The Ghostly Isle of Wight

As the name of the isle suggests, the Isle of Wight is fast becoming a ghost town. Having been there last Tuesday the place had a feel of nothingness about it, despite claims that it is the South East's fastest growing economy. With little job prospects for 9 months of the year, is it any wonder why the centre of Ryde is looking a bit worse for wear? I wouldn't say it was horrible at all, safety is not an issue, but a tourist resort should surely be a bit more pleasing on the eye.

The Royal York Hotel, once the pride of the town, has gone into disrepair. This is a stinging message that something must be done, especially since Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer,and the island's largest employer relocated to the USA. In my opinion there needs to be more of a link with the main land, no matter what the ultra traditional Conservative council says. However, the Isle should remain a perfect plae for retirement and should never lose its rural roots.

What I propose, which the island's MP will agree with, is to immediately demonopolise Wightlink, and make it cheaper for everyone to visit the island, as quite frankly the public are being had. It becomes very hard for the islanders to see family and get jobs elsewhere, no matter how skilled they are. After Wightlink has been demonopolised the serious work can start without the opposition on the greedy ferry company. Firstly the train links need to be improved, with the Island Line being extended to Ventnor, with other branch lines going from Ryde to Yarmouth, via Fishbourne and Newport, as well as a branch line from Newport to Cowes. Then one bridge can be built from Yarmouth to Lymington. The rail will link with the Lymington branch line and the road will link the A3054 to the A337 on the mainland. This will act as a route for residents to find work in cities such as Southampton and Bournemouth, whilst businesses may set up on the island as its the cheapest place in the South East. The beauty spots will be protected and due to the fairly remote location of the bridge, the island will not become overpopulated by commuters.

On the image the blue shows the current island line, the red shows the Ventnor extension, the purple shows the Ryde-Yarmouth line, the pale yellow shows the Newport-Cowes line. The yellow shows the road/rail bridge.