Surgeries:
4-4:30pm, Monday 3rd March, Cowes
Library, Beckford Road, Cowes.
5-6pm, Monday 3 March, IW Community Club, Park Road, Cowes.
(HIGHWAYS)
1-1:30pm, Thursday 13th March, The
Woodvale, Princes Esplanade, Gurnard.
3-3:30pm,
Wednesday 19th March, Cowes Enterprise College, Crossfield Avenue,
Cowes.
6-6:30pm
Thursday 27th March, The Portland, Worsley Road, Gurnard.
4:30-5pm, Tuesday 1st April, Cowes Library, Beckford Road, Cowes
5:30-6pm, Tuesday 1st April, Sports Bar, IW Community Club, Park Road, Cowes.
IW Council Budget
2014/5: In A Nutshell:
The IW Council approved to increase Council
Tax by 1.99%. This was considered
necessary to help retain several services that may have otherwise been lost,
and in real terms will generate an extra £521,000. The final recommendation followed several
months of consultation, scrutiny and dialogue between the five political groups
at County Hall.
Measures agreed, included the following:
·
Pre-apprenticeships
and business support for older people - To allocate
£150,000 next year to schemes supporting young people into pre-apprenticeships/
apprenticeships and supporting people over 50 to start up their own businesses.
·
Assisted Area
Status - To continue to promote the case for the inclusion of the
whole Island in Assisted Area Status designation (currently status has been
secured for 28 of the Island’s 38 wards).
·
Children’s
services - To provide an additional
£2.25 million for children’s services.
·
Residents’
parking permit - To introduce an Islandwide
residents’ parking permit from 1 April 2014.
·
Business expansion
fund - To promote the Isle of Wight Expansion Fund, launched in
January 2014, making £2.46 million of grant funds available to Island-based
businesses.
·
Tidal energy - To match £1
million of private sector investment to create Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre
Ltd, a joint venture company to develop a tidal energy test facility off St
Catherine’s Point.
·
Superfast
broadband - The council has already
committed £3 million to the installation of superfast broadband, ensuring the
Island will be one of the best connected areas in the country.
·
Tourism - Committed
investment of £340,000 a year to Visit Isle of Wight.
To set a
balanced budget, the council is faced with making savings of £28 million over
the next three years. Initial measures for savings and to increase income,
include the following:
·
Fees for leisure, recreation
and public spaces to be increased from 2014/2015.
·
Working with town and parish
councils to develop policies and strategies for services the Isle of Wight
Council can no longer afford to deliver.
·
Savings through management
restructures, process reviews and combining council functions.
·
Potential savings from combining or collaborating
with another fire and rescue service from 2016/2017.
·
Proposals to implement charges for pedestrians on
the Cowes floating bridge were deferred for at least a year pending further
consultation and investigation into the viability of such charges.
It was also agreed:
·
To retain school crossing staff;
·
Not to implement the savings in respect of beach
safety equipment.
·
That savings related to the Lord Lieutenant’s
office are not proceeded with at this stage, but be dealt with in the
forthcoming overall review of support services.
·
To remove an empty homes officer duplicate post
from the list of savings and change it to an administrative post.
Because of the
extent of savings required in the coming years, and due to ongoing dialogue to
adapt how services are provided, it will be necessary to review spending on a
regular (6 weekly) basis.
Review of Island Housing
Need.
During February some local residents were
asked for their views concerning the potential revision of Island Plan Policy
SP2 which relates to the extent of housing required in the coming years.
At present, the ‘average’ figure expected by
Planners is for 520 new dwellings each year and 1350 for the Medina Valley for
the life of the Island Plan. When assessed
by the last government this figure was consistent with the figure for the South
East region. Since then, there has been
a change of government and planning priorities and a different economic climate.
Subsequently, for several years the 520
new dwellings figure has exceeded the true figure of new dwellings being built
within the Isle of Wight.
Because of local concern in allocating future
housing sites in Cowes West and Gurnard, and due to evidence supporting this
housing figure is too high, I’ve requested this figure is reduced to reflect
local need. Details of my full representation can be found below:
Dear
Mr Boulter.
SP2
Review.
I
have been asked to write to you on behalf of Gurnard Parish Council, with
respect to reviewing Policy SP2 of the Island Plan. Concerns have been raised by the Parish
Council, which I share as ward member.
These
are as follows:
·
Figures for future housing.
We
consider that the ‘average’ figure of 520 new dwellings per annum, and 1350 new
dwellings for the Medina Valley within the life of the Island Plan is too high.
