Cllr Andrew Garratt, the Isle of Wight councillor for Parkhurst has for some time been trying to ensure residents are fully informed prior to the major transformation of the St Mary’s roundabout.
The Isle of Wight council earlier today issued a press release, stating that it would be rolling out its communications strategy in due course – it’s looking like late August.
Asking for early engagement since February
Cllr Garratt had raised the issue of early engagement in a question to the Cabinet in February.
He’s also raised it with officers ever since and this week at two briefings.
Garratt: Residents deserve answers now
He got in touch with OnTheWight to say,
“Residents have questions now, and they deserve answers. Those don’t depend on every ‘i’ being dotted and ‘t’ crossed.
“Waiting until late August means barely four weeks at the most before the works start – not much turnaround time to get answers back to residents and have proper discussions.”
Garratt: Bring comms plan forward
He went on to say,
“This is why I am calling on the council to bring their communication plans forward and make the most of the extra weeks over the summer. Ideally there should be public exhibitions around the area showing the plans and the likely phasing of works so that residents can start to work out what alterations to their journeys they may need to make and when.”
A massive scheme with people worried about massive disruption
Cllr Garratt finished by saying,
“This isn’t some minor local road scheme, requiring a leaflet drop and a couple of ‘A-board’ signs. This is a massive scheme with people worried about massive disruption.
It’s likely that there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t pass through St Mary’s at some point each month, whether that’s to go shopping, go to college, visit the hospital, head to or from the ferries, or cross from one side of the Island to the other.”
