MINUTES OF ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HELD AT YARMOUTH PRIMARY SCHOOL TUESDAY 22nd APRIL 2014 AT 6:30 pm

PRESENT: Councillors S Cowley (Town Mayor), C Bennett, P Garlick, A Ingram, K Cowley, D Turnbull, C Bennett IN ATTENDANCE: Brian Jacobs (Town Clerk), Sergeant Mark Lyth, Isle of Wight County Press, Clive Mullins (Yarmouth Harbour Commission), Derek Moore (Yarmouth Society), Debbie Cotton (Yarmouth Old Gaffers Committee) and 14 members of the public. APOLOGIES: Cllr R Corbett

1. WELCOME BY THE MAYOR The Mayor welcomed all present to the Yarmouth and Thorley Town Meeting.

2. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HELD ON APR 23RD 2013 RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on April 23rd 2013 be taken as read, confirmed and signed as being an accurate record of the proceedings.

3. MATTERS ARISING None were raised

4. REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL The Mayor Steve Cowley made a verbal report based on the written document (Appendix 1 attached). A question was asked about the recent floods, and whether any action had been taken with regard to the last Isle of Wight flood study begun in 2008. Mayor Cowley responded by saying that £100K had now been made available to allow the 2008 study to be continued. Sylvia Mence added that a report had been issued in 2010, and, as a result, some short-term solutions had been implemented. A new report was due soon. Peter Scott asked the Mayor to clarify a statement by Destination Yarmouth that they intended to develop the local play area, and whether it conflicted with the YTC scheme. Cllr Turnbull replied that Destination Yarmouth hoped to develop a second scheme. A question was asked about how many hits had been recorded on Yarmouth websites. Cllr Turnbull stated she had statistics for Destination Yarmouth, which were 1000+ hits to date.

5. REPORT FROM THE LOCAL POLICE Sergeant Lyth presented a report of police activities in the Yarmouth and Thorley area over the last year (Appendix II attached). Cllr Bennett expressed concern about Travellers, and asked Sergeant Lyth if the local police operated any policy relating to this issue. Sergeant Lyth replied that the Solent presented a deterrent to such groups, so few problems had arisen. One group of Travellers had set up a camp on GKN land some 10 months ago, but relinquished it after a short while. Cllr Turnbull expressed concern about speeding, especially by HGVs, on the newly re-surfaced Bouldnor Road. Sergeant Lyth invited members of the public to appraise him of any such instances, adding that the police policy was one of re-education rather than enforcement. Mayor Cowley suggested that this issue should be discussed at the May meeting. There were no further questions.

6. REPORT OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL MEMBER Isle of Wight Councillor Stuart Hutchinson presented a report, which appears as Appendix III. There were no questions.

7. REPORT OF THE YARMOUTH TOWN TRUST Richard Leonard, Chairman of Yarmouth Town Trust spoke to the written report (Appendix IV). A question was asked about where archival documents were stored, and the answer was that some were stored in private houses. There were no further questions. 8. REPORT FROM YARMOUTH HARBOUR COMMISSION. Clive Mullins of the Harbour Commission spoke to the written report (Appendix V). A member of the public raised the issue of visiting yachtsmen’s’ dogs which were allowed to run free in the Harbour area, and asked if a levy could be made on their owners to help finance the proposed volunteer Dog Warden patrols. Mayor Cowley asked for this to be discussed at a future YTC meeting. There were no further questions.

9. REPORT ON YARMOUTH OLD GAFFERS FESTIVAL COMMITTEE Debbie Cotton gave a report on the continuing progress of the Festival (Appendix VI). There were no questions.

10. REPORT ON THE YARMOUTH CARNIVAL COMMITTEE The Clerk read out a report by Chairman of the Carnival Committee, Chris Waddington (Appendix VII). There were no questions.

11. REPORT ON THE YARMOUTH SOCIETY BY THE CHAIRMAN DEREK MOORE Derek Moore presented a report on the activities of the Yarmouth Society (Appendix VIII). There were no questions.

