Solent LEP

The Isle of Wight councillor for East Cowes says the Solent LEP consultation for the floating bridge was a "shockingly poor example of community engagement".

As well as some national firsts, Solent LEP investment in the area has reached more than £130m.

The Solent LEP would like to hear from anyone who could be affected by the survey, including younger and older generations, the general public, private, academic and voluntary sectors and all areas of the Solent.

The Solent BREXIT Toolkit will take about 15 minutes to complete and will highlight resources and events available to your business’s specific requirements.

The Floating Bridge Stakeholders group argue Floating Bridge 6 "would never be fit for purpose", and "should be scrapped and replaced entirely".

The Solent LEP have been criticised for failing to notify residents, businesses, councillors or other floating bridge stakeholders of the consultation that was launched three weeks ago. OnTheWight has the details, including how you can respond.

A contingent from the Floating Bridge Stakeholders Group gave a deputation to the funders of the Cowes Floating Bridge - the Solent LEP - today. They report back here.

For the 2017-2018 financial year, the Solent LEP was expected to spend more than £32m, however a report has shown it only used £10.7m, with almost £3m still unallocated.

The National Autonomy Centre, based around Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, is building and testing a wide range of autonomous and driverless, as they revealed last night - including Lifeboats.

A group of Isle of Wight residents, mostly with professional engineering and project management expertise, and including some town councillors, have written today to the Solent LEP - who funded Floating Bridge 6 - requesting a meeting and setting out their concerns about the failure of the project.

The publication of the Government's Industrial Strategy sees the strengthening of the Solent LEP's role in shaping national policy. Renewed emphasis has also been placed on the LEP's role in driving Local Growth.