The council share this latest news. Ed
The Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Cllr Dave Stewart, has today (Thursday 31 August) announced that as of Monday (4 September) the Floating Bridge will be removed from service until such time as it can be demonstrated that the bridge, and the service it provides, can operate properly in accordance with the council’s specified requirements.
Councillor Stewart, said:
“I understand and share the frustrations and impact this inconsistent service is currently having on our local community. I am also aware of the amount of time and energy the council is having to dedicate to try to address the problems with the new floating bridge. Having only become a majority administration in May of this year, my priority as leader is to ensure that our resources are focused, and not disproportionally so on fixing the mistakes of the past, whilst other were in charge.
“However, it is now up to the present administration under my leadership to sort this out so that Island residents can have the service they deserve and expected; I certainly share their frustrations, which have been expressed on many occasions during the commissioning process of the floating bridge.
“It is quite clear to me that the floating bridge is not working as it should be. It is simply not acceptable that the vessel still cannot operate at all states of the tide. This makes timetabling the operation of the bridge near on impossible. Therefore, in discussion with officers and the Cabinet, I have taken the difficult decision to remove the floating bridge from service until such time as the issues have been satisfactorily resolved. The council has also instructed lawyers to advise the council on the various contractual issues relating to the design, build and commissioning of the floating bridge. I appreciate that this will restrict the amount of information that we can release into the public domain at this time.
“The review I have instigated will consider a number of matters that have been highlighted to me by the local community and are already being investigated; I thank those in the community, including the ward councillor and East Cowes town council in particular, for sharing their concerns with me. Over £3 million of public money has been spent, through the Local Enterprise Partnership on this new vessel and expectations have not yet been met; we need to get it put right.
“We have formally written to both the designers and the builders of the floating bridge requiring them to work together to discuss and propose solutions to resolve the issues and to provide a timetable within which this will be achieved.”
Passenger launch timetable
From Monday 4 September until further notice, a passenger only launch service will operate during peak periods a follows:
| Day | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Monday-Thursday | 5am | 10am |
| 1pm | 7pm | |
| Friday | 5am | 10am |
| 1pm | 11.30pm | |
| Saturday | 5am | 10am |
| 5pm | 11.30pm | |
| Sunday | 6.40am | 10am |
| 5pm | 10pm |
However, during the week 4-8 September 2017, the passenger launch will operate from 3pm on Monday 4 September and 2.15pm on Thursday 7 September.
Stewart: Unacceptable level of pressure on officers
Councillor Stewart, continued:
“I appreciate that putting a reduced service in place for an extended period is not what people are used to or expect of the floating bridge service, but I also need to look to the council’s financial position; Isle of Wight tax payers cannot continue to subsidise a more extensive service without some certainty of recovering these costs in the future. With the best will in the world, the council has spent four months trying to resolve various issues and sustain a service without success.”
“These last four months have been extremely difficult for the council as well as the community. I also take account, in making this decision of the fact that the situation has put increasing pressure on our officers and our floating bridge staff, and it is now reaching an unacceptable level which I am no longer prepared to accept.”
“I would like to thank all those involved for their continued patience while we have tried to resolve the commissioning issues, the passenger launch businesses that have helped us, and continue to help us, to maintain some service across the Medina.
“In conclusion, the council will be doing its very best to reinstate this service properly and as quickly as possible, but we must get it right.”
