We were at the PCC hustings last night, so unable to attend the Island Roads PFI briefing being held at County Hall. (Apparently the Vinci team – who originally bid for the PFI roads contract – were introduced as Eurovia). Many thanks to Julia Hill from Wight Residents Against Asphalt Plant (WRAP) for this report from the meeting. In her own words – Ed
At the Island Roads PFI Briefing held at County Hall on 6th November 2012, representatives of Wight Residents Against Asphalt Plant (WRAP) asked a series of questions relating to the PFI and the Aphalt Plant planning application.
The principle question(s) related to the relationship between the PFI and the Asphalt Plant planning application.
“PFI is not dependent on the new asphalt plant”
IW Council representatives including Councillor Giles and PFI Director Jay Jayasundara stated that there was no requirement in the PFI contract for a new Asphalt Plant.
Councillor Giles said, “The PFI is not dependent on the new asphalt plant”
High Quality Asphalt not available?
However, when asked whether Eurovia agreed with this position, Eurovia were less clear in their response stating that:
“High Quality Asphalt is not available [on the Island] at the moment.”
Any contingency plans?
Eurovia repeatedly refused to give any information on contingency plans (to cover the situation where the planning application is rejected) and even to confirm whether any contingency plans existed, saying only that this was commercially sensitive.
The Island’s MP Andrew Turner had previously asked this question, on behalf of Islanders, and has still not received an answer on the matter.
Julia Hill asked the IW Council representatives if they could confirm, without necessarily giving any details, that they had seen any contingency plans.
PFI Director Jay Jayasundara stated that he was confident that Eurovia could deliver to the required quality without the new Asphalt Plant, however still refused to give a yes or no answer as to whether he was aware of contingency plans.
Bardon Vectis not approached
Eurovia stated that they had not approached Bardon Vectis to discuss supplying Asphalt from the existing plant at St George’s Down.
Eurovia were questioned on the supply of Bitumen to the proposed new Asphalt Plant.
Bitumen to come via ferries
Eurovia stated that the Bitumen would be supplied to the Island via ferries. This does of course mean that the Bitumen must be transported to the proposed new plant via road.
This additional traffic load (almost certainly along the Newport to Cowes road) has not previously been mentioned as part of the planning process.
Access to documents
WRAP representatives asked why Islanders were not allowed to see the contractual documents.
No clear answer was given and WRAP representatives reminded the forum that Islanders were the tax payer, the Council tax payer, the consumer of the service and the electorate.
As such, we believe that the contractual documents should be made public. The IW Council stated that the contractual documents would be published in the next two weeks.
Conflicting details on costs
PFI Director Jay Jayasundara gave conflicting details on the PFI contract. At one point, he stated that the PFI was a “fixed price contract” with prices increasing only in line with inflation.
At a different point in the meeting, he stated that a rate card had been agreed and that the national average would be used to determine whether the rate card remained competitive.
WRAP is therefore still unclear on whether the contract is actually a fixed price contract or whether Eurovia can vary the rates charged. (We’ve asked Jay this question and will publish his reply – Ed)
To be specific, we would like to confirm that any increase in the costs for Asphalt Production cannot be passed on to Islanders.
Any new jobs?
When asked by a member of the public how many people would be employed under the PFI by Island Roads, Eurovia representatives stated 170.
This was met by a response of, “Wow, so you will be a major employer on the Island then!”
Julia Hill then asked, “Taking off the number of people being re-deployed from the Council, and specialists brought from the mainland, how many new jobs will be created on the Island?”
The answer from Eurovia was vague, but the Eurovia representative admitted that if all staff at the council take up the offer of re-deployment then possibly no new jobs will be created.
“Sensitive to local issues”
During their presentation, Eurovia stated that they were keen to work with local communities and were sensitive to local issues.
As an example, they stated that they would schedule work to avoid noise in residential areas at night.
When asked why they were not showing the same sensitivity to residents near to the proposed Asphalt Plant, Eurovia stated that they were “not willing to discuss”.
Image: Iwan Gabovitch under CC BY 2.0
