Members of the Isle of Wight Cabinet will receive an update on the proposed community asset transfer for the Riverside Centre tonight (Tuesday).
Readers will remember that the Riverside Centre was built through public donations in 1988. Several years later (1994) ownership was passed to the Isle of Wight council to aid VAT purposes, but paperwork presented by Vice Chair of WightMIND to OnTheWight in 2011 revealed that although council directors were keen to return ownership of Centre once matters were concluded, this never happened.
Community Asset Transfer
At the September Cabinet meeting, members voted in favour of new lease arrangements for the Riverside Centre.
It was resolved that an asset transfer would ensure a sustainable future for the centre and the future involvement of a wider range of voluntary sector groups.
Community Action Isle of Wight (CA IW), the Island’s voluntary sector infrastructure organisation and Healthwatch Isle of Wight have both now moved their services into the Riverside Centre and the Islehelp consortium, comprising IW Citizens Advice Bureau, Community Action Isle of Wight, The Isle of Wight Law Centre, Isle of Wight Age UK and a number of other local organisations, are considering the potential role of the Riverside Centre in their planned information hub.
The recommendation
Officers have made the following recommendation:
That the Cabinet notes that the council and the governing body of the Riverside Centre
are:
(i) developing a basis for a community asset transfer based on the resolution of Cabinet on 10 September 2013;
(ii) working together and with other partners to develop a viable and sustainable new delivery model for the centre;
(iii) in agreement over changes to governance arrangements that will lead to the making of an asset transfer application to the council.
For more detail, see the Cabinet paper, embedded below for your convenience.
Image: Alex France under CC BY 2.0
