the gazette isle of wight
PPleleaassee m maakkeeaa ssm maalll ddoonnaattio ionn
Helping the local Earl Mountbatten Hospice
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36,000 copies - Friday January 9 2009
St Mary’s Hospital facing congestion crisis
Helpers quit in parking row
By Paul Rainford
AUTHORITIES at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport have promised to act to try to resolve the on-site parking chaos that has forced volunteer workers to withdraw their services.
Over the past few weeks several volunteers who regularly attended the hospital to comfort patients receiving treatment in the chemotherapy department have become so frustrated with the parking arrangements they have decided it is no longer worth the hassle. The problem was revealed to The Gazette by Philip Legge, owner of the Brickfields Horsecountry tourist attraction on the outskirts of Ryde. Mr Legge has been undergoing chemotherapy for prostate cancer at St Mary’s. He said: “I asked where the regular tea lady was, who I knew was a volunteer at the unit, and I was told that she had driven around the car park for two hours trying to find a space and in the end had given up and gone home. Apparently, three or four of the volunteers have had the same problem.” Amid the chaos there have now been calls for the Government to follow the lead of Scotland and Wales, and scrap unfair parking charges to help make travelling to hospital for treatment as stressfree as possible. A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust, said: “We are disappointed to learn that a small number of volunteers have recently withdrawn their services as a consequence of being unable to park at St Mary’s Hospital. “We are working with the APCOA Car Park Management company to identify both long and short
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Parking at a premium: Philip Legge discovered that volunteers had been unable to find a space
term solutions to help relieve the parking pressures on the hospital site. In recent weeks we have relaxed parking restrictions in various areas to help ease the congestion. “Anyone experiencing difficulty parking can contact APCOA by pressing the red button on the side of the ticket machine and they will try and find a parking space for them.
“We are extremely grateful to all our volunteers, over 180, who give their own time to help Island patients in a variety of roles including driving, chaplaincy services, ward helpers and patient feeders. Volunteers who use public transport to and from St Mary’s Continued on page 7
UKSA’s plan for youth
No more motocross as diggers move in FARMER Tom Smith has reluctantly conceded defeat in his efforts to bring motocross racing back to the Island. Mr Smith has ditched plans to make an appeal on the mainland to try to re-stage events on his land at Gore Basin, near Merstone Lane, Arreton.
By Peter White
sands turned up to watch spectacular racing until it all came to an abrupt halt in 2005. Instead the diggers moved in this week to restore the site, described as one of the best motocross courses in the country, to arable land. IW planning officers recommended refusal of the project, claiming Mr He and daughter Caroline Knox wanted to hold three motocross events Smith did not satisfactorily complete an environmental impact statement. each year at the track, where thou-
He described that as “a total nonsense”. He said: It really is a shame because we were not trying to do it to make money, but provide entertainment and excitement as well as bring muchneeded revenue to the Island. “We did everything we could, but came up against so many obstacles, mainly from locals. We feel we have now had to bow to the pressure of the few.” Mr Smith insisted: “We had an Environmental Impact Assessment prepared, and we do firmly believe that it contains all the information anyone could ever need to see what
the impact would be. But if you pay someone to find faults, they will. We even got reports back raising points like where the dustbins on the site will be located.” He added: “It wouldn’t have taken much to try once more. We were reluctant to give up because we had put so much work in to trying to get motocross back at the site. Some very honest and passionate people have helped us try to get these events back. “The problem was that when there were objections and negatives from others it put us off.” Full story: See Page 3
Red Funnel price hike RED Funnel has announced a six per cent increase in its passenger day returns and period return fares, to and from the Island.
The ferry company said that the passenger ticket average increase is in line with the four per cent inflation that existed when the new
tariffs were set. The changes will also have an effect on the fares of cars and lorries. The car ferry service also sees introduction of a new £25 family day return ticket. Red Funnel also said that there will be a range of foot passenger discounts for young people and extensions
to off-peak, group and family fare times of operation. As of Monday January 12, the company will introduce a new reduced youth off-peak fare of £8. Groups of four or more travelling together receive a discount of 25 per cent on standard off-peak adult or child tickets.
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Oil of Wight
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