Islanders Have Their Say On Council's Floating Bridge Consultation

The final drop-in session as part of a public consultation on the future of the Isle of Wight’s floating bridge was held yesterday – here’s what three Islanders had to say.

Senior council officer Colin Rowland, attendee Becca Blachford and East Cowes county councillor Karl Love spoke to the press as County Hall wrapped up its last in-person question and answer event at the Riverside Centre in Newport.

The council has said it is asking ‘Island residents, businesses and visitors’ to share their views on the ‘future crossing options’ linking the towns of East Cowes and Cowes.

In March 2024, an Alliance group cabinet voted to replace the East Cowes-Cowes chain ferry and develop a new River Medina Crossing Strategy.

The strategy includes an ‘appraisal of all viable options and a full business case and financial assessment’.

Three options have been put forward for consultation.

They include a new floating bridge replacement, modifying the existing vessel and/or operational environment: ‘through a phased approach involving additional control chains and/or tidal flow reduction and/or adding flush thrusters to the existing vessel’ and maintaining and operating the current ferry.

Colin Rowland, strategic director for community services, said engagement with the consultation had “generally” been “quite good”.

He said:

“The one (drop-in session) we had in East Cowes last week was well attended – the one at West Cowes, slightly less, but still reasonably well attended.

“We’ve talked to all the councillors about the process we need to follow as a public body – it’s a large amount of money we could be talking about in terms of procurement… we could be looking up to anything between £3m to £10m for a replacement vessel.

“As a responsible public body, we’ve gone through Treasury Green Book guidance, we’ve gone through a process. The consultation is part of that process.”

The Green Book is Whitehall’s guidance on how to assess ‘policies, projects and programmes’, considering costs, benefits and trade-offs of different options, according to the government.

Asked about controversial losses incurred by the current Floating Bridge Six (FB6), beset by service and maintenance issues since it was first introduced in 2017, Mr Rowland said it was “£900,000” over the budget that has been set for this year.

Attending the Riverside Centre session, local resident Becca Blachford said:

“It was useful because they were able to answer the questions – I liked that there were enough people there with enough background to answer the questions.

“I think they (the council) have made their position quite clearly that they think it’s a better cost and reliability of service if they can put the work into the Floating Bridge that’s already existing.”

“They think there’s a perception in East Cowes and Cowes that the Floating Bridge is never working…I think that perception is wrong.

“If you go back five years – absolutely right – it felt like it was never working and it was really inconvenient, but I think it’s been much more reliable for a while now.”

Cllr Love said the consultation has been “disappointing” and a “sham”.

“There are only three questions…and one of them is an absolutely ridiculous question – to do nothing. You can’t do nothing.”

He pointed to the £900,000 figure but added he had been “reliably” informed by an anonymous source that losses would be over one million pounds “by the end of the financial year”.

“I would have expected a consultation to be more broad based, asking questions about what the river users’ experiences are – the shipping…what would they like to see to improve it, its visibility etc.”

Cllr Love also complained the consultation failed to ask questions relevant to groups including cyclists, those with “reduced mobility” or “visual impairment”.

“It (FB6) was built with virtually no understanding of accessibility and inclusion so therefore mobile scooters have to stay out on the deck with no rain cover in all weathers, or sun cover…same with cyclists.”

The consultation will finish on August 22, with two online question and answer sessions scheduled for August 7 and 12.

Its online survey can be found here: https://www.iow.gov.uk/transport-and-parking/transport/cowes-floating-bridge/floating-bridge-consultation/.