A Newport councillor’s campaign to clean up a local eyesore has made some positive progress.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse (Conservative, Newport West) has been pressing the Isle of Wight Council to clean up Taylor Road and the surrounding area alongside Carisbrooke College after it was mistakenly left out of the Island Roads maintenance contract.
Speaking today Cllr Whitehouse says:
“The road and surrounding area were an eyesore as they hadn’t been maintained for years. Council officers dismissed complaints from local residents saying the matter wasn’t a priority and they had no resources.
“Now, after several months of campaigning, the gates across Taylor Road have been painted, the grass cut and the litter picked. This is a small step, but in the right direction. Congratulations to Phil and Christine Cave on their campaign, which I was happy to support”.
The picture above shows the state of the gates in Taylor Road before, with local residents Phil and Christine Cav, and after the repainting by a group serving community service orders. After a lick of paint and a tidy up, here is Taylor Road today (pictured right).
But the problem is not yet really solved, the Councillor adds:
“The playing field adjacent to Taylor Road remains derelict and unusable, and a one off trim of grass and hedges are no long term fix. Already the litter is mounting up again because there are no litter bins in the area and unless the area is included in a proper maintenance contract it will be just as bad in a few months as it was when we launched our campaign.
Article continues below this advertisement “If only the Council would address such problems professionally we could all avoid wasting many hours having to campaign for such basic maintenance to be done and seeing our local area become run down and shabby.”