In
the last few years, the actual numbers of new dwellings approved have fallen
short of this figure. Given the change
to the national economic picture since adoption of the Island Plan, given that
house prices have flatlined and by the fact that within the Cowes area many
houses remain unsold- shows locally there is less demand for housing than when
the Island Plan was approved in 2012.
·
Use of Strategic Housing Marketing
Assessment.
Concerns
were raised that a proposed SHMA to assess Housing Need, would not appropriate
to assess demand for future housing. A
view has been raised, which suggests that figures within any SHMA could be
corrupted by stakeholders who may have a vested or commercial interest- rather
than the needs of the Isle of Wight’s Community.
If
the Isle of Wight Council wishes to adopt such a method to gauge any housing
need or demand, Gurnard Parish Council has asked for a full and widespread
transparent consultation with residents, in much the same way as would be
expected from a Housing Needs Survey.
·
Removal of Settlement Boundary.
Gurnard
has requested that the settlement boundary for the village is removed. This we believe would offer our community
greater control on what development we wish to see within our village.
Because
we have undertaken a full Housing Need Survey alongside other consultations there
is a strong basis, backed up with evidence to see the settlement boundary
removed in its entirety from Gurnard.
Local Residents are disappointed that Gurnard continues to remain within
the settlement boundary for Cowes, and considers the Island Plan does little to
acknowledge or safeguard our village identity, particularly in light of SHLAA’s
under consideration.
·
Adjacent to Settlement Boundary.
I
have been asked to seek a definitive response to SP1’s policy on the Spatial
Strategy. There remains confusion on
what is precisely meant by the term- The Council will… support development on
‘appropriate’ land ‘immediately adjacent’ to the defined settlement boundaries.
I
hold the view, that this statement is vague and open to misinterpretation. Furthermore, with so many SHLAA sites
suggested for Gurnard, I am advised this has led to house prices being
oppressed in some areas- namely Place Road, Baring Road and Tuttons Hill.
Thank
you for enabling me to feedback within this representation,
Kind
Regards,
Paul
Fuller JP,CC- Isle of Wight Councillor for Cowes West and Gurnard
Medina Valley Area
Action Plan Update.
I attended a meeting with Cllr. Peacey-Wilcox
and Cllrs. Banks and Jones (Cowes Town Council), Cllr. Javaid (Gurnard Parish
Council) and Cllr. Jaggar (Northwood Parish Council) to receive an update
regarding progress on the Medina Valley.
In addition to the Housing Need Review (see above), officers reported
the following priorities:
1.
Future
Housing sites would be prioritised.
2.
European
Designation sites would be safeguarded.
3.
Sites
for ‘Affordable Housing’ may be review.
This included the 35% level threshold for affordable dwellings.
4.
Settlement
Boundaries to be reviewed. (Especially Gurnard & Northwood).
5.
To
consider allocating ‘formal’ sites for Gypsies and Travellers.
6.
To
review the requirement and need for a Freight Haulage Site.
7.
To
allocate ‘Water frontage’ Employment Sites on the River Medina.
8.
Review
Town retail areas and strengthen current policy to protect and safeguard Town
Centres.
9.
Identify
Waste Sites.
10. To review and where appropriate revise
Renewable Energy Policies.
11. To review, monitor and update sustainable
travel policies.
12. Traffic Modelling (for Newport)
13. Revise Heritage Assets commentary.
During the meeting members raised issues
regarding Public Health Infrastructure, and the ability for service providers
to sustain care; Issues regarding the IW Festival; Air Quality Monitoring;
Trees; and the need for the IW Council to adopt a strategic plan for Newport
Harbour.
Closure of Coastal Footpath, Gurnard.
Regular users of footpath CS16 will be aware of
the closure of Gurnard’s Coastal footpath following a recent landslip. The reason for closing the footpath is due to
land beneath the path being undermined, and follows complaints received over
health and safety concerns over the proximity of the path to the cliff beneath.
Therefore access has temporarily been restricted.
I understand it was
Rights Of Way’s intention to repair and reopen the path, however with respect
to the timeframe for this, advises the following: ‘Unfortunately,
we cannot give a time scale as to when the full assessment will take place as
it will take a long period for ground conditions to dry and the department is
presently very busy dealing with storm damage inspections and closures’.
An update will be provided to this month’s
Gurnard Parish Council meeting.
