Island Echo always welcome letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
Letter to the editor – 15th July 2021
As a resident of West Hill Road in Ryde I received a letter from Southern Water to say that the Simeon Street recreation will be used as a temporary car park from the 23rd July.
The recreation ground was gifted to the Children of Ryde and a covenant was placed on it so that it could not be used as a car park. The entrance to the recreation ground from West Hill Road is narrow and will not allow 2 vehicles to pass so is there to be another temporary entrance/exit, if so, where?
West Hill Road is very busy on normal days without the additional stress of using it for access to a major car parking facility. What traffic management and safety surveys have been conducted and when? What additional measures will be in place to ensure the safety of pedestrians, including children, when using the entrance and exit to the recreation ground or will it be closed to pedestrians? There are many other issues raised by this proposal, not least why only tell us a very short time before it is to be instigated.
Southern Water could pay the I.W. Council and the local beach traders compensation based on previous years turnover for their tardiness in effecting repairs and also pay for a park and ride system to be put in place from Smallbrook Stadium or another council-owned field.
Southern Water has been allowed to take their time over these repairs instead of working 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and will now upset all the people who live adjoining this open space and surrounding area.
Finally, I expect all the above issues will be ignored and the proposal will go ahead with no guarantees of when the recreation ground will be returned to its specified use and who will pay for it.
This is the second time the Council have tried to turn this facility into a car park I hope they do not succeed.
John Clifton
Ryde
Put the pressure on the council regarding the covenant then – and ensure that these arrogant little dictators do not step all over existing guarantees.
This is just another example of their arrogance – the other is the plans to create as much mess as possible along Ryde seafront by destroying the bus station and cafe, just to instal more roads.
These councillors are a disgrace and need to be removed
You have just had an election.
yes and look what idiots got voted in
And who will pay for the damage the cars will do it is a playing field not car park
All about making money ….
Tourists and locals become cash cow’s….
Never mind the children ….money talks ….
The council leaders may have different Names but they are still The council !!!!!!
The IoW council thinking at it’s best, more revenue to waste , more Council Tax rises no doubt!
Years ago when Ernie Fox was in charge of car parking they tried to make Simeon st Rec into a Car Park I argued the case of the land being gifted to the Children of Ryde to play How dare these people demand a car park This land once filled with cars leaking oil etc it will be deemed unsuitable for children by toxicity then it will turn into a car park So corrupt as usual How can a piece of gifted land be used so indiscriminately by greedy selfish fat cats
get back on it Maggie – you succeeded before, you will succeed again
My health is not good And my energy levels are low now so unfortunately I’m not up to it now.But please someone fight this Corruption in the council.
Reply
Absolutely agree with what has been said in these comments. And on a practical note the picture tells it’s own story. It takes very little rain to turn the rec into a quagmire, it is totally useless as a car park and if so used it will get terribly churned up.
How will users pay for parking? It is unlikely to be manned, are they going to install a post with a payment point? Wouls this not invite further use as a car park when they so choose?
How will it be closed off at night? Will local residents find they have noise and disturbance at all hours of the night?
Access at the bottom of West Hill Road will have cars stopping to turn right at a busy junction.
This has been raised more than once on the Ryde Information Noticeboard Facebook group and attracted many comments against the plan, but commenting is being closed by the administrators, one of whom is a councillor. Interesting.
Ryde Information Noticeboard FB group only allows comments that suit them! As soon as there was unanimous criticism of the car park plan commenting was switched off! However in that article it was stated that Southern Water would pay for reinstatement of the land, pay for a parking meter. It was also claimed that this was a one off. However this does set an ugly precedent. Thin end of the wedge
Roadworks everywhere, Ryde seafront becoming a massive sewage works, the Ryde interchange catastrophe, the ice rink closure, Ryde Theatre being lost, St Thomas Street car park becoming flats, now this
Despite what others on the Island may think, Ryde is a nice place to live, home to many good people who pay a fortune in council tax and we deserve better than this
They waited till the last moment to break the news so there wouldn’t be a protest outside the rec. It would have probably been on the local news where I dare say a few councillors would have came down for photo opportunities!
It is the same at Appley, entire car park closed off but little or nothing actually being done to rectify the sewer problem
I thought that when there was a significant change in the Council members that we would actually get a better council. Sadly this is not the case. Rushed through interchange plans, play park commandeered to use as a car park, failure to liaise with the Harbourmaster re siting of a vision blocking hut. Need I go on!?
Big concrete block at the entrance should sort it.
Surely the Council past or present would have demanded compensation
for lost revenue from the closure of the car park ?? if they are getting compensation
then using the Simeon Rec for parking would therefor generate an income !! So who would benefit from said income ?? hopefully not Southern Water and hopefully not the Council as
they should be getting compensation for the loss of income in the first place !!
… or we could have an efficient, affordable Park and Ride.
The most disappointing thing is certain councillors present the ‘we’re here to support you, you’re our community, we listen, we care’ (especially at election time) they then take us for fools.
I agree it is a bad idea, removing green for tarmac, BUT, there is great need for a parking area. Look at all the cars already parking on West Hill Road,Simeon St and all the other roads around there. Firstly if the majority of the drivers, actually knew how to properly park would be a good start, not on the pavement or the curb and no more than 6 inches from the edge, plus in a straight line not forgetting to leave wheels in straight line too where possible as wheels turned out can become a hazard..
Secondly, what’s it going to be like when there are another 2000 cars in Ryde, from all the new houses they will be building
This is an outrageous move by both the IW Council & Ryde town council. Simeon Recreation ground is protected by Fields in Trust, Please contact them if you object to this and let them know your views as they have to consider the Council’s request for change of use.