At Monday night’s Isle of Wight council Executive meeting, allegations were made about serious flaws in the calculations of anticipated income in papers proposing the introduction of foot passenger fares on the Cowes floating bridge.
Cllrs Hillard, Baker-Smith and Blezzard all expressed their concern at the alleged flaws in the paperwork (full details here) and now others in East Cowes have been speaking out.
They argue the proposal should not go out to public consultation until projections of expected income are revisited by officers, stressing that residents will be mis-informed about what is achievable should foot passenger fares be introduced.
Request to see detail behind projections
Following a meeting on Tuesday evening, East Cowes Town Councillor, Jane Rann, told OnTheWight,
“I have seen good detailed budget projections that demonstrate that 50p pedestrian charges wouldn’t raise anything near £400,000 that the IW Council is predicting.
“I am proposing that the East Cowes Town Council request that the IW Council make all of the floating bridge accounts public as well as the full maths for how they arrived at projecting that number earlier this year.”
It’s a “toll on the people of East Cowes”
East Cowes town councillor, Morris Barton, shared the Mayor’s concerns. He told OnTheWight,
“According to papers in the public domain, the floating bridge has a surplus of around £250,000 each year after costs.
The current vehicle fares pay for the running of the bridge, so introducing foot passenger fares is effectively imposing a toll on the people of East Cowes.
“Why not do the same for the bridge in Yarmouth?”
He went on to add,
“From the calculations I’ve seen, it’s unlikely first year would even produce any profit.
“Councillors will be meeting again next week and will continue to pursue the matter.”
“Stop making us cash cows for the whole Island”
It’s not just councillors who are unhappy with the proposals and ‘flawed calculations’. Emily Jones from Mrs Jones Tea Depot told OnTheWight,
“Charging pedestrians to walk between the towns and slowing down the crossings will mean fewer cars and pedestrians will use it. Fewer people on the floating bridge, fewer customers in my cafe. That kind of loss of customers will close down our little shops as well as ruin Waitrose.
“Stop trying to unfairly tax Cowes and East Cowes. The floating bridge benefits the whole Island by keeping traffic out of Newport. Council tax does not pay for the floating bridge service; it’s paid for by car fees and makes a profit. Central Government is paying for the new bridge, so stop trying to make us into cash cows for the whole Island.
“My Council tax pays for paving B roads that are like private driveways to wealthy areas. Why as an East Cowes resident and a business should I be taxed twice?”
Government funding for new floating bridge
On Monday it was announced the Government would be fully funding a new floating bridge, which would be in the water by March 2016.
Therefore, any additional revenue raised through fares on the floating bridge would therefore be used to plug the £28m funding gap the council faces over the next three years.
Image: The Man in Blue under CC BY 2.0
