Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2017 | Page 88

Equestrian
slipping on new roads, Trish
Merrifield, Chairman of the Isle
of Wight Bridleways Committee,
commented that many roads
don’t have verges, and that
dangerous crossings often have to
be negotiated. She said that since
some roads have been resurfaced,
there ha ve been many reports of
horses slipping, making riding on
these roads hazardous.
Other representatives of the
Island’s equestrian community
present echoed her words, and it
was conceded by both the Isle of
Wight Council and Island Roads
representatives that insufficient
attention had been paid to their
needs during the negotiation of
the PFI contract.
So, who’s to blame?
Councillor Ian Ward, Cabinet
Member for Transport and
Infrastructure at Isle of Wight
Council commented, “The PFI
contract was awarded to us by
central government and it is central
government who specifies the type
of road surface that is to be used
when re-surfacing roads (within the
contract). I believe that the surface
used meets the required national
standard approved by central
government. So, neither Island
Roads or ourselves have any say
as to what type of surface is used
under the contract.
As a local Council, we want to
solve this problem as soon as
possible, and we are looking at
the options, but there is no quick
solution. (it may take years.”)
The roads that are currently
being re-surfaced will remain
somewhat slippery until a solution
can be found (for the foreseeable
future), warns Ian Ward.
“The problem we have is that
many of the roads which are
causing a problem are country
lanes and, as such, they are not
used anywhere near so much as a
main road, and traffic movement
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is far less. So, it will take far longer
for the surface to wear in.
Also, as cars tend to travel in the
same track on narrow country
roads, the road gets worn in where
the car tyres travel, while the rest
of the road will remain slippery
for much longer without the same
wear and tear. Unfortunately, in
most cases, this is mainly where
horses ride.”
There seem to be two bodies
who can address this problem
and they are our MP, Mr Bob Seely
and the British Horse Society, as
both parties are in the position to
put pressure on the Government
to look at the current problem
with the national road surface
specification.
There are other areas in the UK
that could face the same problem,
so if all the local MPs joined forces
in Parliament perhaps this issue
could be addressed promptly.
Ian Ward commented, “Because
the Isle of Wight has a larger
horse community per square mile
than anywhere else in the UK, the
problem is highlighted here on
the Island. In the meantime, we
as a Council can start to look at
different solutions to overcome
this problem, but we will have to
try and find a pot of money from
somewhere. It’s no use trying to
place blame at the door of the Isle
of Wight Council nor Island Roads,
when really it should be aimed
at Central Government as they
ultimately specify the material that
is used to re-surface roads. ( which
must be used in carrying out the
PFI contract.”)
As we are all aware, any changes
to Government policy could take
years, certainly not months, so
what is the short to medium term
solution?
Ian Ward says “There are several
options we are looking to discuss,
but a lot of what we discuss will
depend on finding available
funds. At locations where the
horse and rider have to cross the
road in order to gain access to
a bridleway, we could create a
crossing for them with a special
top coat, while for riders who have
to travel 500 metres or more to the
nearest bridleway, we could look
at widening grass verges so that
horse and rider don’t have to ride
on the roads, but that’s only if the
land is available.
“We could also look at increasing
the number of bridleways on the
Island, but in order to do this we
would need the co-operation of
the local farming community. Even
if everyone agreed and there were
the funds to carry out the works, it
would still be a 3-5-year project.
So, what can riders do in the