Design champion Sir Terry Farrell.
IT IS less than 100 pages long, largely made up of photographs, blank spaces and gibberish and it cost Islanders thousands of pounds.
More than 18 months after Sir Terry Farrell and his internationally renowned design firm were commissioned on a one-year £50,000 contract as design champion for the Island, their 'aspirational vision’ — to be co-authored by the Isle of Wight Council — has yet to be completed.
The council said the document was only part of the work done by Farrells.
It would be completed by council officers and published later this year.
On March 14, 2008, the County Press asked Sir Terry when he thought the design manifesto would be completed and he estimated it would take six months to a year.
Two years later, the County Press has seen a draft version of the two-volume document that is less than 100 pages, most of which contain only headings, short outlines of issues, such as transport and tourism, photographs without copyright approval and maps of the Island.
Other parts contain only generic publishing gibberish, sometimes known as lorem ipsum, inserted on pages to show the places where finished text should appear.
Last July, Isle of Wight head of planning Bill Murphy told the County Press the manifesto was close to being finalised.
But the authority, which has just cut £11 million from its budget, admitted this week it could be the end of the year before it is finished and made public.
The County Press requested copies of the other documents but were told they were unavailable at the time of going to press.
Despite repeated calls to Farrells’ London HQ, they were unavailable for comment.
Chief executive Steve Beynon said: "Their brief was to provide specialist advice and professional advocacy support, as well as the creation of visual materials to help us articulate our plans to both residents and potential future investors."
He said there had been several meetings between officers and Farrells and knowledge gained by staff as a result would be used to shape a range of documents including the Island Plan.
He added: "The economic climate has, of course, changed significantly during the last three years, as have the council’s strategic priorities, and it is only appropriate we take into account the new economic strategy which was not in place at the start of our briefing with Farrells.
"However, we have been fortunate Sir Terry has kindly agreed to continue to give us informal advice and support as we move to complete these key documents."
• See the full story in Friday, March 12, County Press.
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk