Old Gaffers Festival Yarmouth 2015

I made a short video including some still shots of the Old Gaffers Festival on Saturday 30th May 2015.   It's embedded below.  It was a truly delightful day, everyone was happy and the weather was glorious.

For those of you overseas on the North Island ;) or at the far-flung corners of the Island thinking that Yarmouth and the West Wight is behind the beyond, do consider coming along next year.  It has to be the best value attraction on the Island costing precisely NOTHING!  It's FREE!  It does get busy and the car parks fill quite early.  There is a Park and Ride on the way into Yarmouth and Southern Vectis lay on extra buses.  Quite honestly bus is probably the best option unless you really need the car with you.

I hope you enjoy the video.  Still rather amateurish I'm afraid but getting better!  The movie and stills were all taken on my iPhone 4S.

Isle of Wight Council Annual Meeting 20-5-15 - Videos on YouTube

Goodness! 

 
 I've spent hours trying to think of one word to sum-up the Annual Meeting and "Goodness!" captures it succinctly and accurately. Long periods of utter boredom and drivel with short flashes of bad tamper and shouting. While the sound system in the Council Chamber is (inexcusably) defective many of the Councillors mumble as though they haven't put their teeth in. I'm half minded to write a sketch of the proceedings but frankly the content wasn't worth it and the bits that were fun to watch were way too personal and revealing; it would be unkind.

If I could pass a law (and enforce it) it would be that every person of voting age on the Island shall watch this dreadful spectacle from beginning to end.   I recorded the following video split into two sections on YouTube, below.

PSP Financing Limited and the Isle of Wight Council

Proposal to Enter into A Partnership With Private Sector Plc Facilitating Ltd (PSPF) To Assist With The Utilisation of Properties

Executive Decision Reference 175 (14/15) 14th May 2015

Proposal to IWC Executive for PSPF LLP by david5174

Part-transcript from the Executive Meeting (not complete, please check against the video which is a complete record)

Minute of Exec Meeting Re PSPF by david5174

Cllr Ian Stephens:

PLC Facilitating Limited – PSPF which is what we will call it tonight. It's a way for adding capacity to what we are dealing with regard to looking at assets we can dispose of. I think that when we are trying to raise capital funding in certain areas this is probably the best way we can do it. It costs us nothing also in the agreement it allows us, if we can find a better price elsewhere, then it doesn't tie us into anything we can go and search for that price. The 50:50 split on agreed cost with PSPF is something that people might raise their eyebrows to but there's work to be done in the background and it's also allowing us to look at the situation and if we can still make that extra amount of money it doesn't preclude us from doing that. So I'll leave it at that.

Cllr Steve Stubbings seconds the recommendation

Mr John Metcalfe:

This does give us the capacity to look at our portfolio in a creative way and a different way and whilst we might ultimately choose to go to disposal one of the things I very strongly would like to generate additional revenue from our portfolio. We'll get a huge amount of technical and professional and other advice that come as part of this particular joint venture and they bring that to the table. If we wanted to do the same thing ourselves we'd have to go out and get it.

Cllr Jonathan Bacon

This appears to be a scheme that retains Council control over the matter so we do not need to go with anything where the 50% would be any less than [we could obtain] from our own Officers so it seems, as the recommendation says it gives us an additional option to do something more creative than we could do within our organisation.

Cllr Stubbings

You've just used the word 'creative' which is pretty important here and it's very important that it is understood not merely as a proposal that brings forward a means by which we can dispose of our assets it is a proposal which brings forward options which are open to us in terms of the proper utilisation of our assets as Mr Metcalfe just mentioned there are certainly some assets which the Council currently holds which potentially are not being realised fully in terms of what they might generate for us and I had the privilege of meeting with one of the representatives of PSPF when they first came down with this proposal and I was convinced that the level of expertise that they have and the potential of bringing to the table in regard to this is quite considerable. I was also persuaded by the potential that they have for generating extra funding towards projects which the Council may wish to take part in. I was certainly persuaded by that, Chairman, and I would just like it to be mentioned very fully here in the chamber today so nobody gets the wrong end of the stick here we are not giving away the [?] or the option of being able to realise our assets fully in terms of disposal or in terms of utilisation we are entering into a partnership, a joint venture with a company which specialises in this area and by doing that we will make full use of our assets. Thank you chair.