Perpetuus
Tidal Energy Centre, St Catherines Point, Ventnor.
I attended a briefing on the above proposal
which will be formally consulted upon in the coming months.
Councillors were advised that this facility
will generate energy for 15,000 homes and a licence was being sought from the
Maritime Management Organisation to enable this. If approved the Centre would be operational
from 2016-2017.
It was suggested that the turbines for this
project could be mounted on the seabed; anchored to floating devices or
anchored in mid water to take advantage of tidal flows
Elsewhere there are experimental schemes
currently operational in Orkney and Northern Ireland. It is believed that following the £20m worth
of investment this could lead to in excess of 200 jobs.
There is to be a Public Exhibition on this
proposal on 19th March, at the Spyglass Inn, Ventnor.
PFI Highways Contract
Progress.
Residents may be aware that Marc Griffin, who
was the principle IW Council Officer monitoring the PFI Contract has been
offered a similar position with Portsmouth City Council. For this reason, I am in the process of
setting up regular meetings with Marc’s replacement and local IW Council
colleagues to monitor progress. In the
meantime, I have circulated the PFI Progress Update to Town and Parish Council
colleagues. In discussion with Island Road’s, I’m hoping regular meetings with
the four Cowes IW Councillors will take place every three months.
A number of residents continue to raise
concerns with me over progress with the PFI Contract. In the last month residents raised concerns over
manhole covers that were tarmacked over in Cockleton
Lane, Gurnard; whilst some street
lights has remained lit constantly for 3-4 months.
At the surgery held by Cllr. John Nicholson
and I earlier this month, we were advised that all Ironworks are surfaced over
to ensure that when raised- this is to the correct level (!?) I have to confess
that I’m confused by this process, but John considered this to be sensible, so
I’m now very happy to accept his wider knowledge on this subject.
With respect to the street lighting, we were
advised this was considered to be due to an issue with software necessary for
the lighting and would be resolved once it was known how widespread the issue
was. I am therefore awaiting an update
on this issue!
On a positive note, Island Roads have
reported the following, to date:
·
127,760
sq.metres (20km) of roads and 8,840
sq.metres (8km) of footways have been treated.
·
3128
lighting units have been upgraded
·
1
major and 25 minor drainage schemes have commenced design.
·
12
minor drainage schemes complete.
·
4
geotechnical schemes have commenced earlier than planned.
At the surgery we were advised that Park Road and Place Road is scheduled for resurfacing in late March, early
April. These works would be undertaken at night, given these roads strategic
importance. Ward Avenue has been timetabled to commence in July.
Questions were also answered as to why Cockleton Lane was resurfaced when it
was, and why footways for the Tilbury
Road and Westwood Close cul-de-sacs had been given higher priority
than more important strategic roads.
Island Roads, highlighted that they were
under a contractual obligation to resurface all roads and footways, and it was
important that the type of work and where this work was undertaken was properly
spread out over the 7year contract. In
addition to this, with the uncertain weather conditions, disruption would be
preferable to these more minor roads.
Following this second Surgery, it now seems
very likely that similar Drop In’s will take place twice yearly.
Flooding
Update.
I attended a public meeting which was hosted
by MP, Andrew Turner called following this year’s storms.
There were a large number of issues raised by
residents impacted by flooding. These ranged from operation of the Eastern Yar
Sluice Gates, the perception that flood gates were shut off at Carisbrooke
Pumping Station and ongoing concerns over flooding from the Monktonmead Brook,
Ryde. Criticism was made to Southern Water, the Environment Agency and Island
Roads not responding promptly to enquiries… However, it was acknowledged how over
stretched all agencies were during the storms.
Since the meeting, I’ve suggested the
importance of resurrecting the local Flood Defence Committee, which would help
prioritise where new Flood Protection grants are distributed. In addition, businesses impacted by flooding
can access Grants provided via local Council’s through the Business Support
Scheme. For details please call 0300 456
3565.
Meanwhile, locally I helped arranged for
further sandbags to be issued to residents living in and around Marsh Road
following recent High Tides. I remain
hopeful that the water table has now fallen and am keeping everything crossed that
the sun shines long enough to dry the Island out!!
What’s
On: Gurnard Village Hall.
Gurnard Village Hall Association’s Cybercafé is open from 2-4pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month (not August) in
Gurnard Village Hall, Worsley Road. This is for all residents of all abilities
(and none!). The group has a printer, 2
laptops plus access to iPads, iPods and Kindles.
