A controversial hike in beach hut prices has now been decided — unless another councillor decides to call the decision back for debate.
Deputy Leader and Isle of Wight Council Cabinet member for Resources, Cllr Stuart Hutchinson, made the decision to increase charges for beach huts under delegated powers, meaning it was not debated by any committee.
When the plans were first announced in May, furious beach hut owners said it was ‘immoral’ to impose a rent rise of up to 400 per cent.
New rents
The ground rent for huts on council-owned land is £308 a year. However, the new valuation could see the figure rise to between £608 and £1,336.
Huts more than 10sqm all face a rent increase of more than £1,000.
For example, a 17sqm site is currently £416 per year but would be £1,476 per year by 2023.
Phased in over five years
However, the council has said, following consultation with beach hut owners, the decision would be phased in over five years.
This phased increase will allow the changes to be paused, deferred or cancelled, should market conditions change.
A pause will also happen at the end of the second year to review the affects of the changes.
Resident: “Smacks of money-grabbing”
Angry residents wrote to the council to complain about the changes.
One said:
“This smacks of money-grabbing and I can only wish my wages would increase by more than 130 per cent in the same time frame.”
Leader: “New rents provide a fairer system”
Last month, Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart, said:
“This review remedies some of the anomalies that have developed around beach hut rents over a number of years.
“The new rents provide a fairer system for owners of different sized huts and are more in keeping with other areas.
“Our current rental value is around 85p a day, when on the mainland it’s up to five times that.
“The rental income we receive from these sites help us support other council services, so it’s important we’re more in line with the market value.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