13 TO CONSIDER RESOLUTIONS OF WHICH WRITTEN NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN As no written resolutions had been received the Mayor thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

Signed...... Date...... APPENDIX I: MAYOR’S REPORT We have a new team of councillors following elections in May and co options in July. It has been a privilege to be Mayor this year with a team including new councillors. 5 of our councillors have children of school age; this gives a new and challenging perspective to the council’s activities. It is pleasing that all councillors are engaged with our community in many different ways but also find the time and energy to be Councillors for Yarmouth and Thorley.

In July ‘Yarmouth and Thorley Voices’ book and website was launched here at the school by Mary Case the Island’s High Sheriff. Many of the contributors attended the launch with tea and cakes provided by the school’s Parent Teachers and Friends Association. A display of photos put together by Peter and Margaret Scott provided a focus for all to reminisce about. Many thanks to the whole book team for providing such a fine record of memories of the past. The website provides a means of recording a growing archive of photos and memories from here, and recently from contributors in Canada, US, New Zealand and Australia. The book has sold many copies in Yarmouth, at Holdings and around the Island in other book shops. Thanks to these sales we now have a fund of £xx for new projects. The Recreation Ground Committee has moved forward with the task of getting new play equipment. The children at the school were shown all the possibilities for equipment and a public consultation took place in the Town Hall. The search for funding is ongoing.

It was with great disappointment that we heard in September that the Town Trust decided to change the 1931 Trust Deed by adding 2 extra coopted trustees. This seemed totally unnecessary since the Trust had operated with just 3 coopted members since 1931. The chairman admitted that this was simply a device to retain 2 council appointed trustees who failed to get support from the new council. We also learnt in September that the Isle of Wight Council’s Appeals Sub Committee was recommending that the application for Village Green status on the Rec was to be approved. This recommendation was finally approved in January. Part of the now ‘Town Green’ was removed from the application to allow the Town Trust to build a new Pavilion. Well done to Peter Scott, Terry Kelsey and all those who in worked so hard to support this application which was also supported unanimously by the Town Council.

I am sure we are all now pleased that the geotechnical work to improve the Bouldnor Road has been completed. It is unfortunate that Island Roads failed to keep local residents and businesses better informed about the details and length of the road closures. At a Town Council meeting in February views from residents and businesses were listened to and recorded to ensure that Island Roads, IW Council and MP were aware of poor management of the scheme causing damage and distress. I hope that the Isle of Wight Council have also learnt lessons from this as they seem to have passed all responsibility to Island Roads and have failed to monitor and control their own contractors. The Council is also involved in the YBOB with other local interested parties, the Isle of Wight Council and Island Roads about remote control of the bridge. The decision to remotely control the bridge was made by the Isle of Wight Council, without consultation. All local groups remain opposed to the proposal, the last meeting of the YBOB due to have taken place today was cancelled without explanation.

The Valentine Day flood was a warning, if any was needed, of just how vulnerable Yarmouth is from the sea and storm surges. The previous similar incident occurred in March 2008, just 6 years ago. On February 14th a flood warning was issued by the Environment Agency and the local Community Flood Plan team circulated a more detailed warning for Yarmouth to the properties in the risk area and confirmed local sandbag availability. This Community Plan was initiated by the Council and its Co-ordinator is the Harbour Master.

It was good to hear that Defra has awarded the Isle of Wight Council £100,000 to complete a strategic study of the coastal defences of the whole West Wight. The study was terminated but incomplete in 2007 when funds ran out and led to the Council and Harbour Commission setting up the Yarmouth Coastal Defence Working Group to try to get it re-started. Without this study being completed there is little likelihood of money to provide the investment needed to protect Yarmouth from flooding in the future.

Changes within the West Wight Medical Practice have caused Yarmouth Surgery to be closed. This was a shock to all those who have used and relied upon the excellent services provided by doctors and staff at the surgery. There has also been great concern about the viability of the Pharmacy which provides a service second to none. Again, the Town Council held a meeting to allow over 400 concerned residents to hear Dr. Walker explain the situation, and answer questions. We hope to hear soon about a new arrangement with the existing practice and the Lighthouse Medical group that should lead to the surgery reopening in July.

