The owners of dilapidated Norris Castle in East Cowes must make urgent repairs within 3 weeks, after the Isle of Wight Council deemed the historic building’s state had ‘worsened considerably’.
The local authority has issued 2 urgent work notices — 1 for the castle and the other for its farm buildings.
Norris Castle Estate Group (NCEG) has until 29th June to complete the work or the Council will do it instead and send the company the bill. NCEG argues it would cost more than £500,000 and would only be patch repairs, which would be useless by winter.
The Council and NCEG have been in talks since 2016 and NCEG originally submitted plans for the Grade I listed castle, which dates to 1799, in December 2021. It wants to turn it into a luxury hotel.
Nearly 18 months on, the plans are yet to be discussed — despite extended deadlines.
The Isle of Wight Council has now said work is so urgent it must be carried out without delay, for the preservation of the listed buildings on the site overlooking The Solent.
In January, a survey carried out by the Council found the castle had widespread water leaks, resulting in extensive decay to ceilings and plaster; and dry rot in the roof, floor timbers and internal joinery.
County Hall says despite some works being carried out, ‘most were not completed or were completed so poorly they were ineffective or failed soon after.’ When asked, NCEG chose not to respond to that comment.
Clynt Wellington, NCEG director, said the company has already spent more than £1million on repairs, and argues the castle requires structural work, which it would be committed to completing.
The total work bill is estimated at £17million, before conversion.
The urgent works notices require the following:
CASTLE
• Install a temporary roof over the semi-circular castle courtyard roof
• Remove slate and lead on the roofs to add fibreglass
• Clean gutters and drains
• Remove existing rainwater goods and replace them with plastic ones
• Replace broken and missing glass in the skylight above the stairs to make it watertight
FARM
• Replace missing slates and remove patch repairs to roof leadwork
• Provide internal probing support to some areas of the granary and dismantle the brick chimney stack to below roof level, keeping the bricks in storage
• Apply resin repairs to the flat roofs of the towers
Why can’t the Council get to grips with all the empty buildings in Sandown?
If they have the authority to act after 3 weeks and then bill the owners for a castle, why not the same for all the empty eye-sores in Sandown and other towns across the Island?
Cause the con men they had living rent free at this property including unevend maintenance man x con man they won’t ever do any good at the property
One suspects that NCEG would be very unlikely to pay any bill IW Council submitted, so the question is: do we, IW Council Tax payers, want to foot the bill?
Answer – probably not. So yet another asset will crumble and fall.
There’s something wrong with this country.
Likely because Norris castle is a listed building and the sandown eyesore is not.
Hey, hey, maybe they failed with actually preserving a graded building but at least they have forbid the pleb from walking in the forest! That they managed successfully!
After all, we all here understand our betters, lords and masters would get annoyed by our peasant faces exercising right of access to green land that exists in many European countries. We British peasants are humble!
Apsolute idiots got con men in to do the jobs same who did the breeze over no wonder glad the council did this may actually save this
What a joke you know nothing about any of it, I and a team of contractors built the breeze and many others, so u shouting ure stupid mouth of about conmen, wind youre neck in boris, keyboard warrior, and get facts before slagging of decent tradesman who sub contracted to connor construction and uavend, I have lived and built many buildings on the island for 30 yrs and wont be slagged off by the likes of you
Is that why people can’t buy the flats and get mortgages to buy them cause they didn’t meet building regs WELL DONE
Breeze is a joke as well sewage running through the building last summer was in there eating whilst turds were passing what’s your company’s name.
So now the council are going to start squandering millions of OUR money on a ruin, money that they will NEVER get back. Oust this useless council now!
Same people as the breeze run these waste of time people off our island.
Everything they touch goes to s@#t
Hopefully they will loose this and someone decent will fix it back up
The council needs to get its own house in order. They purchased the Vectis Hall in Ryde but no emergency work has been carried out to safeguard this building in spite of its history/heritage.
Strange, why have they not done the same to the owners who own
the Derelict Hotels in Sandown
They are a right eyesore
1 rule for one and 1 rule for others.
IW Council are clueless
Needs urgent repairs, already looks ruined to me.