An eyesore in Shanklin will be sold by the Isle of Wight Council to make way for the ‘Island’s first’ apart-hotel and a climbing wall.
The decision was made at the council’s cabinet meeting on Monday in private due to the confidential nature of the discussions.
It was agreed to sell the freehold of the prominent SPA site, made up of derelict buildings, closed public toilets and a car park on Shanklin Espalande, to a preferred bidder.
The bidder remained unnamed in public council reports but was described as an Isle of Wight developer with a ‘proven track record’.
With the recommended proposal now accepted by the council’s executive, only planning permission and the completion of the freehold sale is needed before development can start.
The plans could see:
- A 30 room ‘apart-hotel’ — hotel rooms fitted with kitchens and living spaces offering short or long-term accommodation, the ‘Island’s first’;
- 14 private apartments with parking;
- Up to 4 leisure, retail or commercial units on the ground floor;
- A public climbing wall on the existing cliff retaining stricture;
- The refurbishment of the 7 arches into offices or workshops;
- A communal garden area;
- 40 public pay and display car parking spaces
The Isle of Wight Council says the proposal would create a ‘vibrant centre point’ for the town’s Esplanade, for people of all ages to enjoy, as well as business opportunities and an estimated 50 jobs.
As part of the deal, there would either be a contribution towards affordable housing, or the potential to improve the revetment walk between Shanklin and Sandown.
Shanklin Town Council was consulted on the plans last month (May), with many of its members in favour of the development.
At the meeting, Isle of Wight Council officers said the plan ‘ticks a lot of regeneration boxes’ and those behind the scheme are ‘itching to get going’.
The final terms of the sale have been delegated to Councillors Julie Jones-Evans and Chris Jarman, the cabinet members for regeneration and strategic finances, in consultation with the council’s regeneration director and financial officer.
Losing toilets and parking..on a seafront! do the council get their ideas from Joe Biden?
Come on SWS You aint been able to have a pee there for years. Yea parking would be a problem, but what .else could tidy the place up? Answers on a postcard. All these major building projects should be in the public domain open for inspection. Preferred bidder, Mmmm that is open to questions and rightly so.
my point was open the toilets and not to close the carpark, its a eyesore because the council has let it get that way, I once ran a shop that was adversly affected by the carpark hatred the council has..seafronts at the bottom of a hill need a carpark and toilets or nobody will venture down the hill and trade will die, I’ve seen this happen.. i would pee there if they were open btw..thing is, this is council property that is really public property being liquidated into private property and nobody bats an eyelid..once its gone its gone.
“Nothing to see here” then? Why the secrecy about the best mate bidder then as the owner of the land will be in the public domain anyway once purchased. HM Land registry holds all that info.
So corrupt isn’t it. As for useless Shanklin council who can’t even keep the local streets clean, well of course they’ll go along with anything, many of them belong to the Conservative Club in Shanklin which just installed much shiny new cladding on their building. Where was the planning app for that then? Wakey wakey Shanklin Council. People are watching.
The toilets have been closed for years, and there are currently 3 car parks + street parking…
Good work council. Make it look bad so you have an excuse to sell it to your mates for a knockdown price. Putin learned all his corruption ideas from the UK.
Exactly what they do Fred.
That is why many buildings are left so long
They then known after countless vandals fires rats and ugliness the locals will kick up less when it is turned into something unsuitable but lucrative
They do it with fields to let them become play areas for motor cycle louts illegal dumping and fires knowing that then locals will accept housing more readily
Low life sly selfish cretins
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Putin bad pmsl…..
Great work-jjust a shame that this didn’t happen years ago. Maybe the new owner will rebuild the pier , too.
‘The decision was made at the council’s cabinet meeting on Monday in private due to the confidential nature of the discussions.’
Why are the discussions confidential? Whatever happened to open government?
This council said they would become more ‘Transparent’ what a joke. Why the hush hush approach? What’s the big secret. How big is the back hander. The Brown Envelope must be bulging in this case!
Who cares who the proposed buyer is, just as long as they follow through and actually build and drag the derelict, empty building back into making money and looking presentable.
Unlike what is happening in Sandown!
For apart-hotel read: immigrant housing. Sorry Shanklin, they are all heading your way.
It will be built very well,and the developer with a proven record will make it great.
Can I just say I’ve just looked at the plans for myself and it looks absolutely amazing especially keeping the old original arches and turning them into extra out let’s what an excellent way to revamp the seafrount people need to understand it’s not to rewin or destroy anything it’s for the islands future and should bring in a lot more tourism and money also definitely looking forward to seeing the end result especially with the new interchange at Ryde and the new soon to be business park at Newport old football club bring on the revamp
If the artist’s impression makes it look like a pile of cheap, shoddy boxes that will degrade to dismal within five years, what hopes do we have for the finished product? Build what you like, but please could we have some flair, design and quality, with sympathy for the beautiful and historic coastline.