Ventnor Blog

Official Press Release From Isle of Wight Council

Isle of Wight Council has published a list of meetings which form part of the local authority’s formal consultation on its final proposals for school reorganisation.

Meetings for parents of schools that are proposed for either closure, federation or amalgamation will be held over the next few weeks, and meetings at other schools will be held in September.
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The latest updates from petrolprices.com is in. The cost of diesel is really getting unbelievable now.

2 Cheapest stations within 5 miles of “PO38″ for Diesel
Station : Sandford Garage
Address : Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Brand : Unbranded
Price : 132.9p
Updated : 16-06-2008 (more…)

Amidst a really good turnout last night at The Venue in Ryde, the winning band and DJ were picked by Mr Da Bank and his jury.

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Thanks to all those who have replied in one form or another to the posting a couple of weeks ago, where VentnorBlog readers were invited to be involved in a unique Ergo Phizmiz collaboration.

The one man musical movement that is, Ergo Phizmiz, is half way through the twelve hour running time of “The Faust Cycle”, his new radiophonic work.

It tells the story of an attempt to deliver a mysterious parcel to the legendary alchemist Dr Faustus, and the various strange and often Surreal adventures that take place inside his vast and labyrinthine house.

Told through spoken-word, music, song, and sound-collage, “The Faust Cycle” is a trek through a peculiar and unpredictable world.

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Great to see a community computer project get going on the Wight.

Park Computer at 65 High Park, Ryde is selling computers at low prices to anyone who walks through the door.

This is all the more encouraging to see as it’s a project that we’ve been keeping at the back of our minds for a while, but haven’t found the time to do. Making computers available to all is vital to minimise the digital divide. (more…)

We didn’t want to flood you on Saturday with all of the details behind the council press office posting, but here’s a bit of background if you happen to be interested.

Let’s be clear, we’re not having a go at the whole council — we are very much aware that a great deal of dedicated work goes on there in its many different departments - the latest news of the Blue Flag in Ventnor and the involvement of the Parks and Beaches division is testament to that.

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Oh, we forgot to tell you … the council ‘communications’ department have cut us off from … communicating with the council.

Hands up those who think it’s right that little old VentnorBlog should be cut off, just because the council doesn’t like the way a particular opinion piece was written.

In response to the article about the closure of the Ventnor Skate park, Claire Robertson, head of the press office told us,

“I have a fundamental problem with it because it doesn’t actually state the facts, in the way that it should do”

In the way that it should do?

Good to know that she’s not disputing the facts that we’re stating, she just doesn’t like the words around those facts.

She went on to state that if we want the press office to take VentnorBlog seriously as an accredited news source, that we must only publish balanced articles and not continue with what she refers to as our predetermined agenda.

A couple of skips along in the conversation later and we’re being told that we need to come in for a meeting - or as we like to refer to it around VB, ‘thought re-alignment’.

You know what, the funny thing is that this was around this same time that we’d been asking the press office specific questions about Joe Duckworth’s financial package and … the communication department budget. A total co-incidence, we’re sure it must be.

Bottom Line
We do want access to the council, because it helps in being able to get answers to questions and provide an alternative response to news on the Wight. We’re just not prepared to put up with the crap that the press office are giving us.

Despite their actions, however, we’re looking forward to meeting them.

The meeting will of course be recorded for your delectation.

Further links: Background On Council Press Office Fun
Press Office: On or Off?

Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of “PO38″ for Diesel…
Station : Sandford Garage
Address : Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Brand : Unbranded
Price : 131.9p
Updated : 11-06-2008

Station : Whitwell Garage
Address : High Street, Whitwell, Ventnor, PO38 2PY
Brand : Proteus
Price : 134p
Updated : 07-06-2008 (more…)

One of the central complaints about PFI scheme the country over, is that lots of the money ‘raised’ though PFI is drained away in paying PFI experts and consultants.

Reading a delegated decision notice published by the IW council today, it appears that the first stop for the PFI Gravy Train will be County Hall.

The Isle of Wight Council plans to put aside £3million to get to the point where the roads project can start work - yes, you read that right, START. (more…)

The third issue of the youth led Fusion magazine is out now and available from various locations around the Wight.

The quality of design and editorial content continues to impress us here at VentnorBlog.

It’s hard to believe that the mag is produced almost entirely by young people, but it’s true.

Who’s On The Team?
The senior management team on the publication is made up by Mhairi Macaulay, Lizzie Woolfenden and Thea Welsford. They have the support of senior editors, Collette Wright and Eliesha Penner with Matt Matthews as Senior Designer. (more…)

It’s almost that time of year again, when the general public get a chance to tour around the studios of the Island’s talented artists.

Each year the Council’s Arts Unit and Quay Arts team up to produce the Isle of Wight Arts Directory, a comprehensive guide to artists, galleries and arts events on the Wight including Open Studios.

The dates for the Open Studios have moved this year and will take place over the last two weekends in July.

