Today (Wednesday) sees the fourth in our series of top three priorities of newly-elected Isle of Wight councillors.
After the election News OnTheWight got in touch with each of the 39 councillors asking to share their top three priorities with our readers.
Five article series
All but one did, so over a series of five articles you’ll be able to learn a little more about your local representatives.
We have split the articles up geographically – North; Central; East; South and Bay; and West. Here are the elected councillors for the South and Bay region with their top three priorities.
Chale, Niton, Shorwell – Claire Critchison
- Road Safety initiatives: community speed watch, lower speed limits, crossing points
- Covid Recovery, supporting local businesses and mental health services
- Undercliff Drive working group
Lake North – Tig Outlaw
- My first priority is to make myself more accessible for residents to contact me. I have always been available for Lake North residents to contact me with my contact details published on the Isle of Wight Council website and in Lake Ripples magazine. However, I have never really used Facebook. Someone set up a Facebook page for me during the election and it rapidly became clear to me that this was a platform that a lot more people felt more comfortable using. As a consequence I will be keeping it going, encourage residents to use and I will post regular updates on that page https://facebook.com/CllrTigOutlaw Helping residents of Lake North has always been my primary concern and if this helps, all the better
- My second priority, at least for now will be holding Wightfibre and their contractors to account over the roll out of Fibre in Lake. This is a fantastic opportunity for all Island residents in providing world class connectivity but in the process is causing significant disruption and it is essential to ensure this is minimised and pavements made good
- Thirdly, I was instrumental in moving the IW Fire & Rescue service to combination with Hampshire. This move was essential to protect the future resilience of the service. It has the opportunity to deliver very real and tangible benefits for the Isle of Wight Fire service and our residents. It was my hope to represent the Island on the Fire Authority and to ensure that would be delivered. But in opposition, I will be focused on ensuring that whoever the new administration in County Hall chooses to serve on the Fire Authority works to deliver those benefits for the Island and its Fire Service
Lake South – Paul Brading
- Protect our Communities from inappropriate development, saving green areas
- Enhance and improve the facilities for our youth, alongside more outdoor facilities
- Tackle local concerns relating to roads and pedestrian safety
Sandown North – Debbie Andre
- Draw up a Town Plan to influence planning policy and tackle empty and derelict properties
- Revise the parking strategy to ease residential parking congestion and regenerate our High Street and support our local businesses
- Youth provision
Sandown South – Ian Ward
- The welfare of the residents
- Continue to tackle our derelict buildings by working with the owners and our planning staff
- To drive the economic regeneration of Sandown by encouraging modern attractions for a new generation of tourists
Shanklin Central – Michael Beston
- Help our tourism and retail economy as we recover from the pandemic Having owned a tourism business in Shanklin for over 20 years, I recognise the importance of this sector It has been a particularly difficult time for businesses in the town I will do all I can to support a strong local recovery and continue to assist the local businesses and accommodation providers
- Protect our town from inappropriate development. Shanklin is very close to my heart, and as such, I will continue to oppose any development proposals that are not in keeping with the character of the town and the surrounding AONB
- Work to preserve our natural and built heritage. I will continue to work to ensure that Shanklin receives a share of the recently awarded £40 million funding as part of the Coastal Communities grant. This will fund the replacement of the groynes and repair sea walls on Shanklin beaches, along with the reinstatement of safety marker buoys across Sandown Bay
Shanklin South and Luccombe – Chris Quirk
- Help the Island in general and Shanklin in particular to recover from the economic affects of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Ensure that the Shanklin share of the £40,000,000 grant secured for dealing with coastal erosion is spent on restoring the sea wall, groynes, slipways and historic paths in the Town
- Encourage the building of affordable homes for the next generation of Islanders in Shanklin and the wider Bay area
Ventnor and St Lawrence – Gary Peace
- Promoting Ventnor’s interests in the IOW Council
- Ensuring that the work to boost the Island economy and infrastructure continues under the new administration
- To continue to work with Ventnor Town Council for the betterment of the town
Wroxall Lowtherville and Bonchurch – Rodney Downer
- To do my best for my residents getting back to them promptly to address their concerns
- There are many concerns about speeding and I would like to address these
- Improving the situation regarding litter and fly tipping
