A Ryde councillor remains in post — despite saying he would resign — after the controversial decision was made by the town council to buy Ryde Town Hall.
Ryde Town Council voted last month to take on the run-down building despite repair costs of £2.4million and concerns a loan could not be secured to purchase it.
Councillor Phil Jordan put forward the motion to buy the building, although the previous town council had already agreed to take it on. Councillor Les Kirkby voted against the motion and said he would resign as it would likely increase the precept again, following an 8.9% rise last year.
Ryde Town Council confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that Cllr Kirkby is still a member but has resigned from the planning committee.
Asked about his decision to stay, Cllr Kirkby said he would ‘not have anything to do with acquiring anything’ but had received an influx of support which changed his mind — although he was still not happy about the decision.
Cllr Kirkby said he submitted a complaint to the Isle of Wight Council’s monitoring officer as he says Cllr Jordan should have declared Ryde Town Hall as an interest. He claimed Cllr Jordan had a set of keys and put a banner across the building during the election.
Responding to Cllr Kirkby’s comments, Cllr Jordan said he had no personal or pecuniary interest in the town hall so there was no need to declare it. Cllr Jordan said he has no keys and the banner was allowed on the building with consent from the owner.
He said:
“All matters are recorded in meetings over the past two years, before Cllr Kirkby was elected in May 2021.”
Cllr Jordan said they had been through 2 committees and full council but ‘no one person’ could make a decision on behalf of the council.
At the next full Ryde Town Council meeting, Cllr Kirkby said he will submit a motion that the council does no more negotiations with the owner until full asbestos and vermin reports are completed. He said:
“You should not be going in that building without any of those as it is deemed unsafe.”
Bickering like a group of infant schoolkids, these councils are a waste of money and of space.
He is right to disagree with this purchase. RTC continue to levy highest precept every year, even without this white elephant.
But at least residents are getting something for their money, unlike the rest of us.
I’d rather have a council tax reduction thanks.
You live in Ventnor?
The world has become so mental nowadays, in so many ways, I hardly know where to start. This building should never have been got rid of in the first place. It was the Town Hall of Ryde, where people used to go to sort out problems and deal with things. It should have continued to be used as Ryde’s Town Hall. Sell it and let it go to rack and ruin and then have to buy it back at a loss. Utter madness. If only we had a time machine to go back a few decades, when this was still being used as the Town Hall and when Ryde seafront was still a nice, pleasant seafront, not like it is now and only going to get even worse again,
so how much have the residents of Ryde paid for building to date without any consultation from Ryde Town Council and still we have footpaths without dropped kerbs at junctions for those who need them