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Given the ongoing price hikes of petrol and diesel (oil is approaching $134 per barrel) and news that the Isle of Wight has the most expensive in the UK we thought you’d appreciate regular updates on the cheapest (non supermarket) petrol stations.

We’ll give you updates as and when we can, but hope to keep it fairly regular.

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The concern with how schools on the Island are being reformed continues. We caught up with Cllr Melanie Swan (MS) last week at County Hall and did a quick interview.

She was still in a state of shock over the briefing that the elected members had received about the actual school closures.

The shock started when they were only given two days notice of the meeting, and given this, many of the elected members were unable to attend.
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Standards-Not-Tiers Press Release
A Betrayal of Island Hopes for Small Schools.

SNT has today expressed dismay at last night’s decision by the Isle of Wight Council’s Conservative Cabinet, to close 19 Island schools and move forward with plans to create bigger primary schools and continue with secondary schools that already have some of the largest GCSE year groups in England.
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Making Waves is on hold until after the festival, but in the meantime, there are a number of tracks up on the Development Suite MySpace from previous gigs that you can listen to.
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We bumped into David Pugh, leader of the IW Council, at the Big Green Picnic and grabbed an interview with him, covering quite a few different subjects, not surprisingly with a lot of discussion centering on green/eco issues.

Inevitably wind farms came up.

Wind Farms On The Island
The fact that the blades for wind turbines are produced on the Island by Vesta, but there are no wind farms on the Island is widely noted, and indeed got one of the strongest reactions from the audience at the Eco Island Conference.

An application to build one at Wellow was turned down at appeal about a year ago.
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Next Tuesday evening, Dr Robin McInnes OBE will presenting an illustrated lecture at the Ventnor Winter Gardens, entitled ‘Art, Architecture and the Island Landscape’.

In aid of the Ventnor Enhancement Fund, the lecture will describe the buildings of the Island, in the context of the landscape, from as far back as Norman times to the present day.

It kicks off at 6.30pm and the lecture is split into two parts (45 mins each) with a 30 minute break in the middle when you can stretch your legs, and enjoy the provided refreshments. (more…)

Andrew Turner has been stand up (literally) for the people of the Island when he spoke about the closure of post offices at a debate about the Royal Mail and Post Office in a Westminster Hall debate recently.

He explained that he’d been writing to the Post Office to them ask why some, seemingly profitable, branches were destined for closure. Sadly he said he I failed to get any sort of sensible reply.
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We’ve received this information in advance of the official release. Due to the huge public interest in this, we’re going to run it now.

It will take a while to get it all out, but we’ll do our best.

We suspect that reaction to this news will not be good, bringing a significant focus back on to the education debate.

First, the details of the secondary schools.

There will be six secondary schools, including one new school.
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We love positive stories, so it’s wonderful to hear from IW Tourism that the recent Isle of Wight Walking Festival was a huge success.

In it’s 10th year, the festival attracted record numbers of visitors with 265 walks that took place between the 3rd to 18th May.

Given the success of the festival, the Council have decided to host another smaller walking festival in October (first half term weekend Friday 24th-Monday 27th).

Named the Celebratory Walking Weekend there will be approximately 30 individual events held over the long-weekend which include a Meditative Walk, another Ventnor Wild Food Walk, Nordic Walking plus the chance to meet like-minded people on another speed-dating walk. Woo hoo! (more…)

We’re all becoming wearily-familiar with how often private information about us is being lost by government departments.

The latest to become public (how many more of them are there that we don’t hear about?), concerns the Isle of Wight.

The data of 38,650 NHS patients going back as far as 1996 have been lost on their way between London and Sandown Health Centre on the Island.

Don’t laugh here, but the reason it was being sent was … to check the backup, in case the data was LOST!
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With the Walking Festival now out of the way, those with an active inclination will be pleased to hear that another festival starts this Saturday.

The Big Wight is the new name for the Wight Diamond Challenge/Festival which is held each year at Ninham Holiday Camp in Shanklin.

There are a number of rides you can take part in over the weekend, including the 100km endurance race and the Wight Diamond Navigator - which takes you all around the Island allowing you to choose your route. (more…)

If you like to plan ahead and are wondering how you can show your Dad how much you appreciate him this year, check out these great ideas from Isle of Wight Tourism. They are definitely targeted at the more active amongst you, but sounds like great fun.

Up the Creek with a paddle
Take your Dad on a Father’s Day Paddle (Sunday June 15) – a specially organised open canoe trip along the banks of the delightful River Medina here on the Isle of Wight. With the accent most definitely on fun, experienced sailing instructors will identify the birdlife and points of interest along the route which lasts around two and a half hours.
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Don’t forget that this Sunday sees the annual Walk the Wight take place.

There is a choice of three walks:

* Bembridge to Alum Bay (approx 26.5 miles)
* Bembridge to Carisbrooke (approx 12.5 miles)
* Carisbrooke to the Needles at Alum Bay (approx 14 miles)
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Don’t be put off by the grey skies today, the temperature is still quite warm and at least you won’t get sunburn if you take part in one of the many walks still organised for this afternoon.

Check the details in full by following the links before.
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