I thought it might be helpful to just convey some information about our coastline erosion and the subsequent ground movement and landslides we have been seeing, and for some residents experiencing, over recent times.

The situation in Ventnor is extremely difficult to manage with Leeson Road currently closed and extensive monitoring going on there.

The whole area is prone to movement and has done so over thousands of years and no doubt will continue to do so in the future.

It is simply unsafe to open the road currently until we are sure there is tangible evidence the land is not moving there, and we can then implement a plan, hopefully, to get access to and from Shanklin again.

We are looking at all the options once we are sure it is safe to open, and I have asked that the council provide weekly updates through media channels to keep our residents informed.

A recent meeting in Ventnor was well attended by residents and the council teams and we will continue to engage and inform as best we can with the updated information we receive.

Two sets of separate engineering consultants are monitoring and investigating on behalf of the council and Island Roads.

To add to the wider issues we face, a landslip has occurred just below the site of the Undercliff Drive and near to the area the most recent Undercliff Drive landslip occurred around ten years ago.

This has affected numbers of properties and the roads badly and demonstrate that any idea of re-building the Undercliff Drive would be at a risk simply too great to undertake or contemplate even. There are smaller disturbances in other parts of Ventnor also.

We are working extremely hard to manage all these developing events and trying to maintain the important remaining access roads as best we can.

I want to assure residents we are doing everything and more to address the severe problems we face but with limited options available due to the nature of the landslips it will be the best we can do under the circumstances rather than a return to normal in the short term.

We are, however, talking to the Department for Transport to understand if there is some future funding available to help us address the issues we face which could, potentially, run into multi millions of pounds to solve the problems.

Meanwhile, we will manage the situation in a safe and measured way as well as keeping residents updated on progress and information to hand from monitoring and other surveys and reports.