The Isle of Wight Council will press ahead with a plan to replace Floating Bridge 6, councillors decided tonight (16th October 2025).
Economy, Regeneration, Transport and Infrastructure Committee (ERTIC) members voted to ‘assess market interest around the supply of a new vessel’, going against an officers’ recommendation to modify rather than replace the chain ferry.
ERTIC agreed to instruct officers to ‘procure a qualified company to articulate a high level requirement specification and invite companies to procure solutions’.
New vessel recommendations
The motion passed this evening spelt out recommendations relating to a new vessel, including it operating at a ‘minimum of five return crossings per hour’, it being at the ‘location of the existing service’ and a ‘focus on sustainability’.
It said an update report will be brought to an ERTIC meeting on January 22, 2026.
At that point, a ‘formal decision’ could be made on the preferred option for the new vessel and beginning the tendering process before the start of the pre-election period.
An Isle of Wight Council election will take place in May 2026.
A “direct attempt” to “undermine democracy”
The Floating Bridge modification recommendation was previously denounced by councillors Lora Peacey-Wilcox and Cameron Palin as a “direct attempt” to “undermine democracy”.
They raised the Alliance group cabinet’s decision to replace the chain ferry and Councillor Peacey-Wilcox, herself part of the Alliance, said it is “running at a loss of over £1 million a year”. She said,
“Floating Bridge Six is not fit for purpose. Keeping it is a calamitous waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Independent East Cowes county councillor Karl Love previously said he was “stunned” by the recommendation, adding that residents “experience the failures of this vessel in real time”.
A new vessel “does not represent value for money”
An ERTIC report presented this evening said a modification of Floating Bridge Six would lead to a ‘higher value for money outcome’ and is the ‘preferred option from the perspective of maximising the economic and social benefits of the crossing’.
Its recommendation to the committee stated,
“Notes that Option one (new vessel) does not represent value for money relative to the other options, is not affordable and would not satisfy the legislative requirements to enable borrowing to be taken for the capital costs of purchase for a new vessel.
“Agrees to recommend to policy, finance and resources committee to allocate up to a maximum of £400,000 to undertake further limited modifications to the current Floating Bridge Six for additional chains and funded from the Floating Bridge Settlement Agreement.
“Subject to approval of funding by the policy, finance and resources committee, give approval to proceed to procurement for necessary works to undertake additional chain modifications only.
“Notes and acknowledges the views expressed from the public engagement alongside the best-case findings of the economic and financial assessment outputs.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
