With all of the talk of the Mill Bay planning application being on peoples minds and lips, we’ve been _really_ slow in getting out the notes from the previous Ventnor Town Council meeting – makes us appreciate all the more, the solid work that Mark Compton-Hall puts in when covering the meeting normally.
The first major item on the agenda was a letter written by Neil Gibbs and Chris Mortimer, representing the Spyglass Inn, Mill Bay Inn and The Met bar, complaining that they hadn’t been consulted about the changes to parking on the Ventnor Esplanade. It was on the front page of the Chronicle this week too.
In the letter, they say that “the loss of over 30% of the existing parking spaces on the sea front will be disastrous.” Strangely they didn’t feel that the loss of 29 parking places from the car park to be replaced with the new Cheetah Marine building was a problem – in fact they strongly supported it.
As some of the other business owners on the Esplanade have pointed out to us, seven of the 13 parking places were almost always used by the vehicles of those operating businesses along the seafront.
What is most questionable is the insinuation that the other cafes along the front have been suffering, indeed threatening that they “may well go to the wall.”
They state …. “The small businesses that you purport to be helping may well go to the wall. We understand that one of the small cafes has already been sold and that at least one other is on the market”.
We’ve spoken to the business that has sold, hearing that their trade was in fact UP 25% and that their selling was down to personal lifestyle decision.
The other four cafes respond
The four cafes along the Esplanade have written a letter in response pointing out how much better the Esplanade is for visitors now and how their customers have commented on the improved situation. The full text of the letter is below.
The letter from Messrs Gibbs and Mortimer also states,
“we feel that we should’ve been consulted prior to the implementation of this ill thought out scheme”
As you may know Chris Mortimer, as well as running three pubs along the Esplanade, up until last night was a Ventnor town councillor too, so quite how he didn’t know about the changes to the traffic flows on the Esplanade is somewhat confusing. The whole process was also widely reported in all local media.
We understand that he’d possibly only been to as few as one of the town council meetings this year, but he’ll have had all of the council papers delivered to him wouldn’t he?
_Back to the meeting
Neil Gibbs attended the meeting, sitting in the front row, watching proceeding keenly. Sadly councillor Mortimer wasn’t able to attend.
During the sometimes heated debate, dear friend of VB, Jonathon Fitzgerald-Bond, seemed to make it his mission to continue to push the points that were raised in the Gibbs/Mortimer letter – to the point where the other councillors and the public were rather perplexed at his logic.
(Someone mentioned to us that Fitzgerald-Bond and the writers of the letter are rather good friends. If this was true, surely JFB should have declared a personal interest before taking part in the debate shouldn’t he? Well acting outside the rules of the game isn’t new for him is it?)
The Mayor pointed out that “Apart from The Letter and one member of the town who lives there and has to park a little bit further away, no one has complained. All I’ve had are positive comments and letters of thanks.”
Other good points were raised by Robbie Mew, stating that it “should remain in place for at least the 18 month trial period, or we won’t know results for the full period.”
One point that no one addressed was that surely having people driving to … and more importantly from pubs isn’t the best practice anyway is it?
The Vote? Basildon-Bond voted against; Buster Bartlett abstained, as he didn’t like the way it had been handled; everyone else voted for it to continue.
By way of trying to salvage something, Basildon-Bond said he was going to write to Kevin Burton, Team Leader, Traffic Management, to see if at least it could be changed for the Winter months. Strange as no-one else in the meeting had mentioned it, and jolly old clever clogs Jonathon had _apparently_ thought this idea up for himself.
Below are the contents of the letter signed by the four cafes sent to Susan Scoccia on Sunday.
From: Tides Cafe, The Beach Hut Diner, The Golden Sands Cafe, The Ventnor Bay Cafe
Dear Mrs. Scoccia,
We were saddened to hear of Neil Gibbs and Meg Mortimer’s opposition to the improved highway arrangements on the Esplanade, which they described as ‘new parking restrictions’.
We think it is self evident that the improvements have created a much more pleasant environment for locals and holiday makers. People can now sit outside the cafes without fear of being driven into. They can sit in the cafes and not have to look at parked cars. In addition you have improved safety for children crossing the road. Views from the beach are no longer dominated by a long unbroken row of motor vehicles.
We can confirm that the improvements have benefited our customers, who without exception have commented favourably on the improvements with great enthusiasm. We can also confirm that our small businesses have also benefited. Neil Gibbs is wrong when he comments that the small businesses on the front may go to the wall as a result of the changes. This is a preposterous comment. The alternative of not having seating outside our cafes would certainly have closed us down. The changes have helped us tremendously. He says that one cafe has been sold and another may be on the market. We can assure him that the reason for sale has nothing to do with the improvements, but is a personal lifestyle decision.
What saddens us particularly is that all four cafes have invested to improve our offerings, and we have rejoiced in the diversity of our offerings. Together with the Gaiety, the Beach shop and the Longshoreman, we jointly took out an advert at the beginning of the season to demonstrate this diversity. We do feel that by improving our small businesses we make the Esplanade more attractive. Some people prefer cafes to pubs and wine bars, and others like to have the choice of both. We recognise that we are miniscule compared to the Spyglass, Millbay and the Met, and we do not seek to be competitors to Neil’s large businesses, nor detract from them. We think that the diversity we add to the front must benefit those much larger businesses by helping to attract people to the Esplanade.
In Neil’s letter to the County Press on April 5th in which he supported the Cheetah Marine development on the Eastern Esplanade, he says that ‘If you really want to ‘Save our Seaside’, you should be encouraging local businesses to flourish”¦”¦.’ If the trial is reversed, we can assure Neil that this would have a devastating effect on our local businesses, and it is hoped that this will lead to a change of heart.
We were most impressed by and grateful for the Town Council’s and Highways department’s constructive and imaginative solution and it has our full support. The 1250 signatures which were collected earlier this year, with almost no effort at all, in support of maintaining seating outside cafes was an indication of the public’s general attitude on this issue. These signatures were submitted to Stuart Love.
If there are further improvements which would meet some of Neil and Meg’s concerns, we would be only too pleased to respond positively, and we hope the debate can be moved forward in a non partisan manner which seeks not to criticise and condemn, but to build on the excellent work undertaken to date.
We have copied this letter to Kevin Burton, Team Leader, Traffic Management, and to the recipients of Neil’s letter.
