Riverside: WightMIND Claim Council Agreed To Return Ownership In 1996

In another twist to the Riverside Centre / Isle of Wight council saga, VentnorBlog has received a letter from Timothy Day, Vice Chair of WightMIND.

Letter to Tony FlowerIn his letter, Timothy calls on the Council to fully disclose all documents in respect of ownership of the Riverside Centre and provides a copy of a letter which refers to ownership of the Riverside Centre being transferred back to the Trustees once “VAT arrangements had been finalised”.

The 1996 letter
The letter was sent to Tony Flowers in Property Services back on 19 February 1996. It states (our bolding) …

Further to my letter of 31 January 1996, I have pleasure in enclosing, for your information, a copy of the Minutes of the Board of Director’s Meeting whereby resolutions pertinent to the transfer of the Contract to the Isle of Wight council were agreed.

With reference to Resolution 2, you should be aware that Directors were anxious that once VAT arrangements had been finalised, ownership should transfer back to Riverside in accordance with the Council’s original resolutions.

This letter came from General Manager and Company Secretary at the time, M J Poole.

“We were guaranteed permanent accommodation at the Centre”
He goes on to say in his letter that he has been contacted by members, “with details of our fundraising efforts over the last 30 years, the promises made by the Isle of Wight Council, and how, when MIND sold properties in Hunnyhill, we were guaranteed permanent accommodation at the Centre.”

As reported earlier in the week, WightMIND along with other members and stakeholders, have requested an Extraordinary General Meeting take place. Once a date has been set for this EGM, we’ll let you know.