News

report from Cllr Andrew Garratt for Parkhurst & Hunnyhill

Email: andrew.garratt@iow.gov.uk - Tel: 01983 524623

Over recent weeks I’ve been making sure I walk past the green area on Hookes Way. It’s been great to see the new play equipment being installed. At the time of writing, the turf needed a little time to take hold before the equipment can be used.

I’ve continued to raise concerns about the accumulation of litter and fly-tipped rubbish along the Hookes Way footpath by the dual carriageway. This has been taken seriously by the council and I hope that this will mean that the worst can be cleared away soon.

Very recently, residents alerted me to recent fly-tipping on forest land near Camp Hill. I’ll be working with residents to make sure this is cleared as soon as possible.

With both areas, we will need to look at ways of deterring any future fly-tipping, which is a criminal offence.

Users of the bus stop on the northern side of Cowes Road will know that this has a very small ‘refuge’. I’ve asked council officers to add this to the list to be considered for upgrade. It makes sense to do this so it’s safer for users, especially with the heavy traffic during most of the day.

On another safety issue, readers may remember I reported that a pedestrian count had been carried out on those crossing near the mini-roundabout near Lidl. A meeting is set to take place with council officers on the outcome of the survey and what might be done to make things safer.

An issue was reported to me about the pedestrian crossing on Forest Road behaving as though the button had been pressed all the time. This was leading to the lights cycling repeatedly from red to green with some frustrated drivers going through on red. I took this up with Island Roads who discovered a problem with a faulty microswitch which had to be replaced.

It’s been a while since the council wrote to residents of the prison estates following the completion of the streetlight installation. The next step is to resurface those roads on the estates which are now owned by the council. I’m pressing for a date for these works to be confirmed, though it will need to tie in with work by WightFibre to install their cabling so that newly surfaced roads and pavements aren’t dug up almost immediately.

As in previous months’ reports I want to highlight the dedicated section on the Isle of Wight Council website with advice and guidance for residents struggling with the cost of living: www.iow.gov.uk/costofliving

Council tax bills will arrive in March, adding to the pressure on household budgets. For working aged people on low incomes, help is available through the local council tax support scheme. At the time of writing, Isle of Wight Council was about to consider raising the maximum amount of reduction to 70 per cent from 65 per cent. This is something I got council support for last year so I’m hoping next month I will be reporting that it was, indeed, passed.

Information on eligibility and how to apply is online at the (long!) link: continued over the page

News report from Cllr Andrew Garratt for Parkhurst & Hunnyhill

beta.iow.gov.uk/council-tax-and-benefits/ council-tax/help-with-paying-council-tax/ local-council-tax-support

You can also ring the Council’s revenue and benefits team on 01983 823950.

Finally, as ever, please get in touch with issues that I may be able to help with – however ‘big’ or ‘small’. My contact details are above. You can also follow my work as a councillor through my website at https://andrewgarratt.mycouncillor. org.uk/

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