Isle of Wight News on VentnorBlog; ?>

You could draw the conclusion from the huge flood of questions on the council Q&A from the people on the Isle of Wight, that there remains many unanswered questions about the transition of the Island to wheelie bin.

This might be down to poor comminications of the ideas by the council to date, although some of the £1.1 million pounds the process is costing has been stated as communications.

Team worked hard
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At the start of the week a whopping £28,000 had already been raised during the first week of the Shanklin Rotary Sale. We just called and learned that the total has risen to £41,500. There’s great hope that the total of last year for £44,500 could be reached, or even passed.

VB dropped in to the Lower Hyde site on Tuesday to have a quick chat with two of the organisers of the event, Tony Compton and Mike Jones, President of the Shanklin Rotary and the recordings are below.

Fifty volunteers involved
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18 year old Islander, Jordan Mullineaux, had a fantastic Christmas present last year.

The singer, is who studying Performing Arts at the Isle of Wight College, won a competition with the prize being a signing to record label and development agency, Downtown Artists.

He tells us that he auditioned with thousands of others for the contract and was one of three chosen to be represented by the agency.

Jordan is a busy lad, he attends various dance schools, choreographs and directs and is now considering a small tour around the Island before the release of his first track, which he hopes will be out by June.

Image: © Jordan Mullineaux

(As it says above, this is an opinion piece)

It’s a full two weeks since VentnorBlog broke the story that the council had given a Mainland company the contract to distribute the new Wheelie bins around the Island.

Before we ran the story, we twice wrote to the ‘Communications’ department at the Isle of Wight council asking some simple questions.

In the passing two weeks, we’ve had no response at all.

Frankly, we think their total lack of response on this is a disgrace (they’ve replied to other queries since then).

The questions
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We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers. Island resident Sheila Ferguson got in touch this morning, livid about late night restrictions for the over 60s on Southern Vectis. In her own words. Ed

Last night we went out for a Burns Night celebration at the Old Stag. As responsible citizens who knew we would have a drink or three, we did not drive, we took the bus.

Imagine our horror, on our return journey, when we were told we could not use our bus pass after 11pm!

Everyone knows that pub closing time is 11pm, so how short-sighted is that rule? I would like to know the thinking behind it.

Being over 60 doesn’t mean cocoa and slippers
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Following arrests last year in connection to the disappearance of Damien Nettles, this in from the Police in their own words. Ed

Police investigating the suspected murder of missing Isle of Wight teenager Damien Nettles have re-bailed a woman who was arrested on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

A 35-year-old woman from Cowes, Isle of Wight had her bail extended until March 7, 2012 pending further enquiries led by detectives from Hampshire Constabulary’s Major Crime Department.

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Thanks to Nicky Moore for sharing news of this great charity cycle in aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. Ed

On Sunday 6th May 2012, five amateur, but extremely enthusiastic, cyclists will set off from Largs Yacht Haven on the West Coast of Scotland on a six day cycle challenge to Lymington Yacht Haven on the South Coast of England.

Their marathon journey is in aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust – a charity that takes young people sailing to rebuild their confidence following treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses, and the group have set themselves an incredible fundraising target of at least £5,000.

Cycling 475 miles
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We were unable to attend last night’s full council meeting, but heard from several people that some in the ruling group of Conservatives responded to suggestions that came out of the State of the Island debate in a rather derisory manner.

We’ll have more to follow on this later, but in the meantime, VB reader Tanja Rebel shares below an email she’s sent to all councillors this morning. In her own words. Ed

Dear Councillor,

When attending the Full Council Meeting yesterday I became deeply perturbed and the reason for this is twofold:

The first reason is that the very important State of the Island Debate was squeezed into the meeting instead of getting the focus and forum that it deserves.

The second reason is the way in which this debate was conducted. Instead of focussing on the issues at hand, several councillors (and you know who you are) used the debate for political point scoring in the form of deriding public opinion as well as congratulating themselves on various “successes” achieved.

Hurtful descriptions of public opinion
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We hear that the crew of popular BBC programme, Countryfile, will be filming on the Isle of Wight over the next couple of days.

It’s thought that Jules Hudson will be presenting a series of features on the Island.

We’re told that if the surf is good, it’s possible they’ll be heading to Compton Bay to shoot members of Wight Surf History.

We’ve also heard that they may be popping over to Mottistone Manor in Brighstone at some point.

Wherever they go, we’re sure you’ll all give them a warm welcome. Let’s just hope the sun makes an appearance.

