The following is shared by the chairman of Chale Parish Council, Cllr Ron Groves. Response below from the owner of the site, Vern Tyerman. Ed
Shocked villagers are reeling at the news their cherished local shop is closing after a U-turn by the owner on a buyout deal that had been agreed to save it.
Chale Green Stores, owned for nearly a decade by Vern Tyerman, a United States-based business tycoon, who lived in the village for a few years, was set to be bought as a community asset by Chale Parish Council after year-long negotiations involving the Government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).
Scheme approved by all
Earlier this year, Mr Tyerman gave written approval for the scheme, including the agreed price and a timetable for the handover by September at the latest.
The parish council’s initiative had been endorsed in letters praising the move from Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Robert Seely and Isle of Wight Council leader – and local Chale ward representative – Cllr Dave Stewart. It had also received assistance and encouragement from the Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils.
Groves: “We are devastated”
Then came Mr Tyerman’s bombshell withdrawal of the deal he had earlier put in writing to the parish council, suggesting instead a limited-term rental whereby he retained ownership of the stores.
Parish council chairman Cllr Ron Groves said:
“We are stunned at the rug being whipped from under our feet in such a callous way by Vern. He knew how much work over many months had gone into preparing the case for the government loan, especially for our parish clerk, Katie Riley.
“But most importantly, the application process called for us to conduct a survey to establish the need for the shop – together with its vital Post Office facilities – which gave a unanimous thumbs up to its essential nature. We are devastated, as a parish council, that our village community has now been given this cruel and damaging slap in the face by someone who had made out he was here to help us all.
“It is also heart-breaking for the popular and hardworking couple, Chris Smith and Jo Hofmann, who have run the shop very successfully for several years and are now faced with losing their livelihoods. They have reluctantly decided they have no alternative than to shut up shop by the end of the month (October).
“This action is all the more baffling since Vern is on record as declaring how vital the shop is to the village – in his words – as a ‘hub of the community’.”
Tyerman: “We strive to be at the hub of the community”
In an interview with Island Life Magazine in December 2010, after buying Chale Green Stores with his late wife, Jenny Kerry, Mr Tyerman said:
“We feared that with no shop, this would become just another dormitory village. We strive to be at the hub of the community, a meeting place.”
Referring to Isle of Wight Council, he added:
“The current government on the Island basically wants to urbanise us and make us just like the mainland. There’s very little representation for villages.”
Public meeting
Villagers believe My Tyerman plans to demolish the shop and café and replace them with housing as a more profitable return on his business investment.
The parish council has called a public meeting to discuss the matter at Chale WI Hall on Monday 14th October at 6.30pm.
Groves: “A cynical U-turn on his pledges”
Cllr Groves explained:
“The aim is to let Chale know the timeline of this whole affair so they are in no doubt as to the strenuous efforts made on their behalf to save Chale Village Stores from closure.
“Frankly we are more than bemused and disappointed by the way all this work has been brought to nothing by Vern in what looks like a cynical U-turn on his pledges to us over the proposed sale and his published views stressing the vital nature of the shop to Chale residents.”
Alternative measures being pursued
He added the parish council is now urgently pursuing a number of possible alternative measures to ensure the essential Post Office and shop can be provided elsewhere in Chale.
Cllr Groves said:
“Chale has proved time and again it is a resilient community and once more we have to roll up our sleeves and battle to get our village out of this predicament, which was not of our making.”
Response from owner
OnTheWight approached Mr Tyerman with a series of questions. His initial response reads,
“I have no information about what is happening with the shop. The current tenants have over seven years left on their lease and have not informed me of any change in their plans.
“They did have their business up for sale about two years ago and I understood there was a buyer for it but they withdrew from that opportunity and chose to continue to run it themselves. The opportunity to sell it still exists for them. That’s all I know.
“You may remember that my late wife Jenny and I invested heavily into the shop, deli and café to create a viable village amenity starting in 2004.
“We remain committed to providing a facility for the village for convenience shopping and postal services.
“At this stage how that will be done it is an open issue which I will work with the Chale Parish Council to find a satisfactory solution.”
“No communication” from tenants
OnTheWight went back to Mr Tyerman for answers to our initial questions.
Mr Tyerman replied later last night (Tuesday), adding that he was unaware the shop would be closing as he’d “had no communication” from his tenants.
He added that the tenants,
“Have been optimistic about the future, have been reliable tenants. It is hard to imagine that the end of the summer they would have financial difficulties. I will not speculate.”
In relation to the discussions with Chale Parish Council, he said these were covered by a Non Disclosure Agreement so he “cannot comment beyond that”.
Article edit
2.10.2019 10:45: Update from My Tyerman added
7.10.2019 13:37: The post was originally sent to us as a press release issued by the CPC, but we’ve now been informed it actually came from their Chairman, Cllr Ron Groves.
Image: mulmatsherm under CC BY 2.0
