Around 150 residents gathered today (Saturday 6th September) by the large rockfall that has been blocking Ventnor’s Belgrave Road since March 2025, to protest about the time it is taking to clear the debris and reopen the road.
The lack of pedestrian access for the last six months, has resulted in residents and visitors, many of them older people with limited mobility, having to scale the diversion on foot up and down Alpine Road, often with heavy shopping.
Other closures and concerns
Following the collapse of a garden wall onto the carriageway, Bath Road (which runs up from the seafront behind the Spyglass Inn) has remained closed since 30th October 2023.
In April 2025, it was stated that Isle of Wight Council would will fund the repairs. Then in May 2025 the council said that temporary solutions were being explored. The road remains closed, as does Southgrove Road.
The road at the graben (a main route in and out of Ventnor) is becoming more and more distorted, and it has been said locally that the road by the rugby club (another main route in and out of Ventnor) is showing signs of movement.
IWC: Specialist assessment has identified further risk
The perception by residents in the coastal town is that unnecessary bureaucracy has delayed the work taking place. However, the Isle of Wight council say,
“A recent specialist assessment has identified further risks, including unstable sections of rock that could fail in the future. To address this, Island Roads has recommended installing a rock netting system, similar to that used at Gills Cliff Road, to stabilise the cliff face and prevent further falls.
“Island Roads and the Isle of Wight Council are now progressing the necessary designs and approvals to begin this work on-site in the autumn.”
Milburn: The pent up anger in Ventnor is huge
Speaking at the protest today, Jim Milburn, the Ventnor resident who launched the petition, said,
“Wow, I’m so pleased that so many people have signed the ‘Rocks Off’ petition.
“The pent up anger in Ventnor is huge and shown by over 600 signatures in the first 72 hours. Huge thanks to everyone.
“We need a quick response strategy from the IW council now. They have a quick response for trees, so why not rocks?
“If they don’t establish a quick response FOR ROCKS, then everyone in Ventnor needs to consider whether petitions are useless and withholding council tax is a better idea while the roads are blocked.
“Thanks again for coming.”
Fahey: IWC utterly out of touch with the needs of the community
Tom Fahey, from Ventnor Terrace Rooms and Wine, said,
“There is a growing feeling in Ventnor that communication between Island Roads and the Isle of Wight Council has become so unnecessarily complex, combative and convoluted that the simple idea of removing a rock from a road is now a bureaucratic exercise utterly out of touch with the needs of the community both organisations may wish to remember they exist to serve.
“It feels like the council and the road maintenance firm are focused more on justifying their own existence as opposed to completing the job in hand – break up a rock, load the rubble on to a lorry and remove it.”
Fahey: Seems almost discriminative
Tom went on to add,
“While health and safety, legal matters and coordination of operations are accepted as necessary by local residents the overblown scope of their application to a task that actually is inherently simple, has become untenable and seems almost discriminative at this point.
“Ventnor residents require the immediate removal of both the rocks and the stonewall to resolution put up by ineffective, self-preserving bureaucrats.”
Groocock: Why does it take so long to clear a road of rocks?
David Groocock, from Keep Ventnor Moving, said,
“We gather today to protest about the way we are treated in Ventnor by IW Council and Island Roads. Keep Ventnor Moving will continue to exist until every road is open in Ventnor. We question why does it take so long to clear a road of rocks?
“We hear all the legal and health and safety arguments that are thrown at us, but we don’t accept that it takes two years to clear and reopen a road. Southgrove Road two years! Bath Road two years! Belgrave Road six months! Gills Cliff Road seven months! Undercliff Drive 12 years! Leeson Road one year!”
David went on to say,
“We want action not mealy words and excuses. We demand that all roads are cleared and reopened forthwith.
“We demand that future plans are drawn up so that all roads into Ventnor have a future. That includes the Undercliff and Leeson Road.
“NO town should suffer and No Council should be let off the hook
“We will continue to embarrass you, until all roads are open!”
