Isle of Wight councillor for East Cowes, Cllr Karl Love, has said he’s lost all confidence in Cllr Ian Ward’s abilities to lead and address the many issues of the floating bridge.
Prior to Cowes Week the Cabinet member for transport, Cllr Ward, had said he wanted to provide visitors with “a good floating bridge service during the period of Cowes Week”. However, the bridge was taken out of service twice during the week, leaving many sailors and visitors stranded.
Love: “Promise after promise and failure after failure”
Cllr Love told OnTheWight,
“I’m more than a bit cross about events of the floating bridge last week. The issues were totally predictable.
“I have lost all confidence in Cllr Ward’s abilities to lead and address the issues of the floating bridge. The Tories have dithered and not taken assertive actions and continue to fail to keep myself and Cllr Lora Peacey-Wilcox informed.
“We have had promise after promise, and failure after failure.”
Love: IWC “spinning out a message”
He went on to say,
“The so-called emergency meeting that took place on Thursday resulted in chaos that evening. The press release issued by the Isle of Wight council was not clear and, in my view, focused on spinning out a message instead of providing useful information.
“The last replacement launch was at 11pm, but no advice was given to our night-time economy workers or those who were catching the last Red Funnel ferry from East Cowes home to Southampton.”
Business Association: “Service completely unacceptable”
Tracy Reardon, Secretary for East Cowes Business Association (ECBA) told OnTheWight,
“The East Cowes Business Association would like to share their dismay at the continuing Cowes floating bridge fiasco.
“During this Cowes week, which is obviously a huge earning period for the businesses in our two towns, the service was completely unacceptable, one of our members had to close all day on Thursday due to no footfall as no Bridge!
“We feel the people of our two towns have been ignored in this matter and certainly not been informed along the way, as was promised at the town council meeting with the leader of the council.”
Love: “Unsettling for local businesses”
Cllr Love added,
“My residents are very concerned about the future. What will Wight Shipyard be doing? Will the bridge be off again? How much is it costing? What are the timescales?
“This is just so unsettling for local businesses. The bridge is central to future planning as stated by the SLEP. How can development and our regeneration plan have any credibility?”
He added,
“It’s an impossible situation with no clear leadership. There is a total lack of respect for local members by this council and Tory administration. We independent members are being excluded and communications are vague and non-existent, even when we request them, they are not forthcoming.
“I have asked for an urgent meeting and as usual been met with silence. If this was a new car we would have sent it back long ago. This is hurtful for our town, Island and business communities who are complaining to me.
“What can I say except sorry, I don’t know and they will not tell me what’s happening.”
ECBA: “Gone on too long”
Tracy from the Business Association went on to add,
“A permanent solution needs to be found and quickly before we lose any more businesses.
“This has gone on too long with no one taking responsibility for the design error that is obvious, I just hope this hasn’t put off prospective investment in next year’s Cowes week and hope that our businesses especially in the hospitality industry can make it through the winter.”
For the latest Floating Bridge timetable, see the official Website.
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
