Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

Remember that we gave you the heads up about the Car Free Scheme launching on the Isle of Wight?

Well, this morning it happened at The Mission in Chale and the scheme is something for Island businesses, as well as visitors. Easy to join, with many potential benefits.

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If you’re wondering when the school holidays on the Isle of Wight are for the rest of this year, here’s a handy summary for you.

Easter holiday
Last day of term is Thursday, 1st April (no joke!). School starts again on 19th April.
(Includes two bank holidays, 2nd and 5th April)

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Restaurants on the Island get a glowing write up today in the online version of The Telegraph’s travel section.

The article, which is led with a picture looking out from the dining room at The Hambrough, features some of the best places to eat on the Island.

We’re not sure whether the writer himself (Nick Dalton) has actually visited the Island, as he places St Helens near Bonchurch(!), but he’s certainly picked some great places to temp visitors out to.

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According to the BBC, over 200 people made their way to the recruitment fair at Norton Grange Coastal Village in Yarmouth yesterday in the hope of finding work.

The holiday park has undergone a massive refurbishment and have around 100 new jobs on offer.

Best of luck to everyone who applied.

via BBC

A neighbour of mine was walking his dog through Los Altos Park recently when the dog spotted a fox lurking by the fence that lined the railway.

Of course it gave chase. Whereupon the fox slipped back through a gap in the fence and darted up over the track.

The excited dog followed. And died on the electrified line.

It may have been luck that the fox escaped unharmed.

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At the beginning of February, the Economy, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Committee will be meeting at County Hall (February 3rd at 6pm) to discuss the Isle Of Wight Economic Strategy for Tourism.

This is a public meeting at which questions can be asked, which might useful to know, as we’re sure that the subject matter will be of interest to many of our readers who work in or rely upon the tourism trade.

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If the number of tourism guides being ordered by the public is anything to go by, 2010 might just be a good year for the Island.

The Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce, Tourism & Industry tell us that over 5,000 copies of their 2010 Accommodation Guide have already been ordered and have apparently been well received.

As well as in paper form, they also tell us that the guide has been added as an interactive brochure on the GoWight Website.

Let’s hope the interest in the brochure is a sign of what’s to come this year.

A new online guide aimed at helping businesses prepare for the effects of climate change has been launched.

This handy resource is the work of Climate South East, South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership, South West Tourism and Tourism South East, who have developed the guide, ‘Preparing for Change: climate-proof your tourism business’.

What’s it got?
The site guides users through the various aspects of changes in climate that may affect businesses, such as floods, heatwaves and drought, with practical advice on how to combat the effects.

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Cllr Edward Giles, IW Council cabinet member for environment and transport, has revealed that the current shortfall in the scheme that sees any pensioner in the UK travel free on Island buses is expected to cost the Island £3 million this year.

The scheme was brought in by the Government and applies across the whole of the UK was discussed by the IW Council and introduced two years ago, in November 2009.

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The Ryde Gateway Interchange project, that has been in development for many years, is possibly going to be cancelled on Tuesday next week.

We were given the heads up on this by a commenter on VB, ‘anton‘, and have been researching the story with people ‘in the know’ around Ryde today.

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