By Press Release
The leaders and chief executives of nine other Island communities joined IW Council leader, Lora Peacey-Wilcox and CEO, Wendy Perera to spend two days on the Island closeted in with civil servants and government ministers.
The second Islands Forum, held in Shanklin, gave the local authorities a chance to discuss and collaborate on the common issues and challenges that they face. This meeting focused on sustainable economic development, after the first, held in the Orkney Islands last September, concentrated on energy and how to achieve net zero. Whilst here the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove visited the CECAMM Centre run by the Isle of Wight College and Wight Shipyard in East Cowes. The forum was joined yesterday by Levelling Up minister, Dehenna Davison, who has accepted an invitation from Cllr Peacey-Wilcox to return for further discussions.
Cllr Peacey-Wilcox said that one of the most valuable opportunities was meeting privately with other council leaders to start setting the agenda for future meetings. She will also keep in touch with them so that “we can work together on issues that affect us all”. She added that one thing they were all concerned about was connectivity, and they had asked for it to be on the agenda at the next meeting. She added: “We need to now start getting positive outcomes for this meeting, so it isn’t just a talking shop. I hope that before too long we will be able to announce something that has come about as a result of the first meeting.”
Several members of the forum told the council leader that they would be returning with their families to spend time on the Island as they were “blown away” by how beautiful it was.
In a press conference after the meeting Mr Gove confirmed that connectivity was a vital issue related to any sustainable economic success and recognised that the lifeline ferry services had to be taken fully into account in any future economic plans for the Island. It was pointed out that ferry services were extremely expensive, that services were deteriorating and becoming less frequent and he was asked what the Government was prepared to do about this problem for Island residents and businesses. He said: “We have to do more to assess the connectivity needs of the Island. I will be talking with the Department for Transport about precisely what we can do about improving matters, including perhaps placing new obligations on the ferry providers.
“I accept that we have inherited some unhelpful financial structures and we want to make sure that the Government and the taxpayer get a fair deal. We have to work with the commercial operators who seek to provide high-quality services. At the same time we are prepared to be appropriately tough, just as we do with railway service operators in demanding accountability. And this extends to social values not just profitability.”
Mr Gove also said he was concerned about education standards on the Island, particularly in reading, and that Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, would be visiting shortly.
The next Islands Forum is planned for September or October in Scotland and will focus on connectivity, both physical and digital. Mr Gove said he hoped that some of the vital issues covered in discussion about the Island’s economy in the past two days would have progressed significantly by then.
Ferry good protest
On Wednesday the Wightlink User Group protested outside County Hall after they were denied the opportunity to meet the Secretary of State. Around 20 protesters were joined by Labour councillor, Richard Quigley. Brownyn Hamilton-Brown, on behalf of the group said that they were looking for a better deal all round from Wightlink, including free travel and parking for NHS patients. Many passing drivers honked their horns in support of the protest
