New proposals to increase Cowes Floating Bridge fares and introduce a charge for under-19s were thrown out by Isle of Wight councillors on Tuesday evening.
What was proposed
Raising passenger and vehicle ticket prices to align with Dartmouth Lower Ferry and implementing a flat rate of £1 per crossing for under-19s between 7pm and 7am were recommended in a council report signed by strategic director of community services, Simon Moon.
Mr Moon’s paper advised the measures be agreed for recommendation to the Policy, Finance and Resources Committee for adoption in the council’s budget setting processes.
The Dartmouth Lower Ferry currently charges £2.50 for an adult single, £5 for an adult day return, £7.50 for a car or small van single and £14 for a car or small van day return.
Current prices on the Floating Bridge are 50p to a pound for a foot passenger single and £2.50 to £3 for a car or small van.
Communities campaigned against the plans
Communities on both sides of the River Medina mounted a fierce campaign to stop fares increasing on the Floating Bridge.
Both town councils in Cowes and East Cowes decided to oppose the proposals on Monday.
Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox, leader of the Island First Network at County Hall and a Cowes town councillor, told the public meeting:
“I believe this suggestion by staff at County Hall is spiteful, alarmist, damaging.
“I notice there’s no one here – senior staff or directors – that suggested it, that’s pretty poor. No one here to listen to our concerns.”
A Floating Bridge staff member said he had been shocked at how many passengers there are on the ferry who are “socially and economically vulnerable”.
He said,
“£1.50 or a pound, I’m talking almost exclusively for the foot passengers, is a lot of money.
“They are on the breadline – I know they are because I speak to hundreds of them every day.”
Committee votes against the plans
All councillors on the Economy, Regeneration, Transport and Infrastructure Committee (ERTIC) voted against the plans.
Independent East Cowes county councillor Karl Love said Tuesday evening’s vote by the committee to reject increased fares and a new charge for under-19s was a “win for common sense”.
‘Absolutely ludicrous’: councillors’ views
In the council chamber, Councillor Love, who also serves as East Cowes’s deputy mayor, said the recommendations to increase ticket prices by the amount proposed were “absolutely ludicrous”.
He added,
“The economic impact for this Island would be significant, on our employers. Don’t think about the Floating Bridge in terms of what it costs, think about it in terms of what it resources, in terms of hundreds of millions of pounds worth of jobs and industry and connectivity.”
Councillor Paul Williams, Reform UK councillor for Osborne ward, said a lot of his residents use the vessel, including younger ones.
He added,
“They go across to Cowes and do the sports clubs and things like that over there and to charge them is wrong.”
Labour councillor for Cowes North, Jock Rafferty, warned of increased congestion on roads from putting up fares.
He said,
“If you price people off the Floating Bridge, they don’t disappear – they drive around to Newport, find another way to travel or they simply stop making the journey.”
New ferry and the council’s finances
Councillor Nick Stuart, Liberal Democrat representative for Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet, said a lot of work had gone into looking at a new ferry which would be “lighter and faster”, with a new report expected on this in January.
He added,
“If it is possible, and obviously there’s no certainty about that at the moment, to get a better ferry which does produce lower operation costs and a reasonable income, then it is likely that we may eventually be able to return with a new ferry to a position where that ferry brings money in for the council.”
Mr Moon’s report said the “financial challenge” is the single biggest risk to sustainable public services on the Island and that the council needs to “resolutely” maximise the deployment of its resources towards driving extra income, funding and cost savings.
Speaking on savings proposals at the meeting, including the Floating Bridge fare changes, Mr Moon mentioned County Hall’s “wider financial challenges”.
“Given the financial pressures, the council being in receipt of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) and the budget gap we’ve got to, everything has to be considered.
“Some of these issues will have been raised in the previous budget cycle earlier last year. Unfortunately, these issues will continue to have to keep coming back while we continue to carry such a budget deficit.
“As a consequence of being in receipt of EFS, there’s greater scrutiny on the authority…none of these are easy.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
