By Isle of Wight Observer
Ventnor is set to face a challenging summer.
Residents learnt at a public meeting on Tuesday evening that Leeson Road will remain closed throughout the warmest months of the year. All 200 tickets to the public meeting had been booked, but less than 150 people attended, leaving many chairs vacant, possibly a sign of disillusionment with the perceived lack of action by the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads.
The closure of Leeson Road, along with ongoing issues surrounding the Graben, a known unstable geological fault on Newport Road, has led to frustration and anger about how little progress has been made in getting the town open for business. While the re-opening of the Landslip Car Park provides some relief, it did little to suppress the anger caused by the ongoing road closures.
Rob Gillespie, chief executive of Island Roads, confirmed that specialist monitoring equipment still needs to be installed on Leeson Road along with boreholes, which will provide an early warning system of any further movement. This could be linked to an automatic closure system, either of warning lights or physical barriers. However, there is no set date for when the road will be accessible again, or even when a decision will be made on the future of the key route, but it was confirmed it will not be until after the summer holiday season.
Mr Gillespie claimed there is no permanent fix for the landslide area around Leeson Road so authorities were also looking at options for the long term. This view was challenged by a member of the audience, who said that a “heavyweight engineering company” needed to be instructed and he felt the population was being “misled”. His views received a round of applause.
Further adding to the town’s summer struggle, it was revealed that the Graben will need to be closed entirely for a fortnight, probably in June, for major drainage works by Southern Water. This will mean all traffic to and from Ventnor using Whitwell Road, which is already carrying a much heavier traffic load than usual, causing problems in Whitwell. If the drainage works are delayed for too long there will be much more extensive work required, meaning the road would be closed for a longer period.
Beyond Leeson Road and the Graben, residents are also worried about the closure of Bath Road and Gills Cliff Road. The former is caught up in a legal dispute with the landowner, causing delays to necessary repairs. As a result, it seems probable that Bath Road will stay closed for some time, potentially into 2025. Meanwhile, Gills Cliff Road remains shut due to concerns over “reasonably large fissures” in the cliff face and the possibility of further falls. It is hoped that substantial netting with ground anchors can be fitted to deal with the problem.
Despite multiple road closures threatening to inflict long-standing woes on the town, Island Roads and officers from the Isle of Wight Council expressed their firm commitment to fix the issues. Mr Gillespie was at pains to point out that rumours that the council and Island Roads do not want to re-open the road were untrue.
Natasha Dix, IW Council’s director for the environment and planning, informed those present that the council was getting no positive response from the government about the possibility of funding to help reinstate any of the roads, either from the Department of Transport or the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Mal Butler