The saga surrounding the Isle of Wight’s Ocean Hotel in Sandown continues, as its former owners prepare to head back to court in December in an ongoing legal battle with the Isle of Wight Council.
A date in the Crown Court is set for the start of next month.
In February, the Isle of Wight Council issued a Section 215 order to force Durham-based Phoenix Commercial Property Development (PCPD) to tidy up the hotel on the Esplanade.
The local authority said the building’s appearance significantly harmed the land around it and the town itself and it set out 15 actions, which PCPD was required to comply with by 11th July, including repairing fencing, removing greenery and cleaning the property.
Within months, PCPD appealed but magistrates later dismissed the case because they said the owners had failed to meet deadlines set by the court, as well as citing a lack of communication with the Isle of Wight Council.
With the appeal dismissed, the countdown to clean the building up resumed and magistrates ordered PCPD to pay £2,000 towards the council’s legal costs.
In recent weeks, a new appeal has got underway at Durham Crown Court, challenging the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ July decision -and putting a hold on work to clean up the site. The derelict Ocean Hotel has been beset with problems, including a fire in May 2021, break-ins and vandalism.
People in Sandown made their feelings heard, earlier this year, by protesting outside 1 of the court hearings in Newport.
In September, PCPD said it had sold the Ocean Hotel’s freehold to a new owner.
Knock it down and turn it into a terraced public park.
Then let the owners/ex-owners take the people of Sandown to court !
ps. This would never have been allowed to drag on for so long if this embarrassment of a site was situated in Shanklin, where the money is.
F’ n disgrace imo.
Direct action anyone ?
Judging by the amount of steel work in the footings of the Premier Inn I’d imagine any ground work on the Ocean would cost a fortune. Even terracing the site would be beset with problems, purely by the proximity of the High Street and the work involved with maintaining the road integrity during any sort of work. I doubt if the original footings would be suitable for a modern building of any sort so probably a conversion of the existing building would be the cheaper option. I’m not a builder, so any thoughts by someone in the construction industry?