A campaign, calling itself the Better Ferry Campaign, is preparing to launch on the Isle of Wight.
A professionally-shot video, available online, entitled ‘A film by the Isle of Wight Better Ferry Campaign with a range of prominent ferry users talking about their views on the current Isle of Wight Ferry service and how it could be improved in the future.’ appeared a week ago. We’ve embedded it below.
Those that appear in the video are:
- Andrew Palmer, of the Priory Bay Hotel;
- Mark Waldron, the new headmaster at Ryde School;
- Mark King, Level 42;
- Valerie Resin, Clinical Psychologist;
- Dr David Isacc, GP, Carisbrooke Healthcare Centre;
- Nicky Hayward, MBE for services to Tourism;
- Colin Boswell, Garlic Farm;
- Anthony Davies and Alison Martin, The Really Green Holiday Company;
- and Andrew Hodgson, Cheverton Farm.
Each of them deliver their thoughts as to the current situation with ferry companies that serve the Isle of Wight and what they think is wrong at the moment.
Debt
Andrew Palmer, points to the level of debt (called gearing in banking circles) that he says the owners of the companies had to take on to buy the ferry companies, saying, “All of the profits being made inevitably went to service the bank debts.”
A call for a strategy
The last two clips are from Nicky Hayward and Andrew Palmer. Nicky says, “I think there needs to be an all-Island, non-Political strategy to work with Wightlink, and Red Funnel, and Hovertravel, and any other ferry operators, in order to ensure that the local community are served and that everybody who wants to visit the Island is able to do so – at a price that is realistic in the current tourism market.”
Andrew Palmer is given the last word: “It’s wrong that an essential service, to be owned and operated by over-geared businesses that are only interested in returning funds to share holders.”
Watch the video
Update 14.35: Somewhat bizarrely, from an organisation seeking to gain public support, just under an hour after publishing this article, the video was removed.
