ECLIPSE EVE NEWS + View from the far west
We wrote this on the eve of the Eclipse
West Cornwall is now in Party Mode !! Old friends have turned up from all over
the world & there is a sea of new faces all around. The atmosphere is definitely
festival, although the council didn't issue any festival licences - we're old
hands at it and we've created it in town.
Yesterday - Monday - St Ives
came to a virtual standstill as all the car parks were full and the traffic tailed
back to the A30. So if you want to go to St Ives do yourself a favour & go
by train - its the best way to get there and is one of the most scenic routes
anywhere.
Elsewhere in Cornwall traffic on the main routes is reported
to be flowing smoothly - a few minor hold ups at the usual places but apart from
that the main areas of delay are around the entry to the major towns. The latest
reports are that traffic is 150% above normal for this time of the year &
that 18,000 vehicles arived over night bringing the number of visitors to over
a million !! with many more expected.
The Weather has been fine & sunny
& although the forecasters are predicting cloud for tomorrow, may here think
that it will stay fine.
PENZANCE HARBOUR NEWS - If you are thinking of sailing
round to Penzance take note that unless you have booked a berth you wont be able
to get into the harbour unless its an emergency as the harbour is full.
Saturday August 7th
Travel report Travellers
from london report that traffic between London & Penzance was lighter than
usual and that a comfortable journey time of 6hrs was possible yesterday:- Saturday
the 7th - this may have been because many people were travelling later or overnight. However
trains were almost fully booked with just limited first class seats available
August 9th
1999
News Round UP The View From NetPZ We've
been keeping our eyes & ears open for worthy Eclipse news items - there's not
a lot really. The main item of interest is that no one seems really sure whether
millions will come or there will be less people than a normal August. There
is a feeling that people have been put off coming by reports of mass overcrowding
- infrastructure disruption & food shortages - so far none of these predictions
look likely. On The Festival Front.
No licences have been given for
festivals in West Penwith so the only major Festival is the Lizard Festival www.lizard.net
[ this was the address ] Most of us here are thinking of taking the day off &
partying - something we are particularly good at.
March 3rd
MP Andrew George Speaks Out About Rip Off Accusations
West Cornwall's only parliamentary representative, Liberal Democrat MP Andrew
George, has spoken out about reports in the London media that eclipse visitors
will be ripped off by local people out to make a fast buck. He said that
"Most accommodation is reasonably priced, though I don't think it wrong to
charge what the market will bear. With potentially 2 million people coming to
Cornwall - especially West Cornwall - next August food, water, sanitation, transport,
health and other services need to be able to cope."
March
1st 1999
Eclipse Festival Fever Mounts in London
Concern Mounts In West
Cornwall. A third bid to stage a major Eclipse Festival
in West Cornwall has been submitted to Penwith District Council. London company
extreme sports wants to hold an 'extreme sports' event on 230 acres at Higher
Varfell near Penzance. The activities planned range from bungee jumping
to quad biking. A music stage is planned featuring Indie/Pop acts and the company
hopes to attract 20,000 people over a two week period. Locally, concern
is growing that one of the most rare and spectacular natural phenomena is being
devalued and turned into a circus by foreign companies exploiting Cornwall for
their own benefit. Eclipse Fever is turning into Eclipse Fear
February
29th
Health Secretary Frank Dobson Admits That Government
Might Have
To Appoint an Eclipse Minister. Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP
for Exeter, has been pressing the health secretary Frank Dobson for additional
funds to help Devon & Cornwall cope with the mounting costs of providing health
care and emergency services during the eclipse. At a recent meeting Frank
Dobson recognised the need for extra support and became the first cabinet minister
to publicly admit that Cornwall in particular faces pressing financial problems
in maintaining services during the eclipse.
February
Concern Mounts over unofficial events at Local Sacred Sites
Mike Rosendale, Penwith Council's countryside officer who is spearheading
the Council's campaign to keep the area's ancient sites event free areas, says
that "In addition to putting up 'Dragon's Teeth ' barriers farmers will plough
up fields around some monuments, so making it pointless to take vehicles on to
the land" Archaeologists are also concerned with unintentional damage
which could be caused by hundreds of walkers eroding the soil around sites and
by Eclipse watchers climbing on to the capstones of sites such as Lanyon Quoit
& Chun Quoit
February
1999 GAGE WILLIAMS - COUNTY PLANNING C0-ORDINATOR FOR THE ECLIPSE
Advises visitors to bring their bikes !! Cornwall
normally hosts about 270,000 visitors during an average August, which means an
increase of 90,00cars on top of the 150,000 Cornish vehicles. If the eclipse,
as expected, attracts three times the normal number of visitors, then the vehicle
population would rise to 420,000, an increase of 180%. However because journey
times would be longer and thus more time would be spent in the car, congestion
would build up at a faster rate than the actual car numbers "One of
the messages we can give is to advise people to bring bicycles. If a high proportion
of our visitors did this, it would have two beneficial effects: It would reduce
the number of cars on the road thereby easing congestion. It would give
visitors the ability to explore locally the rich diversity of thge Cornish Countryside,
rather than attenpting to drive long distances in their cars. Besides which the
height of our hedges makes Cornwall one of the least good places to see from a
car "
Tuesday
2nd February.
MUSIC FESTIVAL PLANNED AT TREREIFE FOR ECLIPSE WEEK
London based vivid projects are planning a "family style festival"
at Trereife on the outskirts of Penzance. Plans have been submitted to Penwith
District Council for a self contained 'Village' which could cater for 6,000 campers
on the site which was originally chosen as the site for a Cornish University.
Organisor Graham Bobbin - private sector manager of the rain soaked West
Cornwall Maritime Festival of 1998 - hopes the event will attract up to 10,000
people and has the Bootleg Beatles & Counterfeit Stones lined up to perform.
Monday 1st February 1999. CORNWALL
BIDS FOR MORE ECLIPSE FUNDS Matthew Taylor MP leads delegation to meet
Home Office Minister Paul Boateng to press for increased funding for Devon &
Cornwall Police during the Eclipse.The Police estimate that it could cost an extra
£2 million (UK pounds sterling) to cover the cost of dealing with the huge
number of people expected in August. Much of the money sought would be spent
on hiring motorcycles which can overcome traffic jams in an emergency. Chief
Constable John Evans is also hoping to get £ 560,000 (UK pounds) for military
assistance which will be spent on air support and vehicles on the ground.
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