APPENDIX II: Yarmouth Annual Police report The following figures are crimes reported to the Police in the time period from the April 2013-April 2014

Occurrence 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 Assault 5 8 4 Burglary dwelling 0 0 0 Burglary non dwelling 2 2 2 Criminal damage 7 18 13 Public order 3 11 3 Rowdy and inconsiderate 4 16 3 Theft 16 21 13 Theft of vehicle 1 2 1 Theft from vehicle 4 6 2 Theft of cycle 1 4 4

These figures remain low in relation to the rest of the U.K however it is important to remain more vigilant and ensure that your property is secure and well marked. Property can be registered free of charge on a website called immobilise.com. This is a good way to keep track of your items. A good way to mark valuable items is by using a security marking pen and writing your postcode on your item.

At Yarmouth Police Station we have 2 Officers and 1 Sergeant that look after the area of Yarmouth, Calbourne, Wellow, Thorley, Shalfleet, Porchfield, Brighstone and Newtown. These Officers are PS 24205 Lyth, PCSO 13231 Quinn and PC 22839 Campany.

This past year your policing team have been busy expanding our Country Watch scheme, we now have 446 members on the Island. Country Watch is similar to Neighbourhood watch but is aimed at rural premises, i.e. farms, private land etc. We continue to attend various rural events across the Island to promote the scheme.

The local Policing team have been busy over the past year continuing to engage with local Schools and visiting the children to talk about Cyber bulling, internet safety, bike safety and various other topics.

Community Speed watch has become an important activity within our communities. You may have seen us at the side of some of our rural roads with a speed watch sign. We have volunteers that help assist us with the speed watch and it seems to have become successful and to date we have carried out activities in Ningwood, Yarmouth, Newbridge and other areas within the West Wight. We tend to do the activities at different times of the day, at the moment we tend to focus on the mornings and evenings, before and after School times. Community Speed watch is an education for drivers. At this time Community Speed watch can only be held in 30mph and 20mph limit zones.

On a final note, Yarmouth Officers will be moving from Yarmouth Police Station at the end of June. Our new base/station will be at Yarmouth Harbour. This will be publicised in due course.

APPENDIX III: West Wight Ward Ward Councillor's report to Yarmouth Annual Town Meeting 2014 I was pleased and honoured to be re-elected as your Ward Councillor last May.

West Wight ward is the largest on the Island and covers the parishes of Yarmouth, Calbourne and Shalfleet. This report covers the work I do for the Island Council and the three parishes.

The election changed the control of the Council and a new Cabinet Cabinet member for Adult Social Care and Housing was appointed. Although I personally was sorry to relinquish that position, I have to say my wife was delighted. I see from my diary that in this last year I attended around 200 meetings, a welcome reduction from the 350 or so of the year before. As well as full Council Meetings I continue to serve on the Appeals Committee, Employment Committee, Scrutiny Committee, Pensions Committee and have participated in several specialist Task Groups, including those reviewing ferry services, Reserves and Balances and the Asset Management Policy. I also act as Shadow Cabinet Member for Resources.

To keep in touch with issues in the ward, I regularly attend the meetings of the Town Council and the two Parish Councils and attend local social events from time to time, such as Wellow Coffee Mornings, Porchfield Tea and Chat and Yarmouth Society. I accompany the Island's MP Andrew Turner on his regular visits to the ward to meet residents. I also write a regular monthly column for the Yarmouth and Freshwater Magazine, which always carries my contact details and an invitation to contact me if there are issues I can help with.

I'm pleased that during the year I have been able to assist many individual residents with a range of issues, from planning to housing, to highways, social services and education. I have attended and spoken at meetings of local residents concerned with lack of bus services, three major housing proposals in the ward and the loss of surgery facilities. I shall continue to work to achieve the best and fairest outcome on each of these issues.

Locally I have supported Shalfleet school in working to achieve an improved crossing of the main road and worked on several other Highways safety measures, including rebuild and setting back of the Shalfleet Church wall, the Bouldnor road and viewpoint rebuild, drainage and potholes, and issues with new slippery tarmac surfaces where roads have been relaid, and also the Yarmouth Bridge remote control proposal. I also serve on the Yarmouth Harbour Advisory Committee, the Yarmouth Flood Defence Working Group and have participated during the year in an EU funded initiative to raise awareness of tidal flooding and advise on mitigation measures.

