Both Isle of Wight MPs and the council leader have publicly backed a feasibility study into a possible fixed link to and from the Island.
The rare show of political agreement came during last Friday’s State of the Island debate, where all 3 politicians on the panel expressed support for further investigation into a potential tunnel connection between the Isle of Wight and the mainland.
The issue was raised by former Isle of Wight councillor Debbie Andre, who described a fixed link as ‘the elephant in the room’.
Referring to proposals being explored in the Shetland Islands to improve connectivity through tunnels, Ms Andre asked when the Isle of Wight would seriously consider a similar scheme.
She told the audience:
“The Isle of Wight will only thrive long term with a fixed link tunnel.”
Isle of Wight West MP Richard Quigley said any decision should be based on evidence rather than assumption.
“We can’t have a conversation blind. We need facts and figures.”
Mr Quigley revealed he had written 5 letters supporting a feasibility study to Government ministers and departments, as well as to all candidates standing to become Hampshire and Solent Mayor.
He also suggested that any eventual decision should be put to Islanders in a referendum.
However, he acknowledged there were arguments on both sides of the debate.
“I’m 50/50 as to whether we have one (a tunnel). What happens to people who disappear to the mainland every day? I’m worried about us losing our talent.”
Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson also supported the idea of a study, provided it was not funded locally.
“I’m perfectly happy to see a viability study for a fixed link provided it’s not paid for by Islanders or by money that could be used for something else. If it’s money coming from the Government, let’s have one.”
Council leader Jonathan Bacon revealed he had supported calls for a feasibility study for more than a decade.
“I’ve agreed for many years that we should have such a study. I was contacted in 2015 by a well-known campaigner when I was last leader and wrote a letter in support. It will be on the list of asks for the combined authority.”
Despite backing further investigation, Mr Bacon said he believed any study would likely conclude that a tunnel would be prohibitively expensive and take too long to deliver.
“I’ll go out on a limb and state that any feasibility study would show a tunnel would take so long and cost so much as to be beyond the reaches of reality.
“We need a quicker answer, which is regulation. But we should have the information, so my view can be proved wrong.”
The fixed link debate has divided opinion on the Isle of Wight for decades, with supporters arguing it would improve connectivity and reduce transport costs, while opponents fear it could harm the Island’s unique character and environment.
At the end of the discussion, debate host Marc Morgan Huws asked the audience for a show of hands on whether they supported a feasibility study.
A majority voted in favour, although there were also many abstentions.
However, when asked whether a fixed link would be a “panacea” capable of solving the Isle of Wight’s wider challenges, the majority of those present voted “No”.
Never, ever going to happen
.
You are joking. The island will be ruined. Roads clogged and infrastructure overwhelmed. The island will then turn into a building site, be overcrowded and be no different to London, Manchester, Birmingham or any other horrible mainland place to live. You can’t undo decisions like this once made.
That would be part of a study, and it’s a very valid point. However, the leverage that the possibility might trigger could see ferry prices on the discussion table if they don’t want full regulation to kick in. It’s that bad, it’ll have to be one or the other…we’re effectively being held to ransom.
Ah no change then…. Island ruined, roads clogged, infrastructure overwhelmed and one big building site. Its already so overcrowded and getting worse by every completed new house.
They built so many houses here now its wrecked and still building more exponentially.
Build the tunnel, at least we could travel a bit more freely. There’s no ferrys that stop the mass construction of the island.
What’s needed then is to shoot all the people who retired here when they built all the 4 bed luxury homes 20 years ago as well as all the children born since then who now need homes of their own, but nobody back then looked at the figures and started to forward plan.
I wonder who that was.
Please, don’t spend and waste OUR money on a feasibility study.
This Island cannot STOP numpties speeding
yet alone build a bridge or tunnel.
Run by numpties
This discussion is about a fixed link, not speeding. Try to keep up and stick to the point
I am not sure there is any logic to people’s adversion to a fixed link, those that do comment in a negative way have no understanding of large engineering projects, have a look at the faroe islands and their tunnels, those old enough remember the channel tunnel excavations, now you would not know there was a huge building site there, a tunnel is far less intrusive than a huge arched bridge which like the ferries, as soon as there is anything more than a strong breeze in the solent would be closed.
Wheres the BILLIONS coming from?? as long as the sun shine’s never will there be tunnel or bridge.
Albeit the project was in 2020, denmark spent 550 million US dollars in building the tunnels over a distance of 17 kilometres, twice the distance from the island to the mainland. even allowing for inflation the project would come in under 1 billion pounds, considering the stonehenge tunnel for a kilometre was supposdely going to cost 4 billion I think it would be a great deal for the island, no ore cancellations or delays due to fog, unexpected crew sickness or ship defects, as long as the maintence for the tunnel roads was not given to island roads.
What would the essential crew member do!
Lol
Think you’ve managed to miss the point here by at leat the miles separating us and the mainland, Barnie. Its not the type of link that thinking Islanders object to, but the catastrophe any sort of bridge or tunnel would prove to be.
More bullshit pointless bollocks not addressing the real issues just more crap about something that will never ever happen.
We don’t need a fixed link. We need reasonable ferry prices
What we need is a more reasonable cost of getting on and off the Island, regardless of whether it;s a fixed-link, or ferry…
but we never get that, as long as either one is run as a money-making enterprise for a foreign finance company. (which the ferries are, and a tunnel almost certainly would be)
if a tunnel was built, there is no reason at all why they would charge significantly less, than the ferries do / would.
at the moment, people who want or need to travel across the Solent, have to pay whatever the ferry companies decide to charge…
so if people can / do pay that,.. why would a tunnel charge less..
The only advantage of a tunnel would be availability (at all times and in all weathers), but they’d probably use that as an excuse to charge even more….
We need discounts for Islanders.
Wightlink keep giving away freebies for teenagers and
charities and blue light shirkers, I mean workers.
Lol get reduced fares
TIME FOR ALL ISLAND RESIDENTS TO GET DISCOUNTED
FERRY FARES
2 free crossings each year for Islanders would be a nice
gesture.
I can’t see many on the mainland wanting a tunnel coming up on a congested south coast.
Yet another feasibility study. How many times has the fixed link issue raised its head?. It would seem a waste of peoples time and resources because this is unlikely to ever happen due to escalating costs, and nobody will find the money, unless a huge government grant falls on the councils lap.
From a council that’s still not resolved the floating bridge debacle, after 6 years.
No bridge across the Medina, discussed since the 20th century.
But in the councils comfort zone of “feasibility studies”.
The Labour MP, could persuade two tier to stop the additional eco ferry levies that are impossible to comply with.
Just for info, looking at a comparable ferry crossing length from mainland Greece to an island I’ve recently used, their prices:- Foot passenger 4 euro, Motorbike 8 euro, Car 10 euro, Van 14 and coach/lorry 18 euro. The ferries are about half again as big as ours, 1 vehicle deck, 1 lounge deck with all round outside seating. 3 different companies operate roughly the same route using 3 ferries each in a circuit, all make a profit and the fuel is dearer than here. And before any of you start, yes i am looking to move out there.
Be careful for what you wish for a fixed link will destroy the ISLAND
One of the charms of the Isle of Wight is it’s low crime rate.
If it ain’t bust, don’t fix it!