Isle of Wight council have instructed Island Roads to clear the fallen rock on Belgrave Road, Ventnor, but it’s not yet known when the work will actually take place.
That is the latest information from Isle of Wight council this week following almost three months of road closure after the overhang rock on the corner of Belgrave Road collapsed into a heap on the road and beyond.
Awaiting confirmation of start date
It’s been a month since the council confirmed it was finalising plans to investigate and fix the rockfall. When OnTheWight chased for the latest info this week, we were told that IWC were waiting for Island Roads to confirm a start date.
Perhaps the message has got stuck in one of the many slow-moving traffic jams being reported on the Island over the past few weeks ;-)
Desperate measures
Although the road is closed and secured with heras fencing, residents have been seen climbing over the rock and squeezing past the fencing rather than walking the diversion (either down to the seafront and back up again, or up and around Alpine Road).
The closure has had an impact on businesses and residents in the town, and in April, someone painted ‘Help’ in huge letters on the fallen rock.
Impact on Ventnor Fringe
If the road closure remains in place for much longer, it could have an impact on Ventnor Fringe Festival.
This event, which attracts thousands of people to the town over ten days each July, relies on festival goers being able to walk from the venues in town (Ventnor Exchange, the Churches and Ingram’s Yard) to the Festival Village in Ventnor Park and beyond to Flowersbrook.
Blake: A tangible daily impact on residents
Earlier this year, Councillor Ed Blake (the councillor for Ventnor and St Lawrence) highlighted the continued risk to infrastructure, as well as the daily challenges the closure presents to residents. He said,
“The rockfall not only presents a continued risk to the road infrastructure but also has a tangible daily impact on residents.
“The extra weight of fallen rock on the road adds to the risk of collapse. More immediately, residents—especially elderly individuals—are being forced to take longer, steeper routes to access the town centre.
“For some, the detour over Alpine Road is simply not manageable.”
