Businesses at Fort Victoria will open for easter

Businesses at Fort Victoria will be open for Easter – thanks to a little help from the IW Observer.

The businesses, including the Planetarium, Reptilarium, Fort Victoria Museum, Imaginarium and Café Verdi, faced losses of thousands of pounds at the start of the holiday season, due to Wightfibre works which were due to start at Westhill, closing off the West Wight tourist venue to vehicles.

However, we contacted Cllr Phil Jordan, Isle of Wight Council cabinet member for infrastructure, highways, PFI and transport, and he made the break-through, saying: “After I was alerted by the IW Observer at the weekend, I immediately contacted the Council Highways team who organised a meeting with Wightfibre and Island Roads.

“They had a meeting early this week and common sense prevailed. We want to help these businesses and I am pleased that this has been sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Wightfibre confirmed: “There has been an overwhelming response from business owners and the community in the last few days, in response to our advance notice of work, especially around the proposed road closure over the Easter school holidays, a very busy tourism period.

“We have had favourable meetings with the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads and together have come up with a proposal to complete the required work by March 31, just in time for the Easter holidaymakers and locals to enjoy their usual trips to Fort Victoria and all the local businesses they support.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused anyone following the vast number of posts on social media since Saturday, and we hope that everyone will enjoy their trips to Fort Victoria as planned.”

Lorraine Harvey, who owns Café Verdi, said: “It would probably have cost us £10,000 if we couldn’t open. We’re repairing our roof and have all sorts of stuff to get organised for our reopening. We couldn’t have opened with the roadworks.”

Charlotte Anderson, of The Imaginarium, added: “It’s only because of support from the IW Observer and loyal Islanders who have been so vital for us in turning this around.

“You can bet that, if it had just been us complaining, nothing would have been done. We’re so grateful to the IW Observer and our wonderful local community.”