This Island of ours exasperates me at times it really does.
Now correct me if I am wrong but I thought nearly eight years ago the world entered the 21st Century? I also believed we lived in a fairly tolerant modern society where, as long as it was legal, anything was possible. Well it would appear that while you might be at that position on your north island, over here, where an unholy alliance of tit headed Tories, numbskull NIMBY's and outraged overners run the show, we are condemned to another century in the dark ages.
Because of these fuckwits we dont have a single casino over here anymore. Likewise most of the nightclubs that existed even 15 years ago have gone because these arseholes made them more trouble than they were worth to keep going. It took years of pressure before they would relent and allow the music festivals for which we were once world famous to return and now they are all going apeshit because someone wants to try a small scale pole dancing club. In short these muppets, these halfwitted wankers, want to keep the island in a perpetual 1950 and to hell with the long term consequences for our tourist industry if we dont keep up with competitor resorts.
Take pole dancing as its in the news now. Now to be honest it does nothing for me. I find the thought of a naked woman prancing around a bit of scafolding about as erotic as the lingerie section of a Damart catalogue. It really doesn't float my boat at all. But who the hell am I to say that since its not my scene it shouldn't be anyone elses either? The arguements against us acquiring one of these establishments are both picky and pathetic in the extreme. Ok so there is a school a good ten minutes away from the proposed site (yes County Press, ten minutes away. Not opposite as your story claimed this morning. I know you think we are all thick as pig shit but even I didn't consider that you had such a low opinion of your readers to think that islanders wouldn't have a basic grasp of the geography of their own capital). And? What do they think the promoters of this venue are going to do? Drag kids in for a novel sex education lesson?
Then there is the bullshit that it could attract a dubious clientelle. Do they really think that one strip club is going to turn Newport into a perverts paradise? For fucks sake, get a life.
This really could become the issue that decides whether the Island modernises or not. If it gets passed we may have some hope that we have a future as a holiday resort. That it will show we are capable of moving with the times and that anyone who wants to try something new can do so with the encouragement that people are receptive to out of the ordinary ideas. If the idiots get their way and block it though we may as well all give up, wait for the current staple of biddy buses to die off and then put up the closed down signs on our tourist industry. The next generations of grockles want different things. Do we provide it for them or do we tell them to piss off to Blackpool or Benidorm instead? Do we come of age or do we let the overners and Nimbys and puritanical piss takers win to our long term cost? Isle of Wight Council its over to you. I wont hold my breath......