Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young paid a visit to Ryde yesterday (Thursday) exploring how £20million of funding could be spent to breathe new life into the town. Ryde has received the multi-million-pound boost through the Long-Term Plan for Towns fund, 1 of 75 often overlooked and undervalued towns across the country to benefit from levelling up money. The fund puts power in the hands of local people – ensuring they can decide on what’s best for the area over the next 10 years. A Towns Board has now been established made up of community leaders, employers, local authorities and the local MP Bob Seely – with IW Chamber’s Steven Holbrook appointed as chair. During his visit on a wet and grey Thursday morning, Minister Young toured Ryde with members of the Board to see first-hand where the money is likely to be spent, ensuring residents feel ‘levelled up’. The Minister travelled down on the train from London with Island MP Bob Seely. Minister Young continued on to East Cowes to visit the Marine Hub which included a tour of Albany Barracks, Wight Shipyard and the surrounding area to see how levelling up money was benefitting the town. Isle of Wight Council Chief Executive Wendy Perera then discussed the most recent levelling up bid with Jacob Young, as well as possible work in relation to the A3055 at Leeson Road, the Undercliff and the Military Road. Of his visit, Jacob Young MP said:
”I have loved visiting the Isle of Wight and I’m grateful to Bob Seely MP and Cllr Joe Robertson for inviting me. Together, they are working to get a better deal for the Island and to help us to level up. “In East Cowes, we are delivering levelling up in action, creating new job opportunities for Islanders and supporting the growth of key manufacturing industries like Aluminium Ship Building. “And in Ryde, we’re investing £20 million over the next ten years through our long-term plan for towns. I’m looking forward to seeing the community’s ideas for how this money should be used, from tackling antisocial behaviour to improving the town centre, helping to level up in Ryde.”
Earlier this month the Government’s Towns Tsar, Adam Hawskbee, met with Steven Holbrook and local business owners to get a sense of the opportunities and challenges facing Ryde. The make-up of Ryde Town Board – which held its first meeting on Tuesday – has now been confirmed:
- Steven Holbrook (IW Chamber)
- Bob Seely (MP)
- Donna Jones (PCC)
- Geoff Underwood (IFPL)
- Rachael Randall (HTP)
- Louise Dandy (Historic England)
- Carol Jaye (Ryde Arts Festival)
- Lisa Gagliani (Independent Arts)
- Trevor Nicholas (Aspire Ryde)
- David Redrup (Graces Bakery)
- Luke Kerr (Beach Soccer)
- James Hinton (Unknown)
- Phil Jordan – (Council Leader Isle of Wight Council, Ryde Town Councillor)
- Karen Lucioni – (Councillor Isle of Wight Council, Ryde Town Councillor)
- Richard May – (Mayor of Ryde)
New car, beach house, pay raise, the list is endless for a corrupt council.
20 million could improve rundown, sorry Sandown, Ryde has had more than it’s fair share of money spent on it recently I think
Most of it sadly wasted on tat
The Interchange was a complete waste if money
No cyclist uses the cycle lanes.
Open the ice rink..Open the splash park..Dont keep the sand park locked up so much..open a gym for under 16s to use for free..Empty the overflowing bins on busy weekends..provide more bins alomg tbe seafront..dont waste it on benches,and paving slabs and ill thought out vanity schemes
Come on thats too easy and common sense which our Council don’t have!. How come Jordan still has a job with his recent behaviour and past etc?.
The Council are useless, Jordan must be a member of the funny
Handshake club.
How wonderful that you yourself have – apparently – led a blameless life and have no regrets about anything you’ve ever done, whether it was all put in the public eye or not.
Very well said! I agree with every word of that.
Provide some more bins, open public toilets, police the feral
Open up the High street to cars so its busy like union Street , Pedestrian Presinks kill Towñs dead,
Whoo hoo! Pop -uo is at it again.
£20 million over 10 years? That’ll spread so thin you won’t even notice what’s been done with it. Chicken feed. Shameless and pointless electioneering bullshxx.
I hope they really do allow the greater population of Ryde to decide where they want the money spent, but this looks like another ‘we know best’ committee’. We will probably get another Arts Hub, a Heritage Trail, and a statue to some worthy person.
And what do you actually want? What would really improve Ryde? Decent, vandal-proof public toilets would be a good start.
Toilets, plus everything John Doe asked for above!
Somebody should tell Bob that the local MP is encouraged to be on Town Boards but not only will he soon out of a job but the local MP for Ryde will be representing East Wight, whereas he will be losing the seat for West Wight. Duh!
Maybe they could buy some more derelict buildings that are left to rot. Probably set up yet another arts centre.
Or a nail bar/hairdressers/charity shop
Three idiots vying for the same singular brain cell,i just cannot wait to vote you lot OUT!
Billy, Silly and Dilly
Another quango .. all talk no action.. best the CON-servatives can do .. vote them and the council out .. to save the island
An ‘indoor’ bus terminal
Why is Geoff Underwood of IFPL on the board? IFPL is based in Calbourne, which is nowhere near Ryde. Must be a Seely croney. Shove off.
Jobs for friends and associates, it seems ?, I would like to know how you applied for a position, and what the process selection was, seems there are some very random people on it, how many of them actually live and work in Ryde ?
Even the PCC gets on the panel ?? Why ?? apart from being PopUp’s bestie And Jerk Jordan .. !! Thats the first round of drinks sorted . No other input at all .
Historic England, Ryde Arts Festival, Independent Arts, Aspire Ryde, Graces Bakery, IFPL – none of these organisations represent a significant proportion of the population of Ryde. Consequently, this money will be wasted on nonsense that does not benefit the majority. You only have yourselves to blame.
15 people on Ryde town board. That’s the 20 million quid gone on wages over ten years
I wouldn’t trust those 3 with 20p to buy some sweets, let alone 20 million quid. Probably getting there mates to suggest how to do a little bit of work here and there and then pocket the rest. Bob, man of the people, jacket and jeans, not a good look. Still a photo op is a photo op I suppose.
The 3 wise men let’s hope the money is spent wisely
All deluded.
The island as a drink and drug problem.
Speeding motorists and NO Law and Order to sort out
speeding motorists.
All we want is cheaper and reliable Ferries