Residents from across Sandown, Lake and Shanklin recently met to discuss the progress of The Bay Place Plan.
Steering Group Chair Paddy Lightfoot updated over 60 community members on progress since the Place Plan consultation, and Isle of Wight Council regeneration officer Laura Cansdale detailing projects that are in the pipeline.
It was reiterated that the Place Plan is not a roadmap we need to follow, but a starting point. The challenge is to deliver what our communities want now and in the future.
The 1st AGM included discussion of the Performing Arts initiative in Shanklin, the landscaping of New Road community space in Lake, as well as the Changing Places project in Sandown.
Project Groups covered themes such as Arts & Culture, Sport, Community Organisations, Youth, Tourism, the Natural Environment, Events, and Businesses, with recognition that Shanklin is developing a Business Association, and Sandown has outline plans for a similar initiative.
Paddy Lightfoot said:
“It was heartening to see so many different people wanting to contribute to projects in their towns, and across the Bay, recognising we have much to celebrate and cherish, as well as many challenges which are best faced working together.”
Residents highlighted the benefit of the investments made in Lake, Shanklin and Sandown in the infrastructure to support community events and local businesses, with the commitment to accessibility and inclusion a thread that permeates all projects, including the youth projects supported by the 3 councils.
Paddy thanked IWC Cabinet member Cllr Julie Jones-Evans for the role played by the IW Council in facilitating the Bay Place Plan and added:
“With a dedicated officer the Bay has already secured several millions of pounds for capital projects, and there are several bay wide schemes, such as signage, that are evolving and attract matched funding.”
Details of steering group members and how you can get in contact with them are on the respective Town / Parish Council websites and volunteers to get involved with the various projects are encouraged to make contact with the relevant steering group members or contact [email protected]
Following a weekend when the communities of the Bay marked Remembrance Day, attendees also thanked the volunteers involved in the plan for shining a spotlight on the volume of work going on in the bay, from Bands and Beach Cleaning, and Regattas to Railing Painting, with Town and Parish Councils committed to allocating Improvement Funds to maintain the momentum and support grant funded opportunities.
As a kind gesture from IW Council
all the volunteers should get a Council Tax
Discount.
They are doing what we pay the council to do!
It’s ok that these things are happening, but in the grand scheme of Sandown and Shanklin, it has to be asked ‘Are they actually noticeable?’
Paining some railings somewhere and a Performing Arts initiative in Shanklin are great for the very small number of people who get involved, but what are the Council doing about the eyesore of abandoned, burnt-out hotels along the seafront in Sandown and the depressing, dismal state of the High Street? Nothing as far as I can see.
It’s places like that which are dragging Sandown further into the pits. How long have the buildings been allowed to remain in this state?
It’s going to take a lot, lot more than paining some railings to bring Sandown and Shanklin back from the brink. It’s going to take total rejuvenation, and that will mean a whole lot of work, effort and money from the Council, and not some volunteers doing a bit of tidying up here and there.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the volunteers are doing good work, but it needs the Council to actually do something positive on a grand scale. Start with demolishing the burnt-out hotels along the seafront and turn them into managed open-spaces or kids parks.