Isle of Wight County Press teams up with council to fight campaign for more Government funding

The Isle of Wight County Press has teamed up with the local council to launch a campaign highlighting the problems that cuts to its public services are causing to the local economy and calling for more funding.

The locally-owned weekly title is dedicating significant editorial space to its Fight for the Wight campaign, including a front page “call to action” kickstarting the campaign.

Central to the campaign is a petition calling on the Government to commit to improve funding for the island, which to date has garnered 4,685 signatures.

The local authority is concerned that it might not be able to get a legal budget next year, after it was already forced to cut millions from spending on local services.

Official figures show that 43 percent of Isle of Wight families cannot afford even affordable housing while 35 percent of Isle of Wight families are affected by problems with debt.

Alan Marriott, editor of the Isle of Wight County Press, said: "We are trying not to put a target on it but if we got 50,000 signaturues we would be very happy.

"We don’t generally get involved in campaigns, but this is so important I felt I couldn't stand by and let the Isle of Wight sink.

"We have a population of 144,000 and every one of those people has a stake in making a strong case to the minister. I hope the message can get through to those in power."

"Already groups from trade unions to car dealerships have signed up. Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader, and Rob Da Bank, DJ and curator of Bestival, are among the names to have signed.”

Topics in this article : Isle of Wight