I have quarterly meetings with the Chief Executive and senior staff of Wightlink and am supporting the initiatives to create regular dialogue with an Islandwide consultative group as well as the local groups giving feedback on individual ferry services.

Earlier this year I attended what I hope will be the first of regular meetings with the local Police about issues in the ward, and I speak regularly to the Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel about them.

One of the most difficult issues during the year, and will also be in the coming year, is that of continuing to deliver essential council services against a background of severe budget cuts. Irrespective of party affiliation, all councillors are seeking to achieve the best outcome possible, but with growing demand, especially from an increasing elderly population, and a reduction in government support this will continue to overshadow all we do.

Appendix IV: YARMOUTH TOWN TRUST Introduction. This is my report on the year ended 31 March. At the Town Council meeting on 3 September, I offered, on behalf of the Trust, a suggestion that the Trust could provide regular updates to councillors of its activities in the Town. This was accepted, and since then a trustee has done that at most Council meetings. 1 – Financial Matters A – The annual accounts of the Trust will be considered by the trustees at their next meeting which is due on 12 May. I can tell you now that the accounts are likely to show a small but reasonable surplus, after taking into account grants received from the Herapath Shenton Trust, the West Wight Landscape Partnership the Delphie Lakeman Memorial Trust and Yarmouth Town Council totalling about £12,200. The Trust is extremely grateful to these organisations for their generous and indeed vital support. The Trust’s largest cost was £15,602 for renovations to the Town Hall, which I hope you all agree now looks better than ever and is a building of which we can all be proud.

B - Income from the Mill Road cottages was lower due to continuing maintenance and improvement expenditure – our grateful thanks are due to Dave Cooke for all his efforts.

C - The Town Hall was used on 179 days during the year ended 31 March 2014, compared with 230 days in the previous year. So far, 144 days have been booked for the current year.

D – The Trust made a donation of £300 towards the Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival last year. Once the accounts have been approved by the trustees, they will be sent as usual to the Charity Commission and eventually appear on the Charity Commission’s website.

2 – Archives and other historic assets A - Work goes on with the process of making more of the Trust’s historic material available to everyone on the website, with valuable and enthusiastic support from Lynne Rowcroft and Clive Tappenden. B – last year I reported that the Trust would be looking at ways to earn income from the sale of copies of one of our pictures, to contribute to a Town Hall Maintenance Fund. We have had printed 150 high quality numbered copies of a painting by Francis Percival Blake done in 1895. The subject is a view of the seafront of Yarmouth. The Trust was extremely fortunate that the Delphie Lakeman Memorial Trust underwrote the cost of copying the picture and making the 150 prints for us. We have sold 35 copies since we started the sales effort in the New Year, which has made a valuable contribution to our Town Hall Maintenance Fund. The trustees are inspecting the War Memorial to monitor the effects of weather damage. You may remember that I outlined 3 possible ways forward:-

- Let the weather do its work – this would be more authentic or natural;

- Replace the frame or at least the top part of it – but this would stand out and look new – and be more expensive. - Apply a lime wash or shelter coat, which may arrest the damage temporarily, and review then its condition annually. This is what we are doing at the moment. As I have said, the Town Hall is in a very much better state than it was. However, renovation of the windows and the door is needed, and we hope to deal with that this year. We are also renewing the notice boards to a standard that reflects the listed status of the Town Hall. The work is being done by Clifford J Matthews from near Ventnor. The new boards are ready to go up. We were happy to be able to give the work to an Island firm.

C – The Trust’s assets are regularly checked to ensure that they are appropriately covered for insurance purposes. D – The Town Crest is made freely available to Yarmouth organisations so long as the use is not for commercial gain, in which case the Trust would have to make a charge. The Trust will provide the graphics so as to ensure that the Town Crest is properly represented and that it appears in an appropriate setting. During last year, the following uses were approved by the trustees:-

