An Isle of Wight community group has asked why Sandown is ‘being left to rot’ amid a ‘failure of political leadership’.
Together for Sandown said residents have ‘yet again been overlooked’ after the Island missed out on getting any funding from a £5 billion package of regeneration investment at the end of last month.
The organisation said Sandown is currently experiencing the ‘exact crisis’ the Pride in Place programme funding is designed to rectify.
They also pointed to Isle of Wight East being the second most ‘left-behind’ parliamentary constituency after Blackpool.
While Together for Sandown described Ryde’s securing of £20 million in regeneration investment through the Plan for Neighbourhoods as ‘positive’, the group lamented that Sandown, the ‘area of greatest urgency’, has been ‘ignored’.
In a statement, they said:
“The failure of our political leadership, the Isle of Wight Council and our members of parliament to proactively lobby and strategically position Sandown’s specific crisis has resulted in our complete exclusion from this vital investment.
“We now call on them to immediately launch an urgent appeal to the government.
Article continues below this advertisement “If the programme’s purpose is truly to tackle dereliction and restore pride, the complete exclusion of the Isle of Wight and Sandown in particular from this vital investment is baffling.”
Together for Sandown’s Sandown Dereliction Survey, which 1,499 people took part in, found 82% of residents claim to live near a derelict site and that derelict buildings make 93.6% of them feel ‘anxious, stressed or angry’. In addition, 95% said dereliction is an issue that matters to the community.
On Monday, the group held a public meeting at Sandown’s Broadway Centre on Community Benefit Societies (CBS), a “potential vehicle” for change.
The purpose of a CBS is to ‘serve the broader interests of the community’ and by law they must ‘carry on a business, industry or trade’ that is ‘being, or intended to be, conducted for the benefit of the community’, according to Co-operatives UK.
Profits from a CBS must be used for the good of the community.
Sandown mayor Alex Lightfoot, who is involved with Together for Sandown, told the meeting:
“We’ve got a number of derelict buildings and one of the questions that’s always asked is where is the money coming from?
“This (the CBS) is one potential avenue for addressing that concern. There have been multiple sites that have been for sale just within the last 12 months.
“We think this is a really good potential vehicle for starting to make changes. It’s worked really well in other places around the country.”
The same evening, another Together for Sandown representative and Sandown town councillor, Ian Boyd, said the CBS was a “massive opportunity”.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“Here’s the chance to make a very positive statement about a town that wants change…democratic betterment for our community, its environment, its economy, its culture.”
On what Sandown residents could do to lobby for more funding, Cllr Boyd recommended “finding points of engagement”, including the town council. He urged residents to come to the next meeting, “keep an eye out for information” and “ask questions”.
The Island’s MPs and leader of the Isle of Wight Council Cllr Phil Jordan have been contacted for a comment.
The Government will not be giving money to Sandown, because it’s not got a ‘diverse’ population. Too many indigenous people for them to have any interest.
Sandown has been allowed to slide into such a decline that, TBH, the whole 5 million would barely make a dent. Before we start throwing money at it, we need to understand how it was allowed to get into such a mess and who was responsible. Then we need to come up with a good, solid, comprehensive plan, and not just fund a few ‘community projects’ and arty stuff. If I had my way, the whole section of seafront derelict hotels would be bulldozed right up to the High Street, grassed over and landscaped, a bit like Shanklin seafront, with mini golf, eateries and seaside attractions. This would open up the high street with lovely sea views. The beach at Sandown is amazing and Sandham Gardens is still nice, with the Wildheart Sanctuary, Browns Golf and, hopefully, the Dinosaur Museum still pulling in visitors. There is still so much about Sandown that is good, so how the hell did it get into this disgraceful mess?