Leader of the Isle of Wight Conservatives, Ed Blake, has uncovered further details about the closure of Bath Road in Ventnor – with claims that the Isle of Wight Council has only just submitted paperwork to the courts.
Councillor Blake, who represents the town of Ventnor, has received confirmation that there has been a ‘significant delay’ in legal proceedings against the owner of a wall that collapsed in October 2023.
The collapse led to the closure of Bath Road, which runs between Belgrave Road and the Esplanade. Earlier this month fed-up locals took action into their own hands, but the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads have said that they do not believe the road should be reopened yet.
Cllr Blake claims that despite locals being told legal action was underway and the matter was due to be heard in the courts, the reality is that paperwork was only submitted in February – 16 months after the collapse.
He says the Council has failed to act and has instead fed Islanders a ‘false narrative’.
In a statement, Cllr Blake has this week said:
“For over a year, we have been told that there has been an ongoing legal dispute between the Isle of Wight Council and the landowner regarding the collapsed wall that has closed Bath Road.
Article continues below this advertisement “We were led to believe that this matter was being heard in the Magistrates Court. However, we have now learned that this is not the case and that a case was only submitted to the courts within the last month.
“The claims made in public meetings that the Isle of Wight Council has been actively pursuing the landowner to repair the wall and reopen the road have proven to be false. For over a year, the Council has failed to act, instead relying on the false narrative that the landowner was holding the town to ransom.”
Ed adds:
“In situations like this, responsibility lies with the Cabinet Member for Highways, Councillor Phil Jordan. The closure of this key road has had a significant impact on both residents and businesses along the seafront and surrounding areas. This delay is entirely unacceptable.”
Are we going to have to wait he same amount of time for Belgrave Road to be re-opened?
Will it ever re-open
False information etc, isn’t that what Governments and their
organisations specialise in!
Their CV’s amuse me!.
Councils are sharp increasing council taxes.
I Wouldn’t give the mighty Phil the steam off my P##S. What a complete T##t he’s out to destroy the Island
Sadly already destroyed
We are suffering from a large amount of inexperience at Council in dealing with these matters. The PFI contract, probably unintentionally, created a large technical debt within the Council on how do deal with these matters, as key staff were transferred over. Given this Bath Rd experience, the position on party walls needs to be made clear everywhere on the Island, otherwise other roads will be affected, and we will have another indefinite closure. We all have our potential lists. Council needs help skilling up on all this stuff, it just doesn’t have the internal expertise or the leadership that knows where to start.
That doesn’t wash if you forget to pay your council tax, and they don’t forget to send the bailiffs round.
Is anyone surprised