Jonathan Dodd‘s latest column. Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
People do like to moan. I know, and I make sure I do my fair share. After all, it wouldn’t be fair if other people got to do more moaning than me, would it? I do, however, reserve the right to moan about the things that annoy me. That’s what makes me an individual.
I love living on the Wight. I freely admit it. The fact that I’ve only lived here for five years doesn’t remove my right to moan or to lobby for change. I am, in fact, a sort of ambassador for the Island, because I work over there, on the island off the north coast. Everyone over there, it seems, has some happy memory about visiting us at some time in the past, and some of my current colleagues do visit us every year.
You live on an island too
Everyone has questions. My favourite one is – ‘What’s it like living on an island?’ To which I reply – ‘You tell me, because you live on an island too.’ It’s easy for them to forget that. I’ve even been asked about currency and passports and language, but I think most of those questions have been asked in jest. I’ve never yet met anyone who has anything bad to say about the Isle of Wight itself.
But. Those who do visit us unanimously comment on how expensive it is, meaning the ferries and the parking, and how run-down parts of the Island look, and they complain about the roads – not the size of the roads or the number of lanes, but their condition. Many are put off coming by the cost. Nearly all of them think it’s odd that they can’t drive over here without having to do the ferry thing.
It’s allowed to argue
I understand the opinions of those who want the Island to remain quiet and peaceful and isolated, and who resist the idea of change, but that way lies further decline while the rest of the world rushes on. It’s allowed to argue that everything should stay as it is. But if you’re a young person with no job prospects, or you have a medical condition that can’t be treated here, or you require social or caring services, or you just want to be part of a business with prospects, you have the right to disagree.
I’ve seen various posts lately about the future of the Island, and I’ve seen many comments suggesting that people who would like to see change should move elsewhere. At the same time there are many who resist any local attempts to set up businesses and employ more people for all sorts of reasons, some good and some bad. There are also calls for the new administration to wave magic wands and solve all the Island’s problems without changing anything.
As good an attraction as you could find anywhere in the world
Jo and I were visited this weekend by two of our children and a boyfriend. They have jobs on the mainland. We decided to do some tourist things. So we drove along Military Road in the sunshine, visited the Alum Bay facility, played Crazy Golf, rode the ski lift down to the beach and took the boat round the Needles. In the sunshine it was as good an attraction as you could find anywhere in the world and it was excellent. We all had a great time.
I bet there used to be a lot of Islanders who resisted any of this in their time too. I want more world-class attractions on the Wight, I want more people to come here and spend their money, and I want more jobs for Islanders and their children. I think we can do this without spoiling the things that make this such a pleasant place to live. I think it could make it even more pleasant.
Three choices
The way I see it, there are three choices for the future. We could hope to get money from Europe or somewhere and live off subsidies. Or we could carry on as we are, with more and more property being converted to second homes, fewer shops and facilities and employment, and fewer tourists turning up to fewer attractions.
The third choice would be to take the plunge and lobby hard for a bridge, because that’s the only way we’ll get real companies to start up or relocate here, which would improve our finances and employment. I’m sure our new council would be delighted to get the chance to encourage this kind of investment.
Things I don’t believe
I don’t believe companies would necessarily be overjoyed to embrace the idea of a ferry service that ran more often rather than the access that a bridge would bring. I don’t believe that a bridge would spoil the things that make the Wight special, and I don’t believe that we would be over-run by multinationals or high-rise hotels or theme parks.
I also don’t believe it would be necessary to charge excessive tolls for using a bridge. I recently used the M6 toll road, and it cost £5.50 for the car. I can’t believe that a bridge over the Solent would cost more to build than that road. Besides, nobody pays to cross the River Hamble on the M27 or to use the M275 into Portsmouth. There is no toll to cross from Wales to Anglesey, and that bridge carries railways and traffic. What’s the difference?
Pillars of salt
Making things better requires lots of imagination and energy and effort. Relying on councillors to do all the work is too easy. It means we can sit at home and complain, and when things go wrong we can always blame somebody else.
If you spend too much time looking backwards, you run the risk of turning into a pillar of salt. Maybe if enough people did that, we could turn them into a tourist attraction.
If you have been, thank you for reading this.
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