Those behind plans for a brand new ice rink and sports centre on the outskirts of Ryde say they are delighted with the overwhelmingly positive support received so far.
Over 240 comments have been submitted via the planning application on the Isle of Wight Council’s website, the vast majority of which support and welcome this new opportunity.
As previously reported by Island Echo, plans have been submitted to build a state of the art indoor sports and education centre offering ice skating, tennis courts, a climbing wall and much more.
The Smallbrook Ice & Leisure Centre will be a major, all-year-round attraction that will improve the health and wellbeing facilities available to the local community, whilst bringing back the once hugely popular sport of ice skating and ice hockey to the Island.
Sport England has objected to the plans due concerns about the loss of playing fields. The organisation are meeting with the planning applicants on 14th August to discuss the situation, with an aim of working with the Isle of Wight Council to find a suitable resolution to enable the project to move forward.
Becky Daley, on behalf of SILC IOW, says:
“We would like to thank everyone who has supported the application so far. We are determined to broaden the sports facilities available to all Islanders. Islanders deserve the best and we are committed to achieving that.
“We welcome all ideas and comments from our community – our plans are entirely based on input from Island residents and sports bodies. We have a Frequently Asked Questions section on our web-site which we are up-dating as questions are raised. For more information head to https://silc-iow.org“.
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Nice idea. Very laudable, but can it really be built for £3 Million ?
Careful – Remember if the pressure is taken off the campaign to get the Esplanade ice rink reopened it could lead to a block of exclusive , out of locals price range flats being built.
I think that was always the plan anyway
Sport England are a money grabbing quango whose only interest is high level competition and sadly, the roots of sport are lost to them apart from some very exclusive pathways.
You try getting support for competition or sponsorship at local or regional level – more chance of finding hen’s teeth or rocking horse dung…!