Arreton Parish Council Newsletter July 2020

Arreton Parish Council Newsletter - July 2020 

Welcome to the latest issue of our Newsletter. There has been rather a gap since the last one but we only ever intended it to be ‘as and when’. However, that was before the coronavirus arrived.

Arreton Post Office Please note that the Post Office is open again – Mon, Tues, Thur and Fri 9-5, Weds and Sat 9- 12. Closed Sundays. Welcome back! 

Gore Cemetery Should you happen to be in the Cemetery in the next week or two, you may notice that two gravestones have been turned over. This is not vandals at work but the members of the Parish Council undertaking the annual inspection of burial grounds. These two headstones were in a dangerous condition and so they have been laid down until they can be repaired. 

Oil exploration As I am sure that you are all aware, the planning application for UKOG’s exploratory oil well is now open for public consultation. This puts the Parish Council in something of a dilemma, as we obviously need to hold a public meeting to discuss it but how or where? The Community Centre is unavailable and even if it were open, the guidelines surrounding the use of such buildings are not entirely clear on what may or may not be allowed in terms of public meetings. We have therefore decided to go ahead on Zoom, which does have some limitations that mean that we will have to be strict about public participation. The main problem with Zoom is that there is a time lag when someone speaks before they are heard and if too many people try to speak at once it is impossible to understand anyone. Therefore, only one person can speak at a time. We will allow extended time for public participation at the start of the meeting but it will still be limited and, as our regulations state, the limit for one person will be three minutes. We are encouraging written submissions if possible so that the councillors will have a chance to read them before the meeting and to save time on the day. However, should you wish to speak, then please let us know beforehand and we will draw up a list and you will be invited, one at a time, to put your views forward. Please make sure that you can fit all you want to say into three minutes. It also means that we will not be able to have the exchange of views during the rest of the meeting that we are accustomed to when we are all in a room together. The meeting will take place on Monday 6th July at 7pm. Do not worry if you have not used Zoom before, as we will send out instructions beforehand but you will need to either download an app (phone or tablet) or use the Zoom website (laptop etc.). If you wish to attend, please contact the Clerk on arretonpc@outlook.com for the meeting link and instructions or ring me on 07587 008183 if you want to ask any further questions. You obviously have to attend to speak but you are more than welcome to attend without speaking. It should be pointed out that there is a ‘mute’ system to avoid the problems of overspeaking, which will be used. Please note that the Parish Council cannot approve or reject the application, only the IW Council can do that. We can only support or object to the proposal and our reasons should be limited to technical issues and what are known as material planning considerations. We do, of course, encourage all residents to write to Planning yourselves, either by post or through the Planning website – for which you do have to register.

This is the website address for this particular application:- https://publicaccess.iow.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=Q7DSVFIQ07V00&activeTab=summary 

Scams, Unfortunately, there are several scams out there at the moment and here are a few that we have been warned about. Phone calls are a common tool of the scammer and threatening to cut your Internet connection is not new. If in doubt, talk to your provider separately, preferably on another phone or by e-mail. These numbers may help:- The Telephone Preference Service 0345 070 0707 Silent Call Service 0844 372 2325

This one is from Trading Standards:- Trading Standards have received reports of a scam text and are warning Island residents to look out for it – it purports to be from the HMRC and says that a tax rebate has been issued to you for an overpayment in the year 19/20 and asks you to click on a link to proceed – this is a scam – the HMRC will never contact you in this way. You can report spam texts directly to your mobile phone provider. All operators now use 7726 as the shortcode to report spam texts, which is free of charge. All of the UK’s mobile operators worked together to deploy a tool which collates all the information from the 7726 shortcode in real time. This means they can take early action to block numbers that are generating spam on their networks. They can also use this information to inform the regulators. You can report spam texts directly to your mobile phone provider free of charge by forwarding the text message to 7726. Never click on links in texts and emails – stay safe.

Also from Trading Standards:- Trading Standards have had a report of a particularly worrying scam caller purporting to be from the shielding team. Across the country, shielding teams are working to support our most vulnerable residents at this challenging time and it seems as though the scammers are now taking advantage of these care calls to their own ends. The caller doesn’t give a name and says he’s from the shielding team before asking about the kind of IT equipment the resident has – this is not the purpose of a shielding care call and if you receive a call like this that you are suspicious of please hang up – you can always check with the Councils Shielding Helpline on 823600 if you are at all concerned about any call that you receive. If it is a genuine care call nobody will mind and we will be grateful that you took the time to check. If you know of somebody who is shielding please share this message with them to keep them safe from scams.

I have also heard of a phone scam purporting to come from the Trace and Test team that attempts to charge a significant sum of money before sending a test kit. Test kits are free! 

Bus passes – IW Council A coronavirus concession that gave elderly residents free bus travel before 9.30am will come to an end next week. 

Islanders with concessionary bus passes can usually enjoy free travel between 9.30am and 11pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on public holidays. But, in March, as part of the Isle of Wight Council's response to the Covid-19 lockdown, the authority agreed to a temporary amendment to the concessionary travel scheme. That meant elderly residents could get free travel before 9.30am to make use of early morning slots set aside by supermarkets for older customers during the crisis. However, now that supermarkets are more accessible, and with more people needing public transport for work and school, the council has decided to end the temporary extension from Monday, 29 June. Island residents with disabled bus passes may continue to travel for free at all times. 

Councillor Ian Ward, Cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said very necessary social distancing measures meant capacity on bus services was considerably reduced. He said: "We were happy to increase access during lockdown to help our elderly residents make essential journeys for their shopping. At that time, there were also very few bus users due to many businesses and shops having to close. However, this is changing and as lockdown restrictions are easing and more businesses reopen, bus services need to be available for commuters who have no alternative but to use public transport to get to work and school. With supermarkets now fully stocked and more online delivery slots available, we need to go back to the original rules to help make this work. The elderly will also now be at a greater level of risk at peak times due to the increase in passengers. Therefore, it is recommended that should they need to travel they should do so during the off-peak.” 

Connect2Work Connect2Work is a programme aimed at employers, employees, apprentices and jobseekers to encourage and help facilitate the use of sustainable transport to get to and from work. "Calling all Isle of Wight employers. The government has released new guidance and options for employers setting up a cycle to work scheme. With the recent boom of Islanders cycling to work, there’s never been a better time to set one up for your employees.” https://www.connect2work.info/ 

Other news Life seems to revolve around Covid 19 and UKOG at the moment but lockdown is being eased for most of us and pubs, restaurants and children’s outdoor playgrounds will be opening up, as will hairdressers and barbers. Personally, I am counting the days to my hair appointment! I don’t think that I am unduly vain and my hair did do quite well for about three months but then it totally lost the plot about two weeks ago so now ... 

The Parish Council has kept going throughout and will continue to meet virtually until a ‘real’ meeting is possible. Our next scheduled meeting is on July 13th and then we do not meet again until September 14th, unless any urgent matter (usually a planning application) demands our attention in August. 

Have a good summer and let’s hope that the weather co-operates a bit more than it has done so far. 

An Isle of Wight helpline has been set up to support people who are affected by coronavirus self- isolation measures. 

You can call 01983 823600 between 9am and 5pm, seven days a week. 

PARISH COUNCIL CONTACT DETAILS Chairman: Cllr Martin Kimber – martinkimberapc@gmail.com Clerk: Mrs Sheila Caws - arretonpc@outlook.com 07587 008183