East Cowes councillor, Karl Love shares this. Ed
What should have been the great regeneration of East Cowes is turning into a disaster for its small businesses as the end of the financial year approaches.
As a direct result of the year-long Cowes Floating Bridge fiasco and its failures, East Cowes shop ‘Value for You’ which also hosts the Tourist Information Centre is sadly Closing its doors at Easter as a direct result of reduced footfall and trading. Our town will greatly miss Angie and Rodger who have always been at the centre of organising fun events for our town as active members of the Business Association.
Our town owes them and other small business owners a huge thanks for going above and beyond to support our townspeople. We will sadly miss their happy smiling faces and laughter.
I regrettably forecast that several other shops may close in the coming months. I have also visited other businesses this week and I have witnessed some of their distress as they face closure or selling up.
Virtually no support
Our town has had virtually no support from the IWC with lots of empty words from Cllrs Dave Stewart and Ian Ward. Not one penny has been spent by this council on trying to save East Cowes small local shops and businesses.
Confidence in using the Floating Bridge remains low and this has hurt our town badly, as I stated it would from the outset.
With Easter approaching, there is little hope of things changing and even my own and other local B&Bs are left struggling.
The Isle Of Wight Council previously offered to help small Businesses with rate relief but this has had no impact because so few of our town shops pay it in the first place.
Invest FB profits
What our town needs now is urgent action.
This council could invest next year’s entire profits from the Floating Bridge ticket sales back into our town to try and save what businesses remain. The council could run a positive PR campaign supporting local shops and address the PR disaster the Floating Bridge has brought nationally too.
Patronising and empty words
Our Town has asked for help and received patronising and empty words from this Councils leadership.
Many who make these important decisions about our Floating Bridge admit they have hardly ever, in their lives, used the bridge. From its design to its catastrophic introduction, it’s failed our Island’s people and business on both sides of the river.
East Cowes town centre will soon be a ghost town thanks to this appalling demonstration of performance by the IWC leadership.
