The Isle of Wight Council’s new director for community services has admitted roadworks management is ‘unacceptable’, while new council leader Councillor Jonathan Bacon has branded the Island Roads contract ‘a bad contract’.
The pair made their comments during a wide-ranging discussion on the Island’s road network at Friday’s State of the Island Travel and Tourism Debate, hosted by Island Echo and the IW Observer.
Simon Moon, Strategic Director of Community Services at the Isle of Wight Council, faced tough questions on the state of the roads and the disruption caused by roadworks and closures across the Island.
Although Mr Moon has only been in post for a matter of weeks, he accepted that the management of roadworks has fallen short of expectations.
He told the audience:
“The issue of managing roadworks is unacceptable. They have not been managed effectively. It should not take 2 hours and 20 minutes to travel from Ryde Esplanade to Newport bus station by bus, something I experienced recently.”
Mr Moon also defended the overall condition of the Island’s highways, saying:
“We are one of the leading authorities in road condition – one of the top 5 in the country. We have fewer potholes than many authorities on the mainland – that’s a fact.”
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The Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Councillor Jonathan Bacon, acknowledged failings in the way roadworks have been planned and communicated.
He said:
“There is some good stuff, but you can’t see it for all the bad stuff. There are some things that should have been done that haven’t been done. There has been poor forward planning, and communication hasn’t been up to scratch. We’ve all been down a road to find out that you can’t.”
Asked whether Island Roads was complying with the terms of its contract, Mr Bacon delivered a blunt assessment.
He said:
“They comply in word if not in spirit.
“I was the only surviving member of the council who voted against the contract.
“In my view, the contract has not served us well over the years. The ability to claw back control has not been within the capacity of the Council. It’s a bad contract, and the opportunities to reset it have been missed.”
Mr Moon later promised improvements, telling those present:
“This has been a chance to listen to people’s concerns. I’m not accepting the current situation. It will not continue in future. We need to change behaviours and take responsibility for public service duty. We shall do a better job.”
The comments were met with a round of applause from members of the audience.
Earlier in the debate, Dominic Wray, Chief Executive of Visit Isle of Wight, criticised the impact roadworks have had on local businesses.
Mr Wray said:
“Island Roads doesn’t meet the needs of businesses. There has been a failure of communication and planning with lots of disruption and road closures at the same time.”
A show of hands from the audience later suggested that the majority of those present did not believe Island Roads was currently doing a good enough job.
Both Isle of Wight MPs also raised concerns.
Isle of Wight West MP Richard Quigley said there needed to be much better engagement between Island Roads, residents and businesses.
Meanwhile, Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson said there were too many organisations involved in managing the highways network and suggested communication between them was lacking.
Red Funnel Chief Executive Fran Collins agreed with Mr Moon’s assessment of the overall condition of the roads, saying potholes were often worse on the mainland side of the Solent.
Concluding the discussion, chairman Marc Morgan-Huws reflected the frustrations expressed throughout the debate, saying:
“Something needs to change. It needs to change dramatically and pretty quickly too.”
However, it was Mr Bacon’s assessment of the Island Roads agreement that perhaps summed up the strength of feeling on the issue.
“It’s a bad contract, and the opportunities to reset it have been missed.”
