dates for your diary

Sunday 12th March - Charity Antiques and Collectors Fair (in support of the MNDA) at Northwood House, Cowes from 10am – 4pm. Visitors can expect to find a great variety of local antique and collectable traders in the function rooms of Northwood House. Refreshments, tea, cakes and sandwiches all through the day for exhibitors and visitors. Admission is £3 per adult or £5.00 per couple on the gate, with accompanied children free.

Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th March - The Island Car Centre Sandown Sprint will return to Culver Parade. The Sandown Sprint will involve 100 cars competing on a specially constructed circuit, at Sandown’s Culver Parade, with the start in Fort Street and finishing in Yaverland. Once again, overall spectator numbers will be limited, so motor racing fans are advised to book early. The cost of admission has been held at £10 per adult, with concessions. Further details on the Sandown Sprint and tickets for the event can be found via the website isleofwightspeedtrials. co.uk

Sunday 26th March – Isle of Wight Spring Boat Jumble at Northwood Park, Cowes from 10am – 3pm. Entry is free for buyers on foot, but a parking fee of £2 per car will be requested for buyers using the event field to park. Tea, coffee, cakes and hot refreshments will be available on the show field, with toilets available in the Northwood Park next to the tennis courts. All proceeds go to Northwood House Charitable Trust for ongoing restoration works and community projects in Northwood Park.

News report from Michael Beston & Chris Quirk

IOW & Shanklin Town Councillors. michael.beston@iow.gov.uk or christopher.quirk@iow.gov.uk

Michael 07885 644426 |Chris 07802 705831

Shanklin Coastal Defence Scheme Update - We were invited to meet the Volker Stevin team & IWC Coastal Defence Environmental Agency advisor along Shanklin Esplanade to get an update on the current ground investigation surveys.

This work involves looking beneath the ground surface to obtain vital information about ground conditions and below ground structures, including the foundations of the existing sea defences. The work ranges from hand dug excavation pits to the use of drilling machinery for taking borehole samples. This is essential to enable the team to assess the possible options for future sea wall and groyne refurbishment, and to minimise the risk of below ground hazards causing delays later in the project. The work is expected to be completed in early March. Each exploratory location will be closed off to the public for a few days at a time, and work will take place between 8am and 5pm. No road closures are anticipated, but footpath diversions and some temporary parking bay suspensions will be in place for safety reasons. Storage and welfare facilities will be located in a section of the Spa car park for the duration of the works.

Cliff Falls & Revetment Update

The IW Council are pleased to let us all know that the revetment, from Shanklin to Sandown has now been re-opened. All the litter and dog waste bins that were removed have now been put back in place. 170 tons of cliff fall material were completely removed from the site, with a further 270 tons relocated to low locations behind the catch fencing. In recent times, seven major cliff falls have been cleared by the IW Council and a sixth fall cleared by Southern Water.

Island Roads Update Highway

Improvements – Island Roads continue work to improve the footways and highway across all districts. Below is a list of planned activities in the Shanklin district. Please be aware that this is subject to change for various factors including the weather and other utility works.

Highway improvement: Atherley Road.

Footways: Salem Road & Popham Road.

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Highway trees - Trees on or affecting the highway remain a focus. Many incidents involving trees or branches falling onto the highway occur at this time of the year as the ground can be softer due to rain and the wind can also be more severe. Following the annual tree survey, a programme of action is continuing to remove dangerous branches or, where absolutely necessary, whole trees. Wilton Park Road has just undergone a programme of low branch removal. Any loss of trees is offset by a replanting programme using species as agreed with the IW Council’s tree officer.

Island Roads has produced information in a leaflet called Inspect and Protect. The leaflet can be views by the following link: www.islandroads.com/inspect-and-protect

Potholes - Unfortunately, the recent prolonged freeze coupled with the ongoing wet weather has created the perfect conditions in which potholes form. Additional resources have been deployed to tackle these and keep the network safe. Potholes are a source of interest to our residents and you can learn more via the following link: www.islandroads.com/ourhighway-service/maintenance- activities/ potholes

You can report potholes or any other highway defect via www.fms.islandroads. com