On Tuesday afternoon, responding to reports of a small rockfall on Bonchurch Shute, the road was closed to traffic between its junctions with Bonchurch Village Road and Leeson Road.
Island Roads, the Highways PFI contractor, issued a road closure notice this morning (Wednesday) which states that the road would be closed for “a maximum period of twenty-one days or until the road is deemed safe, whichever is sooner”.
Church warden’s experience
The rockfall had been reported by Deborah Percy, the local church warden. She contacted Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads on Tuesday, after spotting a small amount of rockfall.
She was advised to go online and make an application to “to lessen the load of the tree”. Deborah explained that the tree in question is a Holm Oak. She was then told that getting approval could take up to a month as the council’s Tree Officer was currently on leave.
Accused of being aggressive
Deborah posed the question that if there was a major incident, which dept should she blame, only to be accused of “being aggressive”.
She told OnTheWight,
“I am many things, but not aggressive.”
The road remains closed to through traffic, although pedestrians can still pass through on the opposite side of the road.