20.5.13 Jill Cowley Crest to be printed on cover of Yes 28.6.13 Yarmouth & Thorley Voices book – approved 28.6.13

30.9.2013 Carnival Comm Carnival banner for use in Carnival em 30.9.2013 Week

3.10.2013 SME Ltd Crest being used on website as YHC is a 11.11.13 (Sustainable partner, no permission asked. Email and

Energy) various phone calls Chris Lisher had 7.11.13 passed the digital Crest over. Request from SME em 7.11.13 - approved 11.11.13 23.1.14 Dick Dawson Crest to be used on a flag for Marigold Hampshire emails 24.1.14 Morphy, one-off same as Town Flag at Flag Hampshire Flag Company – approved 24.1.14 6.2.14 Terry Clarkson Armed Forces Day programme 2014 – 21.2.14 10.3.14 approved 10.3.14

3 – Yarmouth Recreation Ground

An application for Village Green status to be given over the majority of the Recreation Ground, was granted in January. An area of 160 square metres was withdrawn from the application, and discussions are ongoing with the Town Council and the Football Club about the possible construction of a new Yarmouth Pavilion for the use by the inhabitants of Yarmouth and the Football Club. The project will depend upon finding the funds necessary for the new build, and establishing how the new Pavilion will be able to support itself financially in the future

APPENDIX V: YARMOUTH HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS 2013 Financial Results The Harbour's financial year is the calendar year. After a poor start to the year, you may recall it was very cold for the first quarter, activity picked up in May and June, and then we had a July and August we've been praying for over a number of years, long periods of settled predictable good weather consequently our visitor numbers soared. Overall for the year our income and profit were up despite our income from our major customer, Wightlink, being down due to their reduction in traffic. In the last quarter we were able to bring expenditure forward from 2014 and undertake some improvements that weren't planned. Nevertheless we still produced a good profit at the end of the year.

£ Turnover 2309515 Profit before tax 195787 Operating surplus 270764

Our visitor numbers improved in 2013 and after a slow start we had the best July and August numbers on record. In total there were 23,296 overnight visiting boats, up 13.9% (2,859) on 2012, and 5,150 short stays (mainly lunchtime) up 1.4% (73) on 2012. We assume an average of four people per boat and believe we brought in excess of 110,000 people to Yarmouth and the West Wight. ` Stakeholder Benefit The "Stakeholder Benefit" totalled £326,200 in 2013 and included such items as :-

£4,200 Financial Contribution to Old Gaffers Festival £7,500 Loss of income from Pier Square and the Green for community events such as the Carnival, Gaffers etc £15,700 Loss of income from provision of free mooring space for RNLI lifeboat £2,700 Maintenance and grass cutting on the Green

Expenditure During the year we continued to make improvements to our facilities as well as carry out planned maintenance. We strive to have the best facilities on the South Coast for our visitors, not only the pontoon berths, but also the showers, WiFi, and hand driers etc.

These are some examples of our expenditure during 2013:

Dredging £57,500 Shower Foyer Refurbishment £8,680 Dinghy Park CCTV £4,798 Norton Spit Wavebreak £29,190 Harbour Taxi £8,353

Just to keep the Harbour maintained, clean and operational each year is very expensive.

1 Navitus Bay

Following the signing of a memorandum of Understanding with Navitus Bay, Yarmouth Harbour has now met with their consultants BBLB, and discussed the possibilities for their facilities ashore and on the water. There are a variety of options. BBLB will report back to Navitus Bay by the end of May. They are conducting a similar exercise in both Portland and Poole.

Navitus Bay put in their Development Consent Order (planning application) to central Government on 10 April, and expect to hear the outcome during the summer of 2015.

Navitus Bay are sponsoring the Old Gaffers Festival and will have a stand at the event.

2 Breakwater

The Commissioners shared information with the public about the options for a replacement breakwater at their Annual General Meeting on 28 April. No decisions have yet been made. A scoping report was completed by the engineering consultancy WS Atkins in late 2012. It included four different types of construction, four locations varying from exactly the same site as the present breakwater to 75 metres north into the Solent. In addition each option has the existing entrance and in addition a western entrance. All the options assumed that a new breakwater would be one metre higher than the existing structure to help protect the Town, Harbour and Estuary from the predicted rise in sea level. The costs quoted vary from £10 million to £25million. The Commissioners are now looking for funding including grants, clearly it will be very challenging for the Commissioners to raise this sort of money.

A recent survey (in April) of the Commissioners’ assets suggested that the existing breakwater may last for a further 15-20 years. However if an opportunity to gain funding comes earlier or there is a catastrophic failure of the breakwater, then the replacement will be carried out earlier. In the meantime YHC have commissioned some of the required environmental studies.