Cllr Paul Fuller

I can only echo what's been said I think we have as a council to learn from mistakes made in the past and certainly selling off assets at below market value is a real concern to the wider community I think we need that assurance that we make the right decisions in the future and I welcome this opportunity to do so.

Cllr Dave Stewart

The comments under C – the Scrutiny views – it would be fair to say there was surprise in Scrutiny because they didn't quite understand what was happening here and had very little time to get into it. But as Stubbings has highlighted it does seem an opportunity and a very practical approach. There was a question about the

PSP Facilitating Limited - Accounts by david5174

period of the Partnership. Scrutiny's views have been well-addressed. I would expect a good monitoring process in place to see the benefits.

Vote: Unanimous yes.

Video recording of IWC Executive Meeting 14-5-15

Here is the video of the Executive Meeting held (last night) on 14th May 2015.  It is split into two sections each of one hour.

Video of Shalfleet Parish Annual Meeting 6-5-15 now online!

Please find below the video of Wednesday's Parish Annual Meeting split into two sections for your inconvenience (it needed two video tapes).

There were some interesting views expressed.  I was intrigued by one councillor's opinion that we shouldn't give Bibles to the children at the C of E Shalfleet Primary School on leaving since they come from Christian families and they will already have one at home.  I was wondering about this since the meeting.  Might we take this argument a little further?  If the families are really good Christians then surely they know the Bible so they won't have one at home?  Who needs a copy of a book you've already read and your grandparents have on the bookshelf?  Better still, online.  I almost never read my hard-copy Bible now, much easier online.  Or perhaps what our little Christians need is a copy of the Koran to better appreciate other religions?  Unabridged copies in Arabic? Or the Beano? Or the latest version of Trivial Pursuit?

Personally I can't see why the Parish Council is giving anything to the school children on leaving.  Many of the Parishioners I know drive less opulent motors than those I see on the school run so why can't their devout mummies and daddies give Bibles to their offspring?  At a recent Parish Council meeting where the children were invited a show of hands revealed that almost all the tots come from Totland, two parishes distant, with only one or two tots from Shalfleet! So why are the Parishioners of Shalfleet paying £300, around 1% of their entire precept, for Bibles for Totland totties?

Below are the two video sections for your entertainment.  May I wish you a Happy New Government and the prospect of the local Council Elections looming over the next hill!  You can rest assured that normal taxation services will continue as usual; who ever heard of Government with Taxation?

Shalfleet Parish Annual Meeting 7.15pm tonight at the Wellow Institute

Sorry for such little notice, folks.  Sally sent out the details a while back but I overlooked it due to the General Election stuff going on.   This is an IMPORTANT meeting tonight.  We have had a Parish Election this year which I personally think has made a huge improvement on the Parish Council.  Our Parish Councillors do a heck of a lot of work UNPAID year round and sadly few people bother to turn up to council meetings or get involved unless they have some burning issue of their own.   We are a tiny parish and the Parish Council is our way to affect what happens to us locally.

Do please try to get to the meeting tonight at 7.15pm at the Wellow Institute.  I videod the Annual Parish Meeting a couple of weeks ago but am struggling with the audio.  It became a very intimate 'chat' kind of meeting with Cllr Stuart Hutchinson giving a very interesting explanation about what's going on with the Isle of Wight Council -- which was terrific, very relaxed, informal and useful -- but people let their voices drop so low it is hard to listen to.  I've put it onto YouTube (below at the bottom) but can you please SPEAK UP a bit tonight!  I record them so folk who can't make the meetings can watch at home.  I don't charge for it and it is my pleasure to do that for them.  Can you please speak up so they can hear you?  Thank you.

Annual-meeting-2015-Website-Agenda.pdf by david5174

Corf Scout Camp Shalfleet -- Saturday 16th May 2015