A cold weekend away

Actually it is coldish, as befits the time of year, but there is no snow and indeed not a little sunshine on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. We're staying at Gurnard Pines, for the first time, and I'm taking advantage of a rare moment of connectivity for my mobile broadband in this remote backwater of the world to deliver a brief update on my Whickeresque travels.

I've sustained a bit of criticism for my holidays of late. One or two people who themselves think nothing about boarding a 747 for Australia or the Far East or spending an all-inclusive week at the Hilton in some fashionable resort seem not to think twice before drawing the conclusion that my family and I have a mysterious cache of hidden wealth which enables us to set sail so frequently for the Island on a £9.50-a-head Sun holiday, or to make our almost-annual, one-week-only, off-season easyJet pilgrimage to Portugal.

No matter, I reassure myself that a little bitterness on the part of political opponents and failed (and in one case positively barking) ex-councillors is a small price to pay for having overseen another four years of relentless progress towards empowering our local community and I invariably return from these short breaks reinvigorated and generally up for it.

The ICG had a very interesting meeting last week at the Isleworth Royal British Legion at which plans were made for the forthcoming local elections. I won't go into too much detail but it was extremely well attended and there is a real feeling of enthusiasm, with several new faces on the team committing themselves to mucking in. That is probably why, much as I enjoy my short breaks, I find myself impatient to get back and get on with it.