On Wednesday, the Minister for Maritime and Aviation visited the Island to host a roundtable with the ferry companies, Richard Quigley and me, and other stakeholders. It was an opportunity to make the case to the Minister and civil servants from the Department of Transport that services and prices are so far from what is acceptable that the ferry companies cannot be relied upon to make the improvements required without Government oversight.
I presented evidence of £350 return tickets, dwindling timetables which have seen the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route reduce from an average of 35 return crossings a day in 2010 to 30 in 2015 and only 25 in 2025. I am confident that the Minister will return to Westminster with a better impression of the scale of the problems than when he arrived. The Government is nationalising trains and subsidising buses to the tune of £1 billion. Isle of Wight ferries are an outlier as the only lifeline transport link entirely privately owned, unregulated, debt-laden, and unsubsidised. All we are asking is for our Island to be treated fairly, like everywhere else in the UK.
Meanwhile, I have set up a Ryde Business Forum to better connect businesses in Ryde. It is being chaired by John McLagan, and we held our first drop-in event at Royal Victoria Arcade in Union Street with over 50 people in attendance. It comes at an important time for Ryde, which will be receiving £20 million from the Government over the next 7-10 years to be distributed by a new Neighbourhood Board, and I want to make sure a wide spectrum of voices have input into how the money is spent. I am pleased to have persuaded the Board to add 4 new members with an emphasis on business, health, education, and young people.
During the break, I took the opportunity to attend two “Let’s Talk” beat surgeries with local police in Lake Morrisons and Shanklin Coop. I heard from concerned residents about anti-social behaviour, including the nuisance caused by the illegal use of scooters. The Crime and Policing Bill is currently going through Parliament (I am on the Bill Committee), which will give the police a number of new powers, such as the power to confiscate scooters driven with intent to annoy without having to first give a warning.
I also met with Ventnor residents and Councillor Ed Blake in Bath Road to lend my support to getting it reopened. I am pleased that, within days, the Council finally agreed to get it reopened and deal with the potential ownership dispute thereafter, so residents and businesses don’t have to suffer any longer while the Council argues about who should foot the final bill. Next on the agenda is Belgrave Road, which I have already spoken out about.
