Once more The Ranger is caught up in Festival Fever. 55,000 revellers have descended upon the Island today - adding nearly half the normal population of the Island - and they're mostly wigging out over on the main festival site.

You can just see the festival stage on the right of this image.

But taxing The Ranger mightily over the last few weeks has been how to sort out the other 'unofficial' visitors over the river from the main festival site. Last year there were some problems with the large numbers of visitors, and although most people behaved impeccably some didn't: some of the damaged trees and firesites have still not recovered. So what to do this year? Should the site be closed off, keeping people out and stopping them watching the festival for free? Or should the Council open the site up and let them all on - accepting the damage and risk of someone hurting themselves?

[More:]

The delicate meadows and young trees are vulnerable to fires, and the site suffered particularly from vehicle damage last year. Luckily the stone sculptures are pretty tough! It seems odd to contemplate keeping people out of a site which for the rest of the year, The Ranger's colleagues spend plenty of effort trying to get people to visit. And is it a reasonable concern, or 'health and safety gone mad' to suggest that people might fall in the mud or burn themselves?

It's been a tricky decision, and eventually it was taken at the very highest level. The Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Cllr Mr Pugh, no less, said:

There have been genuine concerns properly expressed about the number of people using the picnic site during the event and also about damage caused to it.

However while we appreciate these concerns and having listened to representations, I do not believe that restricting public access to a popular open space is fair to the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens who wish to relax on the riverbank.

Therefore I believe the site should remain open although there will be steps taken to help ensure the safety and good order of people using it.

It's good to have a tricky choice like that one taken from the top, and so The Ranger and his colleagues have been working hard to put Cllr Pugh's decision into practice. With some extra funding from the council to make sure it works, it all seems to be going really well so far on day one of three. The site looks immaculate: new information signs are in place, with some new bollards and fencing. Security staff were on hand this morning to turn away unauthorised vehicles - quite a few turned up in the hope of entering the site, but all went away without protest. Pedestrian visitors were welcomed onto the site, and plenty of revellers set up camp in the flowery meadows to get ready for a weekend of fun. When The Ranger patrolled the site this morning, visitors were in cheerful spirits (a few having had plenty of spirits already, by the look of it!) and keen to chat with the council officers, and were even already clearing up their rubbish and putting it into the extra bins provided.

If this exercise in open access is a success, perhaps it will be repeated in future years. It would be great to think that people really can be trusted to behave themselves when offered the chance. Maybe the 'peace and love' atmosphere of seeing the Festival in this beautiful nature reserve will be the stimulus for them to do so.