Reading through the books I bought at the IW Literary Festival makes me realise just how much the British have changed.
We used to be a nation of people who rose to a challenge and were able to do seemingly impossible things, like defend Baku from the Ottoman Army, govern a huge territory, or build a railway across a desert with scarcely any resources.
Now we seem to arrive at a position where it is all too easy to say that nothing can be done, or worse, find a dozen reasons why we cannot, rather than why we can do something.
All this came to mind as I read a recent column on how the council has no resources to do anything; the author says it is best to be honest, but it left me uninspired.
The council has great leverage, extensive contacts and well-wishers, and a co-operative approach to other stake-holders could bring benefit to us all.
In other news, Cowes Harbour Commission has already dredged thousands of tonnes of mud from the river Medina for which it does not need planning permission, but its landfall installation does.
The entrance in East Cowes is facing obstruction from Natural England and opposition from local residents concerned about heritage.
What we need is ways to make this work, not reasons it should not be done. Where is our “can do” spirit?
The Island is a beautiful place and a hive of interesting and creative people producing wonderful things.
There is lots going on here we should shout about.
It is a great place to visit, and we must do more to capitalise on that.
Many people like to travel inside the UK and this Island is a premier visitor location, amenable to children and dogs and where familiar cuisine and UK healthcare is available.
These factors should not be underestimated. It’s also the sunniest place in the UK.
Hopefully the new board of directors at Visit IW will make a great effort to get these messages out.
It is also a great place to live.
It is gradually dawning on people that perhaps doubling council tax on second homes, which may have sounded to some like a good idea, is in fact a challenge for coastal communities like us.
For a start, council tax here is much higher than in many London boroughs, with the result that one easy solution has been for second homeowners to claim their London house as the second home.
Meanwhile others have put their second homes on the Island up for sale; expensive houses in Cowes or Bembridge are down seven per cent in price, but still out of reach of the average Islander.
Thirdly, those second homeowners bring in spending in the shops and businesses on the Island.
In this year of the 200th Cowes Week Regatta a major effort is being made to co-ordinate all the various venues, councils, and hospitality businesses across Cowes and East Cowes, in a single initiative called “Experience Cowes”.
This is being led by a consortium of local bodies and volunteers but with no resources other than initiative and goodwill.
It is, I am sure, going to be an enormous success. We need more of this.
We can make these things happen, if we adopt a can-do attitude.
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