Bid to make clifftop building community asset

Councillors have voted to make Winter Gardens in Ventnor a community asset

Plans to turn a clifftop building on the Isle of Wight into an Asset of Community Value (ACV) have received council backing.

Ventnor Town Council is supporting the bid for Winter Gardens, which is currently in poor condition.

The building is owned by the Hambrough Group, which runs a hotel in the town.

Town councillors voted in favour of writing to the relevant committee chair at Isle of Wight Council, backing an application to nominate the Winter Gardens as an ACV.

The County Hall's community right to bid policy explains once an asset is listed as having community value, its owner cannot dispose of it - until interested community groups have had a chance to register interest in purchasing, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Linda Jefferies said it was "heartbreaking" to see the current state of the Winter Gardens.

The meeting heard The Hambrough Group was served a section 215 notice to tidy up the building and surrounding grounds by Natasha Dix, Isle of Wight Council's service director for waste, environment and planning, in May.