Image: © BBC

On 10th February, The Royal Hotel in Ventnor are hosting a celebration of love with jazz singer, Edana Minghella.

We hear that there are still a few places left for an evening of fantastic food and sazzy jazz.

Why not give the one you love and early Valentine’s present by treating them to a romantic three-course dinner, followed by a mesmerising performance with the sultry vocals of Edana Minghella.

Celebrating the power of love
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If you haven’t received your wheelie bin yet, this in from the council may answer your question as to why. In their own words. Ed

The council is continuing to deliver new wheelie bins, food caddies and clear plastic sacks to homes across the Island ahead of the new waste collection arrangements that begin on Monday 30 January.

Deliveries so far have concentrated on the areas that are due a recycling collection in the first week of the new arrangements.

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Following yesterday’s news that Fountains Environmental Ltd had gone bust with the loss of ten jobs on the Island, we have an update from the Isle of Wight council.

It was reported that the company’s staff, who were responsible for cleaning 51 public toilets on the Island, had been made redundant on Monday afternoon.

We got in touch with the council to find out what the position with toilet cleaning would be. Was this a chance for an Island company to fill the gap?

“Speaking to various companies both on and of the Island”
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2012 sees many celebrations take place for the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens.

News reaches us that Elizabeth Hutchings is re-releasing her late-husband, Richard J Hutchings’ book ‘Dickens On An Island’. It is currently out-of-print.

Find out when Charles Dickens was on the Isle of Wight and the origins of Miss Haversham.

The book will be available at a special Dickens event at Freshwater Library on 4th February from 10.30am.

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Congratulations to the two young people from the Isle of Wight who are taking the first steps in a new career with Southern Water through their Apprenticeship scheme.

They are among twelve young people from across the South East who have joined the Water Supply and Distribution Apprenticeship scheme whilst studying for an NVQ in Water Engineering.

Helping to organise the training is Don Winzer, who began his career as a trainee 30 years ago.

Apprenticeships provide great start to career
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If you missed the recent daytime talk by Karen Grainger at Dimbola Museum and Galleries, there’s another chance this Friday evening.

The talk is given by Karen Grainger and will consist of an illustrated slide show followed by a tour and explore of the museum.

It’s your chance to find out about the Island’s most remarkable Victorian woman who braved the lethal chemistry of the period to create her mesmerising photographs of the ‘Famous and Fair’.

You do need to book co pop over toe Events On The Wight for full details.

This in from the council, in their own words. Ed

The Isle of Wight Council is supporting a national initiative that aims to reduce the number of children who are being cared for in what are termed ‘private un-notified arrangements.’

These are when someone who is not a close relative cares for another person’s child for 28 days or more but has not informed the local authority.

Legally the parent and the carer must notify the local authority where the child is going to live so that the council can ensure that the child is being properly looked after. In 2001, the Department of Health estimated that there could be as many as 10,000 in England and Wales. It is feared that some of these children could be at risk of abuse, or victims of trafficking.

Somebody Else’s Child
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Join up for the Island Independent Lifeboat Lotto and you could be bagging yourself the £2,700 jackpot next week.

The draw which took place this morning (25th January) drew the following numbers.

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It may cold and wet outside, but we know a great way to counter that and give yourself a lovely warm glow inside.

Why not be part of VentnorBlog’s journey by donating towards the cost of running the site. We’re happy to receive donations of any size. Every penny helps.

You can donate directly by bank transfer (our preferred option), through Paypal or by cheque if you prefer more old fashioned methods.

Full details of how to do it over on our Donate page. Thanks to in advance for your continued support.

Image: The Laird of Oldham under CC BY 2.0

Thanks to Cora for sharing news of this free exhibition in February. In her own words. Ed

An exhibition from some of the Island’s most talented photographers will be on display alongside images produced by students to mark the first of the Ryde Academy’s Community Days.

Organised in conjunction with Ryde East Community Association (RECA), there will be the opportunity to bid in a silent auction of many of the images on display.

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Saturday morning saw over 70 Islanders take part in the State of the Island Debate at the Riverside Centre in Newport.

The meeting had been called by the Independent Group of Councillors and presented an opportunity for members of the public to share their views on how life on the Island could be improved.

The councillors listened for more than two hours, as many residents explained what they saw as the problems facing the Island. Some also offered positive suggestions on how to improve Island life in the future.

For those unable to make it along, we hope our notes of the discussions below are helpful.

“I believe the IWC are bankrupt”
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