You can use the facilities, or bring your own
computer. Access to WiFi costs £1 plus
tea, coffee and cake! (Yum!!)
Gurnard
Film Society
will be airing the Film Little Voice, a
gritty Northern comedy about a sleazy talent scout (Michael Caine) hoping to
reap rewards from a shy girl’s talent for singing. Doors open, 7pm for a 7:30pm start, Friday 7th
March.
The film is Certified: U15 (93 minutes). Admission £5.
See www.events.onthewight.com. Turn up or book. Tel: 240615 or Email:
gurnardfilmsociety.com
Meetings
Update:
Economy And Environment Scrutiny Panel
At our last meeting, Panel members received
an update from both Island Roads and the IW Council with respect to progress of
the PFI contract. This was circulated to all members.
The Panel made the following recommendations
with respect to budget setting:
·
That
the Leader looks in further detail at the cost model being used for fees and
charges.
·
That
consideration be given to where e-ticketing could be introduced for items such
as parking permits and leisure centres so to reduce costs and increase sales.
·
That
in developing the parking strategy a full public consultation exercise be
undertaken before implementation and this should include small businesses.
·
That
consideration be given to the ability of local tradesmen to park in residents
parking zones whilst undertaking works in adjacent properties.
Since the Economy and Environment Scrutiny
Panel meeting, I called a further meeting between myself, the Cabinet Member
and a business representative to discuss the Council’s Parking Strategy.
Appeals
Sub Committee: Yarmouth Village Green Application.
Last month, I was part of the Appeals Sub
Committee which supported granting Village Green status to Yarmouth Recreation
Ground which although owned by Yarmouth Town Trust is leased to Yarmouth Town
Council.
The only part of the Recreation Ground
excluded from the ‘Village Green’, was the pavilion/ changing rooms which were
locked following use by members of the local Football Club.
Planning
Committee.
At Planning Committee, I moved the
recommendation to refuse proposals to resurrect Atherfield Bay Holiday Camp, due to the scale of the proposal being
too large for the site- and how this proposal’s design would in my opinion
adversely impact upon the Atherfield Community and both the AONB and the
Heritage Coast.
Other items considered by the Planning
Committee included a proposed kayak
storage facility, Ventnor Esplanade and 7 proposed new dwellings on the site of the Family Centre, Atkinson Drive, Newport. Both these applications on IW Council owned
land were non-contentious and approved.
Licencing
Sub Committee: Ryde Town Club, Star
Street.
Following ongoing complaints raised by
neighbours, the Licencing Committee which I was a member of felt it appropriate
to curtail licensing hours to 10am- Midnight, Sunday-Thursdays and from
10am-1am on Fridays and Saturday. Complaints received of public nuisance included
noise and allegations of anti-social behaviour from patrons. Regrettably the licensee was not in
attendance, and was therefore not in any position to defend their position.
Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Meeting.
I chaired this meeting, in the absence of
both the Chairman and Vice Chair.
It was reported that Government Cutbacks from
DEFRA for Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, were smaller than for other
funding streams. For the coming year,
nationally AONB’s and National Parks would receive a 6% cut, which will be
maintained by a 0.7% each year thereafter.
We were advised that a bid was being put together
for the second phase of Local Sustainable Transport Funding. This funding would
be used to enhance travel to work and schools by sustainable means.
In
the last Month:
·
Following
suggestions originating from Cllr Walters, I’ve taken action to discuss
creation of a strategy for Newport Harbour.
The Council leader is talking to stakeholders, and hopeful with the
support of local IW Councillors, I hope there will be action taken on Cllr.
Walter’s suggestions.
·
I
have requested an update from BT regarding the rollout of Superfast Broadband
to customers living in Cowes.
·
I’ve
offered support to Gurnard School Parents who are creating a road safety
leaflet.
·
Letters
have been circulated to Blackberry Lane residents following regular tipping of
Garden Waste in the area.
·
I
received several ‘worried’ phone calls over fears of an application being
submitted to develop the farmland between Baring Road and Tuttons Hill. I’ve been assured from Planners they are not
aware of an application in the pipeline.
·
I’ve
instructed Island Roads to continue to monitor drainage from fields opposite
Basketts Farm, Rew Street.
·
I
have asked for Service 32 to call via Aldi to be included in this summer’s
timetable.
·
I’ve
supported several residents who have reported unfilled potholes at Shore Road
and Parklands Avenue.
·
I
supported a local resident, at a recent Licensing Committee Appeal in Newport.