Councillors were expecting to take part in a debate last night about the Economic Improvement Fund.
A motion had been tabled by Cllr Julie Jones-Evans asking council to agree to allocate funding to the three areas who did not submit bids for a slice of the Economic Improvement Fund, Newport, Calbourne and Fishbourne.
At the beginning of the meeting whilst the chairman was going through housekeeping items such as declarations of interest and apologies for absence, members were told that item 5 (Cllr Jones-Evans’ one) had been withdrawn.
Despite the motion being withdrawn, there were attempts for a discussion to continue, more to follow on that later.
Why the motion was withdrawn
We wrote to Cllr Jones-Evans today to ask why she had withdrawn the motion. He told VB,
Since the motion was published, there was some misunderstanding over the part that referred to the “without the need for match funding by the parish councils”.
It was never my intention that the parish councils be given a second opportunity for EIF funding but that community groups with support of local IWC members have a chance to boost the economy of their areas. The IW Council has responsibility for the whole Island and I wanted us to ensure that Newport and other areas did not miss out, just because their parish councils didn’t rise to the challenge.
Given this apparent interpretation, I did not want to detract from the hard work many parishes and town councils had done in order to raise the match funding. There are some really creative schemes that have come forward from around the Island and I look forward to seeing them unfold.
I am not a fan of amending motions on the night as there is not always the time to consider them fully, so I made the decision to withdraw the motion instead of an amendment.
However, I feel that by tabling the motion I brought the plight of Newport to the attention of my fellow IW Council members and others. I am hopeful that the IW Council will be able to address Newport’s economic challenges as part of its ongoing priorities.
The decision of Newport Parish Council not to make a bid for the EIF is astonishing, given the contribution the town makes to the Island’s economy. Myself and a number of other local residents were hugely disappointed at the stance they took.
More to follow in due course.
