The owners of the iconic but decaying Ventnor Winter Gardens have been formally ordered to carry out urgent repairs to the site by the Isle of Wight Council, following mounting public pressure.
The Hambrough Group, which purchased the landmark venue in 2013 for £1, has been served with a Section 215 notice under the Town and Country Planning Act.
The notice, issued by the Isle of Wight Council in early April, gives the owners until 25th July to complete a total of 19 remedial tasks, including re-rendering the walls, repairing the roof, replacing windows and clearing up the surrounding grounds.
News of the enforcement action was revealed by Natasha Dix, of the Isle of Wight Council, at a public meeting held in Ventnor last night (Friday). Island Echo had been told to expect big news.
The legal move comes after years of concern about the building’s worsening condition. Built in 1936, the Winter Gardens was once a hub of entertainment but has since fallen into severe disrepair, attracting criticism from locals and officials alike.
Kevin Sussmilch, of The Hambrough Group, did not attend.
Mmmm have the Hambrough group been backed into a corner? I suspect that either the council will buy it back, probably at full commercial price, and make Hambrough a nice profit, or there will be legal action to force them to repair the place, especially as I understand the roof has been leaking for years! A pessimist might suggest that Ventnor Fire Station is manned 24/7 for a while, just in case. Certain property companies business plan seems to be buy cheap, do nothing and then build new on the rubble of their purchase and unless someone has the balls to keep up the pressure on Hambrough, I suspect the Winter Gardens could be yet another victim of this practice. I really hope that something is done, and done very soon or it will all be for nought and our last opportunity to bring the fun back to Ventnor will be lost, forever.
Look what became of the old Gaiety along
Ventnor esplanade.
Oh no not this same old scenario again. Owner let’s building go to rot, until it has to pulled down, builds expensive holiday flats, makes huge profit for greedy b@!#£@ds that are already steeped in money. Makes me sick to my stomach Ventnors full of Sharks ready to take a bite out of any competitors. Like the people who make the phoney bookings at the Bistro. We all know who these people are.
Very true.
A sad and sorry tale
Lol.
What about the owners of all the derelict abandoned
hotels in Sandown, also the old Esplanade Hotel
along Shanklin Esplanade, also the old Royal York
Hotel in George Street Ryde.
About time , glad the Council has got its finger out finally
They done the same with the derelict hotels in
Sandown and what’s changed with them.
All talk, no action!.
Issuing an enforcement notice and actually doing something are two completely different things, this has years of court appearances when the only people that show up are the council and ultimately nothing will be done until the only safe thing to do is pull it down and as already said build very expensive flats, it is always a one sided fight between councils and developers.
Surely the £1 sale must have had conditions of sale with it, e.g. do something within a certain time, perhaps a year, or it reverts back to council ownership.
Big deal nothing happen..