Reinstating the collapsed Undercliff Drive near Ventnor would be ‘foolish’, the Isle of Wight council leader has said, following a further landslip in the area.
Last weekend, a landslip affected properties on two roads in St Lawrence, on Hunts Road and Old Park Road, with cracks appearing on the highway.
Metres from Undercliff Drive
The roads sit below Undercliff Drive, which itself has been closed for ten years after a significant landslip destabilised the highway.
In recent years, there have been calls from residents and councillors to open the once-vital route between Niton and St Lawrence, but speaking yesterday (Thursday), council leader Phil Jordan said “it was a risk too far”.
Jordan: Rebuilding Undercliff Drive would be “an absolute folly”
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Councillor Jordan said,
“We have more distressing news of lost properties and lost roads in and around, not strangely, the Undercliff area,
“There has been some clamour for some time in rebuilding the Undercliff Drive at considerable millions of pounds.
“I do hope those who are asking for that spend of public money — even if we had it — in an area that had just seen a landslip within 50 metres of the Undercliff Drive that has lost properties and road, it is an absolute folly.
“It would be a risk too far for this council, this administration and for public money in rebuilding Undercliff Drive.”
£2.1m not enough
The authority was successful in securing £2.1 million from the Department for Transport in 2021 for a scheme to reinstate the road, but the council said it was not enough money to cover a scheme so used the money elsewhere.
Fuller: Hope to give a “positive response” in the future
Councillor Paul Fuller, the cabinet member for planning and environment, said the council’s “hearts go out to all those who have been impacted by the land inability” and he hopes they could give them a “positive response” in the future.
He said the council had been concerned the flooding at the end of last year would impact ground stability — which they were seeing play out in St Lawrence — and that the Island had a few more months to get through as the ground was “absolutely sodden” still.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
