”.
He suggested the cost for Option Five – to establish a temporary low cost road from the west (initially less than £100,000) – looked far too low when compared with Option One – re-establish pedestrian access only (£250,000 to £500,000).
“A geologist and a miner could sort the Undercliff”
He stated that although the council does have a huge amount of documentation on the Undercliff over the last thirty years or so, what they don’t have, not just on the Island but around the world, is experience of trying to drain such a large area.
“You’re in or you’re out and there’s less experience of doing that, managing it and therefore understanding what the costs of doing that would be. That’s the bit that’s missing. Not the understanding of how the drainage actually works, that’s quite well known. Indeed some of the technical solutions being brought forward, there’ll all sensible and not very complicated really, anyone who’s worked in mining would understand the solutions.
“A geologist and a miner put together could sort the Undercliff out for you. But what we’ve never done is try to do it in an area where you’ve got a road crossing it and properties. It’s different doing it underground where you’re trying to get coal out to doing it in an area where we’ve developed a community on it.”
Decision-making dragged out
Bill Murphy told members that he thought it unrealistic they’d be able to provide detailed costs and timelines for the August meeting. He said September ‘might’ be achievable. He said costings by September “wouldn’t be spot-on”, but would “give an order of magnitude.”
Members voted for officers to carried out detailed investigations on cost and timeline for options options one, four and five and to report back to the Executive on these in September and also to investigate the feasibility of an additional option to carry out investigations in relation to possible longer term options for the Undercliff.
Following the meeting one resident told the BBC they thought councillors were “pussycats”.
Image: © Isle of Wight Council
