Ventnor’s Belgrave Road will remain closed into the Autumn, as Island Roads and the Isle of Wight Council admit yet more delays in clearing and securing the crumbling cliff face.
The road has been closed since March following a major landslip that sent tonnes of debris crashing down from the adjacent rockface, damaging the highway and structures beneath.
Now, despite initial hopes that the route could be reopened quickly, officials say the earliest work may begin is this Autumn – meaning residents and businesses face at least 8 months of disruption.
A specialist rope access assessment has found further instability in the cliffside, with Island Roads now recommending the installation of a rock netting system to prevent more rockfall. This will follow a lengthy process of design, approvals, and contractor planning – and only then will physical work begin.
The Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads maintain they are “working at pace” to finalise plans.
Michelle Love, Service Director for Highways and Community Protection, has said:
“We know the Ventnor community wants to see Belgrave Road open as soon as possible. We do too, and we can assure local residents and businesses that we are doing what we can, as quickly as we can, to get the job done.”
Joanne Saunders, Island Roads Structures Manager, has said:
“This is specialist work which must be done diligently and in accordance with professional advice. What may seem like a simple clearance is in fact a complex operation requiring specialist contractors, detailed sequencing, designed temporary and permanent works, and robust risk management.”
But residents are growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of visible progress – and now their ward councillor has publicly blasted the Council and Island Roads for what he describes as a “nightmarish fever dream”.
Councillor Ed Blake, who represents the residents of Ventnor, has blasted the news stating:
“The news coming from the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads that there is yet another delay in the clearing of rock from Belgrave Road is painful for residents to hear.
“It will be around 8 months after the event before the earliest possibility for reopening is realised. The main reason seems to be for the lengthy processes and hoops that must be jumped through before so much as a stone is lifted. This can not be realistically justified to residents whose lives are being effected daily by the 3 seemingly permanent closures of Belgrave, Bath and Southgrove Roads.
“Bath Road works will not start until the conclusion of the pending court case between the owner of the land and the Council to decide as to who owns the wall. This is scheduled for late September (into the 3rd year of the closure!) and this might not be actually settled on that day as it might just be to decide a later hearing date.
“Southgrove Road needs the wall to be repaired in order to reopen the road. This wall has now bee claimed by the Isle of Wight Council and they have supposedly asked a local contractor to begin works weeks ago but still no workmen in sight.
“The ongoing delays are madness and for last week the news come out that the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads are to receive award nominations for taking almost a year to reopen Leeson Road is yet another chapter in this nightmarish fever dream we seem to be stuck in.”
Pedestrian access through the Belgrave Road work zone is being considered but is dependent on safety assessments.
No firm timeline has been given for the road’s reopening.
Oh for heavens sake get this ruddy road cleared.
This is just the proof in the pudding that the
numpties running the island don’t have an
F’ing clue how to get these rocks removed.
Bring in a mainland company with brains and experience.
Let’s face it, it’s 2025 and the island still don’t own
a towing company to tow away vehicles parked
illegally, so how can they remove rocks.
Lol
That’s good then when the rains return and winds..great news.
Maybe they want them to roll off.
Maybe persons sunbathing on the beach should be
made aware of the dangers, possible falling rocks.
Could always have rock and chips if the Spyglass
or Mill Bay run out of cod and haddock.
Lol
Seriously it might be their idea to make all Roads in
and out of Ventnor unpassable, so in the winter
months Ventnor will be the islands first official
15 minute city.
Get the local toilet cleaner to move it or maybe jump up and down on it and break the rocks up.
I’ve never known a country as this to take so long and make such an issue over a pile of stones and rubble .
It doesn’t affect them so they don’t care , say that to the poor people who have to walk up and down carrying shopping or coming back from doctors etc. Many of a certain age group .
All that work over the last couple of years to make it a beautiful place to sit and look over the sea reduced to what ? By the time they remove it it will have caused more damage to the road underneath and will then stay closed as it will take them another 6 months to repair that .
Dimwads and knobheads run the council and island roads .
Devolution will solve the problem, the island is
run by cowboys – yeehaw!
How the fcuk can they leave these rocks there,
it’s a safety issue!
Where are the MPs etc on this matter.
Maybe they are living it up in the big smoke
in their tax payers paid for second homes
wining and dining in fancy hotels etc on their tax payers
expenses.
It’s a tough job
Lol
Island roads wouldn’t know “at pace”!if it jumped up and bit them.