The towns and villages of Sandown Bay could pull together and come up with a plan to get more money pumped into the area.
Sandown, Shanklin and Lake have been asked by the Isle of Wight Council whether it would consider supporting the development of a Bay Place Plan (BPP).
At the Shanklin meeting, Mayor Councillor Chris Quirk asked councillors if they had ever been frustrated that money from government seems to go to Cowes, Newport or Ryde. He said this was because the town did not have a place plan.
Shanklin had too small a population to do it itself but if it drew up a plan with Sandown and Lake, it could bid for regeneration money.
Cllr Quirk said the BPP would allow the town councils to install frameworks for building in the Bay so they can protect green spaces and create design codes as well as giving the council the opportunity to suck regeneration money into the Bay. Speaking at the Sandown meeting last week, Cllr Paddy Lightfoot, mayor, said the council needed to make sure they got something out of it instead of it being another report.
Deputy mayor, Councillor Alex Lightfoot said he did not think the suggested £5,000 contribution would get the project finished but it would be a start, and one that would see councils working more closely together.
Place plans have been an important feature to the Isle of Wight Council’s regeneration approach on the Island — with plans developed in Ryde, Newport and Cowes/Northwood. An action plan and set of agreed priorities are produced within the place plan that involves local consultation and is evidence-based.
Each town and parish council has been asked to pay £5,000 towards a £20,000 budget to employ consultants to develop the place plan. The IW Council would contribute the final £5,000. Both councils shared the view that should the plan go ahead, they wanted a say on which consultants were appointed and be heavily involved in the process.
Each agreed they would be up for the BPP with Sandown putting forward £5,000 and Shanklin budgeting £10,000 in case costs increased. Lake Parish Council is yet to decide whether to sign up.
The Isle of Wight Council has bid for money from government for area regeneration managers.
Should its bid be successful, one would be allocated to support implementation of the BPP.
A very good idea in principle but I think that Shanklin and Lake Councils need to be a bit wary that any funds made available as a result are not simple ploughed, in their entirety, into the ‘regeneration’ of Sandown.
There should be a single uniiary authority for the island, these town councils just bleed money from the core, something that benefits sandown could be to the detriment of the rest of the island
IF THE OCEAN HOTEL OR SANDOWN HIGH STREET FOR THAT MATTER HAPPENED TO BE IN SHANLIN, THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN SORTED OUT YEARS AGO.
BECOUSE THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS.
UTTER SHAM ! (imo).
A common regeneration theme – Toilets.