The green light has been given to demolish a former Isle of Wight Council building — although the future of the site is still undecided.
Island escape room experiences company, Random-Rooms, has launched a bid to buy the building in Gatcombe.
The Isle of Wight council has been accepting expressions of interests and bids for the future of the site on Sandy Lane — with or without Thompson House on it.
Bid submitted
One of those comes from Random-Rooms, who announced last week on its Facebook page, it was ‘exceedingly happy’ to have submitted its bid to the council to take on the site.
Last month, the company, based in Newport, said it had a much more creative idea than demolishing the building by expanding the business and adding a second location.
Demolition plans for housing
There is, however, the potential to build houses on the site — which is why the council put forward the application to demolish the former education centre as it received money from the government.
The authority was given £135,000 last year as part of the brownfield release fund to demolish Thompson House and make the land suitable for a developer to build houses to bring forward houses.
However, if another future is chosen for Thompson House and the building remains standing, the money will not be available for any other use.
A challenge to “make its crazy plans a reality”
Random-Rooms said last month it would be a serious challenge to compete with residential developers, but it liked a challenge and was prepared to do all it could to make its crazy plans a reality.
The council said it could not comment further in July as the site was currently being marketed.
Thompson House was last used by the council in March, with the final clear-up and close-down activity in process.
Demolition approved
Prior approval was granted last week by the authority to knock down Thompson House, despite 11 objections, with the demolition needed to be carried out within five years.
Objections included the unsuitability of the site for housing due to the lack of infrastructure; the impact on wildlife and an issue with flooding which could be worsened.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
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