The Isle of Wight Council’s chair has welcomed an “essential” budget proposal for new Cowes-East Cowes Floating Bridge generators but said the council must “get on with replacing” the vessel.
East Cowes county councillor Karl Love signalled his support for County Hall’s £35,000 generators spend but stressed the slow “snail like approach” to the Floating Bridge Six replacement process “is not helping the situation”.
The River Medina chain ferry is often pulled from service, with the most recent suspension at the end of last month due to a generator and battery fault.
Cllr Love said:
“The replacement of the generator is essential but one cannot help feeling that the snail like approach to replacing the Floating Bridge is not helping the situation.
“I and East Cowes Town Council have repeatedly pressed council officers to progress this with priority and speed to help safeguard our Island reputation, support local people’s connectivity needs and those of business and industries.
“There is still no positive action that I can see being taken and the longer this is all dragged out in the replacement the greater the cost to our Island people.
“The funding is available and ringfenced to deliver a new Floating Bridge and there is no additional funding for suggestions of a highly expensive fixed link.
“Please will the Isle of Wight Council get on with replacing it to save funding and spend the ringfenced funding which diminishes all the time with inflation pressures.”
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said:
“As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing the reliability and efficiency of Floating Bridge Six, we are undertaking the planned replacement of the original generators, which have been in operation for eight years.
“These generators have reached the end of their working life and have exceeded the manufacturer’s recommended operating hours, making maintenance and sourcing parts increasingly challenging.
“By investing in two new generators and undertaking regular maintenance, we aim to deliver a more dependable and efficient service in the future.”
The council’s cabinet unanimously agreed to replace the £3.5 million ferry in March last year.
County Hall leader Phil Jordan said back in March the decision “has been a long time coming”.
He added the agreement reached was the beginning of a process and options would be explored which the council would refer to prior to the purchase of a new floating bridge.
In November last year, the council announced a Spring 2025 “engagement process” with the “public and key stakeholders” on a new replacement bridge.
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