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Isle of Wight Information

The Needles from the air The Isle of Wight has long been at the forefront of innovation and today it retains a vision to ensure its place at the cutting edge of enterprise.

Half of the Island is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty so the possible conflict between enterprise and preserving our natural environment is one we are always going to encounter; it is up to us to strike the right balance. Of course we need to preserve and protect our natural beauty – it helps give the Island its unique character and is so important to our appeal as a visitor destination and as a place where people want to live and work. But we must also adopt a sensible approach to development; we need to promote and nurture enterprise and innovation as well as protect the environment.

Cycling at Godshill The essence of the Isle of Wight Local Development Framework's (Island Plan) approach to encouraging sustainable industrial/business development is enshrined in the document’s core strategy section that states: “The Island is renowned for the beauty and quality of its natural environment but, to be a truly sustainable Island, this needs to be matched by a thriving economy, built environment and infrastructure that together improve the quality of life of its residents. Our Economic Strategy goal is a sustainable economy where people have better access to skills and qualifications, well paid jobs and higher aspirations and far from seeing the need to care for the environment as being a bar to enterprise and development, the strategy seeks to encourage sustainable regeneration that works in harmony with the environment to deliver the wider Eco Island aims.”

Fishermen on Ventnor Beach The Island’s strong maritime, boat and ship-building tradition has left a legacy of excellence in the composites sector. Other sections of our industrial base remain at the cutting edge of technology and enterprise and, with ever improving transport links to the mainland, the spirit of innovation remains strong.

Planning permission has been granted to enable the international wind turbine blade manufacturer Vestas to establish a new research and development facility on the Western Bank of the River Medina, and the council remains committed to a scheme to create hundreds of new homes to a high green specification and with a sizeable percentage affordable to local people. The council have also been working with partners, including SEEDA, on a major regeneration scheme for East Cowes.

Totland Pier In a bid to help further raise education standards on the Island, Councillors made the historic decision to move from the current three-tier primary, middle and high school system to a two-tier junior and secondary school model.

The Island supports many national and international events including walking and cycling festivals, and the re-emergence of the Isle of Wight music festival is leading a cultural renaissance on the Isle of Wight. During 2009 the council invested £340,000 in a strategic marketing campaign increasing awareness of the Isle of Wight and promoting it as a first class visitor destination.

A major boost to this is that the Isle of Wight is one of just three councils nationally to qualify for a ‘Highways Private Finance Initiative’ (PFI) to be funded by the Department for Transport.