3 Annual Report

The 2013 Annual Report of Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners (YHC) has now been published. Last year YHC’s income grew to £2,448,013. The profit before tax (surplus) was £195,787, and the Profit after tax was £133,934. The Commissioners in addition to the regular payments paid a lump sum of £70,000 off their outstanding debt in December and a further £68,515 in January. A good year for the Harbour.

APPENDIX VI: Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival 2013 It's almost May and the 18th Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival is rapidly approaching ...... dates to remember May 30th, 31st and June 1st!!!!!! The festivities begin with the Grand Opening at 12.00 noon on Friday the 30th May when the Yarmouth Lifeboat will swoop into the harbour with the lifeboat Cowswain Howard Lester at the helm, to open the Festival! He will be ably assisted by his fantastic crew, who all risk their lives regularly to save those in peril on the sea!

Since the lifeboat is at the heart of the Yarmouth Community, we have chosen the RNLI as our charity of the year, and therefore £1.00 from the sale of each programme will be donated to them!

The main theme this year is 'Celebrating Yarmouth' in all its guises from it's history right up to today!

The square will be filled with a fabulous International Market and Yarmouth will be alive with street theatre brought in from Covent Garden, and on every corner throughout the day musicians and acts will be performing at every opportunity in and around the streets ...... and all this for free!!!!

The McGaffers Bar in the main Marquee on the Quay is now the biggest Real Ale Festival on the Island and a haunt for many a Landlubber as well as a Gaffer, with it's wide range of local and designer Ales. There will be stalls across the Green selling everything from exotic treasures to Island cheese, and the Craft Tent will be exhibiting and selling the wares of the talented community of the Island as well as many from the mainland. On both the Friday and the Saturday tickets will be sold at £10.00 each for the fabulous evening entertainment! Friday night is the 'Rodeo Ball' with a chance for all you would be cowboys and cowgirls to show off your skills on our own 'bucking bronco' ...... come along and have a go! The bands that will play you along are the terrific new Indie band 'Skinny Lister' and the headliners will be the 'Blazing Saddles' ....need we say more? This should give even more of you a chance to compete in the fancy dress competition for a fabulous prize offered by Harwoods of Yarmouth for the best Cowboy and Cowgirl...Yahooooo Another stunning evening is planned for the Saturday 'Startime' Night!! A stupendous evening of great Motown and Soul hits with the All Stars topping the bill ..... and they will be supported by a truly amzing 'Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers'Tribute bringing you all your favourite sounds from the 70's .....un unmissable night! Tickets will be on sale at Wightlink booking office in Yarmouth and Lymington and the Southern Vectis Bus Kiosk at Yarmouth as well as the festival information centre during the festival but get them early as they are limited! This year there will be additional buses dedicated to the festival going to all destinations from 8.00 pm until late ...to ensure that you all can get home quickly and safely! We would like to take this chance to thank all our sponsors especially The Harbour Commissioners, Wightlink and Navitus Bay along with Watermark, Southern Vectis, The Town Trust and the Town Council, Warners Leisure Hotels and of course the Old Gaffers Association along with our fantastic Local community Police who give up their free time to make our festival a safe and happy event! Finally we would like to thank all the people who help us throughout the year as well as over the festival for all their help as without all these sponsors and helpers the Festival could not take place

APPENDIX VII: YARMOUTH CARNIVAL COMMITTEE REPORT FOR ANNUAL TOWN MEETING TUESDAY 23 APRIL 2013 Since this meeting last year, we have had our annual carnival week, the Guy Fawkes party, Carols in the Square, the Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch party and at the beginning of this year we have had the Shrove Tuesday pancake races and the Easter Saturday duck race. Six events and so if you take the seven days extra during carnival week we have thirteen days in all that need organising and a lot of organisation goes into it; I can assure you. The Carnival Week started off with the usual ceremony but before that we welcomed our new President, Brenda Garlick who has taken over from Sue Renwick who stood down last year after being involved in some way with the Carnival Committee for thirty four years. The week went off very well, all the usual events with the addition of a couple of extra ones; a cycling skills course on the Green and a sandcastle competition on Norton beach. Prize giving on Friday saw Carl Ingram win the Spirit of Carnival Cup. The next day was appalling, the weather really tried to wreck the parade but of course this being Yarmouth, every one turned up and made the best of it. However, the collection was down which was sad; we so rely on that collection to help with funds.

