“Highway issues are one of the principal causes of irritation to my residents,” an Isle of Wight councillor told County Hall on Wednesday night (16th September 2026).
Addressing full council, the Liberal Democrats’ Nick Stuart said that when people in his ward tell him there are problems, “it’s true”.
Meaningful consultation” motion
There was a discussion before the chamber endorsed his motion for ‘meaningful consultation’ in advance of key Island roadworks.
What the new policy requires
The local authority will now adopt a policy requiring ward councillors, town and parish councils and affected local businesses and residents to be consulted prior to the finalising of major scheduled project plans.
Further requirements are for ‘continuous engagement’ during the lifetime of the works and that projects are reported to the economy, regeneration, transport and infrastructure committee on a quarterly basis.
Councillor Stuart, who represents Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet, said,
“I would like the council to recognise there are two key things we need to see: consultation with members and the operational expectations of Island Roads and highways is to maintain the roadwork network as open as possible.
“We have seen far too many closures which take place when they don’t need to or which carry on being formally closed…when everybody can see there is no work being carried on.”
Councillors respond
Reform UK councillor Les Kirkby, who backed the motion, said over the last couple of months Island Roads and the highways department are working much closer together.
He added,
“They’re actually stopping road closures and emergency road closures where they never have done before – one of the biggest problems we’ve had is going to bed at night and waking up and the road’s closed in the morning.”
Not the “root of the issue,” says Conservative leader
Conservative leader Councillor Ed Blake voted in favour and said that while he was sympathetic to the direction of Councillor Stuart’s proposal, it doesn’t quite get to the “root of the issue”. He said,
“That is the fact that our transport network is beyond capacity to the point where it has absolutely zero resilience, so when a road is closed, you have got a ridiculous diversion around that is not only a lot of miles, but it also takes you forever to get through because there is too much traffic trying to get down that diversion.”
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, Island First Network chair of the economy, regeneration, transport and infrastructure committee, abstained in the vote.
She told the chamber,
“I appreciate the intent, but I think much of the work is being done by the committee and the committee will not be shirking away from any of the issues we need to face in order to get our road network as efficient as possible.”
Utility companies “create vast majority” of closures
All for Islanders leader Councillor Chris Jarman said utility companies create the “vast majority” of road closures the Island faces. He added,
“This is not simply an Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads issue – this has to involve cross-utility discussions and where Island Roads need our support, we need to weigh in with that support.”
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
