Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

Thanks to Newport Parish Council for send this in to VB. We’d be happy to receive articles and press releases from other Island parish councils as well – Ed

Newport Parish Council has been approached by a number of residents concerned about the seemingly unnecessary use of sirens, particularly at weekends.

Although the parish council did not wish to make any criticism of the excellent work carried out by the emergency services, it was felt this needed further investigation. Cllr Craven, as lead Member, arranged a meeting with Chris Smith Head of Ambulance and Dean Haward, Station Manager, Fire and Rescue. Kevin Fripp Head of the Police Driving Standards was unable to attend but supplied his guidelines.

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This week’s prices in the South Wight area for fuel.

Cheapest non supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
121.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 13 March

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This week’s prices in the South Wight area for fuel.

Cheapest non supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
119.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 8 March

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A small increase to the maximum taxi fares has been agreed by the Isle of Wight council after a month long consultation.

The council tell us that it’s the first rise in maximum taxi fares on the Island since April 2004.

The new fares which come into force from 31st March will be as follows:

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This week’s prices in the South Wight area for fuel.

Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
118.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 1 March

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As we mentioned earlier on Twitter, the Military Road in Atherfield by Chine Lane was flooded earlier today.

An Isle of Wight Fire Brigade appliance was luckily able to attend and pump away the excess water.

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Thanks to Jill Wareham for sending through this short video which shows the extent of the landslide at Brook. Having driven past it this morning, we had no idea the road was that close to the edge

Whether the road survives until the end of March (when a council meeting has been called to discuss it) is anyone’s guess.

After nine years of problems with Undercliff Drive, proposals by the Isle of Wight Council for improving Ventnor’s road access have garnered a luke-warm response from residents.

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It’s that time of year again, prior to the holiday season when maintenance of Yarmouth Bridge takes place.

The council inform us that next week there’ll be a three day road closure at Yarmouth Bridge.

The road will be closed on 2, 3 and 4 March as the bridge’s landing pads are replaced.

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A new Car-Free Scheme is about to be launched on the Island hoping to make it a ‘greener’ place to visit.

Spearheading the project is co-founder of the Big Green Island Project Community Interest Company, Lois Prior.

Regular readers will recognise Lois from her many years of work in helping to ‘green up’ the Island’s tourism industry.

Her enthusiasm and motivation has inspired many people to follow suit, which can only be a good thing for the Island and the planet.

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Users of the Military Road and readers of VB will be aware of the landslide near Brook that took place the weekend before last.

Sadly it appears today that another landslide has occured, resulting in part of the Miltary Road being sectioned off for single lane traffic and the edge of the cliff moving ever closer to the road.

Temporary traffic lights are in place and safety barriers being installed.

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Slight changes in the South Wight area for fuel.

Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
115.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 20 February

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Heavy rain overnight has caused severe flooding on many Island roads this morning with surface water causing major problems.

Some people might be getting their post a little late today. As can be seen by the picture below, at the junction of Appleford Road and Niton Road, the postal van has become stuck and won’t start.

Larger version of the photo below

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Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
116.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 14 February

118p Whitwell Garage
High Street, Whitwell, Ventnor, PO38 2PY
Regent, last updated on 13 February

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The council warned us earlier in the week to watch out on Island roads as icy conditions returned.

We came across some terrible hotspots this morning as subzero temperatures affected untreated roads.

The council tell us that due to the rationing of rock salt from the Government many roads that would previously have been salted will now not – full list below.

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Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
115.9p – Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 7 February

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Don’t forget that the new
exhibition of possible options for tackling the landslide problems affecting Undercliff Drive starts tomorrow.

Taking place at the Ventnor Botanic Gardens between 10am and 4pm each day until Friday 26th February, the exhibition will display information on all the options being considered for the road and will explain which are preferred and achievable.

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Slight shift in prices of non-supermarket fuel in South Wight.

Cheapest non-supermarket stations within 5 miles of PO38 for Diesel
116.9p Sandford Garage
Godshill, Sandford, Ventnor, PO38 3AL
Texaco, last updated on 26 January

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Police have re-issued an appeal to anyone who might have seen the vehicles involved in the crash on the Military Road on Sunday that lead to the death of 23-year-old Emily Buley and 22-year-old Andrew Newnham.

The two vehicles involved in the collision at around 12.50pm on Sunday were a red Volkswagen Polo and a red and white Suzuki motorcycle.

Sergeant Alyson West from the Road Death Investigation team at Eastleigh said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of these two young people whose lives have been tragically cut short.”

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We’re all too well aware of the problems that a series of landslides have had on the Ventnor/Niton Undercliff Road over the years.

A multi million pound stabilisation scheme was called to a halt over two years ago, but as mother nature stops for no man, the problem of further landslides is a worrying reality still being faced by those who live and use the road between Ventnor to Niton.

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Andy Newnham, the 22-year-old motorcyclist from Freshwater Fairlee Road, Newport, that was involved in the crash on the Military Road on Sunday, has sadly died yesterday.

The long stream of memorial messages from his friends left on his Facebook page pay testament to how many friends he had and how popular he was.

Our sincere thoughts are with his family.

Further details have emerged from the crash on the Military Road on Sunday.

Police are now in a position to name a woman who died following a collision near Chale on the Isle of Wight.

She was Emily Sarah Buley, 23, from The Square, Freshwater.

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It has emerged that the crash on the Military Road yesterday tragically resulted in a fatality.

As a car was travelling from Chale, a motorbike crashed into it, as the car turned right across the path of the oncoming motorbike.

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Following our earlier article about reporting potholes, we received the following email from VB reader, Jill Dennis.

As you can see from the photos below that Jill has sent us, the damage to her tyre after hitting a pothole on an Island road is pretty scary.

She tells us that although the picture of the pothole by the Donkey Sanctuary shows it just after it was filled, not surprisingly given the sub-zero weather we experienced a couple of weeks ago, it is deteriorating again.

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Thanks to VB friend and contributor, Wendy Varley, for this great reminder about how to report pot holes. Ed

Anyone driving around the Isle of Wight over the last week will have noticed that as the ice has receded some wheel-busting new potholes have popped up pretty much overnight.

Not only that, but with the meltwater making them look like innocent puddles, they’re very hard to spot.

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