Cllr Phil Jordan, Isle of Wight Cabinet Member for Highways, PFI, Transport, shares this release about the Alliance Administration’s next steps in the Floating Bridge saga. In his own words. Ed
During the last four years of the Conservative Isle of Wight Council administration, much Council Tax money was spent on the floating bridge, choosing to soldier on with Floating Bridge 6, spending uncapped amounts of money on temporary repairs and in turn, negatively impacting local businesses, residents and visitors.
The Conservative administration ignored professional, independent, engineers who, since June 2017, strongly advised the Conservative-led Council to reject this floating bridge as it could never be fit for purpose. It was the Conservative political ‘leadership’ who claimed Floating Bridge 6 wasn’t ‘too big’, and that it was fit for purpose with merely ‘teething problems’ and ‘snagging issues’.
Responding to recent comments contained in a letter from a former conservative councillor, Cllr Phil Jordan, the cabinet member for transport said,
“We are moving forward.
“The IW Council’s Alliance administration that was elected in May is absolutely committed to preventing unlimited amounts of money being spent on FB6, unlike the previous administration who did so for four years.
“Over the past five months, we have been working towards interim solutions as well as a proper, longer-term, permanent resolution for a floating bridge, including speaking with excellent independent engineering experts to make sure everything is done correctly.
“We are now able to make some headway towards proper solutions and have formed a pragmatic, clear and decisive action plan.”
He added,
“A new Floating Bridge a realistic possibility.
“The new Alliance administration has the consideration of a new floating bridge very much on the cards, but unfortunately it’s a slightly more complicated decision-making process, because the £3.2 million Floating Bridge 6 was not funded solely by the Council’s money, but by a multi-million, Government Local Growth Deal grant awarded by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership.
“Frustratingly, it’s not quite as simple as buying a new car to replace an old model.”
Engineering assessment
The Solent LEP asked the IW Council Conservative Administration in November 2020 to commission a much-needed independent technical report and Government review on the issues of the failing FB6. They asked again in January 2021. Unfortunately, the Conservative administration failed to commission the report.
Cllr Jordan continued,
“As a result, we are now taking action. The review is an exhaustive independent audit very similar to what Independent engineers asked the last Council to repeatedly do since 2017. The report will be undertaken by independent consultants, Local Partnerships, and will be scoped as a Cabinet Review type report.
“It is a necessary and important step that officially will assess the floating bridge and demonstrate if it can ever provide the frequent and reliable crossings like the old Floating Bridge 5 could do even at 40-years old. The completely independent report on the vessel will be undertaken in the timescales laid out and is set to be completed by the end of November 2021.”
Stop wasting money
The Alliance is stopping all major spend on Floating Bridge 6 other than for immediate breakdowns to maintain the service. Clearly it is important to maintain this important crossing and we will do so until the final solution is implemented once all current matters are settled.
In March 2022 there is a statutory MCA five-year inspection of the vessel, as they inspect all floating bridges top to bottom every five years. There is no choice for this routine statutory inspection which means the floating bridge will be out of service for four to six weeks, and the cost of this inspection is estimated to be around £250,000.
Legal actions
Cllr Jordan went on to add,
“The Alliance Administration has now begun the mediation process about the floating bridge, as no mediation had taken place by the previous Administration, despite the former Leader of the Conservative administration claiming that a mediation process was underway between the council and those involved in the design and build of this floating bridge.
“The previous Administration repeatedly denied the public’s requests for information about the floating bridge, citing mediation and an on-going ‘legal case’ as the reason not to answer questions.
“The Alliance administration already has immediately and decisively insisted that a Mediation process be undertaken before the end of November 2021 and a date is currently being agreed and set within the timeframe we have laid out.”
More information forthcoming
At the 14th October IWC Cabinet meeting, consideration of the next steps with the floating bridge will be discussed. A new floating bridge could be very much part of the considerations after the process of mediation and independent report is concluded by the end of the year.
Cllr Jordan commented,
“We are extremely concerned with how unreliable the current floating bridge appears to be and how it is hurting local businesses and spending Islanders’ valuable Council Tax.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating that the floating bridge is having continued problems and breakdowns and out of service periods since we took over the administration of the council in May”
The ‘Tall Tales’
Adding detail, Cllr Jordan said,
“The previous Conservative Administration wasted time and money for four years, even though they had access to all of the technical knowledge and legal documents and were made fully aware of Floating Bridge 6’s problem. They ignored engineering experts and the facts and instead chose to keep spending taxpayer money on this floating bridge without a real plan for a long-term solution. It was the most expensive sticking plaster this Island has probably ever seen.
“Two independent reports commissioned since 2017 have cleared entirely the IW Council’s then-independent administration (2013-2017) of liability in the procurement of the current FB6. The independent administration as councillors weren’t given access to the very technical engineering side of the design and build of FB6 as it was being created, built and delivered.
“In the end, whilst the Conservatives dithered about the floating bridge for four years, the real losers have been the residents, the shops and mobile companies in Cowes and East Cowes, everyone suffering the heavy tailbacks in Newport, and every islander who pays Council tax. All Islanders deserve better, and we cannot afford a mismanaged money pit any longer.”
In the know
Finally, Cllr Jordan added,
“The Alliance genuinely wants to be transparent in what is happening and let everyone know about progress. In May, we pledged to Islanders that we would be a listening Council and this is what we are doing regarding the floating bridge.
“More information about the floating bridge will be forthcoming in the immediate future and at the next IW Council Cabinet meeting. We would like to, and intend to, keep the public updated as regularly as we are able with progress on finding a solution. It is not a simple process, and we have complications to work through with stakeholders and with a legal action running in tandem, but we will resolve this matter without any further long-term delays.
In stark contrast to the way the previous administration dealt with FB6, their mis-information and failed attempts to find solutions, within the first six months of office the Alliance will resolve the Mediation process, will have commissioned an independent technical report and will have resolved all matters directly with the floating bridge’s funders, the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership before taking very clear and decisive action to finally place a full stop on the past four years of incompetence.”
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
