Isle of Wight Council ward councillor for Binstead and Fishbourne, Ian Dore, has once again written to Island Roads and senior council highways officers demanding answers over the sudden closure of Firestone Copse Road.
Firestone Copse Road closed overnight on Tuesday 10th February under a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice (TTRN), valid for 21 days, with a longer Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) cited as the next step to cover the period of Southern Water works on Elenors Grove.
Councillor Dore, in his role as ward councillor and on behalf of residents and local businesses, says the decision has hit hard.
‘Safety critical’ claim challenged
Island Roads has described the closure as a “safety critical” decision made by senior management, but Councillor Dore says neither the council nor Island Roads has provided any of the recorded information he requested to justify it.
He says there is no decision record, no risk assessment, and no monitoring logs – nor any anonymised summaries of near misses or damage claims, no written assessment of a one-way option, and no evidence showing the scale of diversion non-compliance.
Councillor Dore also says there is no clear explanation of who approved the closure, who owns the decision now, or who holds the authority to reopen it. He said,
“The claims are being repeated, but the evidence has not been produced.”
Accountability questioned
The councillor is clear that safety is a primary concern, but argues that the word cannot be used without the evidence to support it.
He points out that Island Roads acts on behalf of Isle of Wight Council as the delegated highways function provider, meaning actions taken under council traffic powers must be evidenced and explained.
Businesses reporting significant losses
Councillor Dore says the impact on local businesses is real and escalating.
Businesses have reported a downturn of between 30 and 50 per cent since the closure, with warnings of financial losses and staff losses if the situation continues. He said,
“These are livelihoods and local jobs. If the concern is driver behaviour and traffic volume, then the answer is controlled traffic management, not severing communities without transparency.”
Call for a one-way system
Drawing a parallel with his opposition to proposed car parking charges at this week’s budget meeting, Councillor Dore argues that communities under pressure should not lose the routes they rely on.
He is calling on the Highways Authority to implement a controlled, safe one-way system as an immediate solution.
He said,
“The Highways Authority needs to extend that lifeline now. “Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now.”
