When the Isle of Wight council made the decision earlier this year to close all the Tourist Information Centres (TIC) on the Island, many thought that it was on the basis of value for money and cost cutting.
So it was with surprise to read in a report today by Michael Coombes of IWR that the Cowes TIC building, which has been sitting empty since earlier this year, is still costing the Island taxpayer money in rent, some £6,000 by December he claims.
Apparently the council have been tied to a 21 year lease that doesn’t end until the end of this year.
Why not sublet?
We understand that the council are able to request permission to sublet the premises (as they did over Cowes Week), so we asked them whether they had advertised this option and where for the longer term?
At time of publishing we had not received an answer, although we were told by the press office that they were looking into it.
How about talent promotion?
We also asked whether the property could be handed over to a group of artists who could display and promote Island talent, as Lauren Fry has done successfully with Cuckoo in Freshwater and Ryde.
As with the other query, we’ve yet to receive a response.
We’ll update this article once we hear back from the council.
