Hundreds of Islanders gathered at Ryde Arena on Sunday to show their support for the ice rink which is due to be closed by Planet Ice on 25th March.
A Steering Committee has been formed to guide the campaign to save the ice rink and one of its members, Robin Crossley, was yesterday able to confirm the current situation.
He told supporters,
“We have made contact with the lease owners and Planet Ice officials and talks are ongoing to clarify the legitimacy of this £5 takeover offer, as well as the legality of taking on such a task as a Community Interest Company (CIC).
“Our goal is to not only to save the rink, but also the jobs of the employees and to secure the long term future and operation of the rink under a not for profit organisation.
“We must stress that we are very much in the infancy stage of the steering committee and there is much to do in very little time, please bear with us during this period.
More information will become public in good time.”
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The Steering Committee includes a number of influential business people including, Ian Jenkins, Geoff Underwood, Steve Porter, Steve Price, Wendy Bluestone, Fiona Grist, Robin Crossley, Andy Shier and Nathan Webb.
Sport England involved
At the launch of Ian Stephens’ election campaign on Monday, the Ryde councillor confirmed that Sport England are aware of the situation at Planet Ice.
He said,
“The council are looking into the lease and sub-lease and the obligations, the state of the premises and make sure we have the funding in place if we need it.
“I’ve been in touch with Sport England. They have already got an eye on the situation and are fully aware of what the situation is.
“I’ve been approached by three other people (who run facilities elsewhere) in order to say they are concerned about it.
“What we have to do is sort out with Planet Ice the situation. People shouldn’t just sign a lease for 125 years and walk off.
“If we all did that, we’d have the third prison back.
“It’s not fair on the community.”
We’ll let you know when we hear more.