On October 25th during the School Harvest Fair, we presented a cheque for £500 to the PTFA to help with the cost of special computerised audio equipment for Jonathan, one of the lads at the school.

Guy Fawkes went off very well, all the torches were sold, we had a great crowd in the Square which included street traders not invited; who sold sparklers and glow sticks etc. for their own profit. Michelle Jackson judged the guys after which the torchlight parade was led up to the Common by the Samba Band, the Mallishag and the Spirit of Carnival. A great crowd watched the beacon lit by the Spirit of Carnival, Carl Ingram, followed by a super firework display. However, most spectators were very mean with the collection, so a great loss to carnival funds. Sadly the Council saw fit to send a posse of traffic wardens to ticket cars in the car park; a sad way to end what was otherwise a very happy evening. What are they like!!

Carols in the Square was judged by some to be the best ever; a wonderful atmosphere, a great crowd and we were able to send £700 to the hospice. The Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch was a sell-out, obviously helped by the fact that at last the club has a lift. 80 guests had a marvellous lunch; I believe the food was the best ever. The Mayor’s Award was presented to Adrian Ching, after which we had a short sing-song before everyone went on their way. The lunch was prepared and cooked by the club, tables laid and food served by the Carnival Committee. A lot of the food and wine is donated by suppliers to the club but the rest of the cost is settled by the Delphi Lakeman Trust.

The new year brought more expense; we had to replace the shed where we keep much of the Carnival gear. The old one was rotten and falling to pieces. We are grateful to the Fire Station for allowing us to stay in the back yard there. Les Pitman helped construct the new shed and fitted shelves so that more can be stored.

We were lucky with the weather for Shrove Tuesday, there was a great crowd, the children enjoyed the event judging by the noise and cheering on of their friends. A new addition this year was the terrific performance by the School Samba Band before the start of the races; they really were extremely good. We were able to hand the school £170.00 towards their funds.

Easter Saturday Duck Race was extremely successful, almost all the ducks were sold and we collected nearly £1200. There was an enormous crowd and a great atmosphere. The Sailing Club again did us proud serving tea and cakes and allowing us to use their club-house as a base. Carl Ingram helped the Commodore Richard Heming start the race and Anthony Davies was the Race Officer for the day, standing in for Bernard Turner.

I would like to end my report by taking this opportunity to thank everyone who helps in all the ways they do; without which it would be very hard work and almost impossible. They are a great crowd and we here in Yarmouth are very lucky to have such a brilliant community spirit, envied by many!

Chris Waddington, Chairman

APPENDIX VIII: The Yarmouth Society is just coming to the end of the 2013/14 season. We currently have 93 members and all meetings are very well attended. Following the December AGM (With mince pies and mulled wine and entertained by the Slipshod Singers) we were able to fill the officer vacancies on the committee, so we are now at full strength. The speaker programme was varied and excellent from, - Mal Butler "My Career As A Reporter"- Up date and report from The Needles NCI Coastwatch" now 7 Days Per Week, and Kevin Shaw - History of Yarmouth Castle also four other excellent evenings. We continue to monitor planning applications as part of our role as a guardian of Yarmouth O.A.N.B. another subject or which we had a speaker this season. Closing of Yarmouth Surgery: We took two positive positions on this: 1/ We are in communication with Dr Thomson and Dr Walker -requesting that every effort be made to retain a Practice Nurse at Yarmouth for dressings and Triage for The West Wight Practice. This is ongoing. 2/ We made representations to IOWCC / Parking - Mr Mark Downer requesting a temporary extension of the free parking period at Moa Place for patients with appointments. We have just had their reply -No. In fact they confirm that IOWCC at their meeting on February 26l" decided to remove the 30min free period as well, we tried! We are now working on the 2014/15 winter programme, already pencilled in for November 11th - Kevin Shaw on WW1 as this is the centenary and Armistice Day. We will remain vigilant on Yarmouth affairs.

Derek Moore. Chairman.