There has been much discussion around the soon-to-be-made delegated decision by Cllr George Brown to invest up to £220,000 for a new lift at the Ventnor Botanic Garden.
We’re told that the reason the lift needs replacing is that the current incline lift was not fitted correctly when the visitors centre was constructed ten years ago and has been struck by problems ever since. The council say that the unreliability of the lift has resulted in a loss of £7,000 per week during the summer months.
Why no action taken against the lift company?
When we reported last week about the intended replacement of the lift, many people questioned why no action had been taken against the lift company or those who fitted the lift.
The report from the council stated that the lift had been fitted to the “architects’ specification at the time of construction.”
After some research VB has found out that the architect was Rainey Petrie, part of the Christopher Scott Group, who still practice on the Isle of Wight.
The lift was supplied by Maspero, an Italian company still supplying lifts around the world.
BBC1 viewers may have seen Cllr Brown on the BBC South news report last Friday. When asked by the reporter why the council hadn’t taken action against those responsible, his response was that they didn’t exist any more.
Given the brief response, it wasn’t clear whether Cllr Brown was talking about the lift suppliers or the contractors who fitted the lift, so we got in touch with Cllr Brown to find out more.
Lift installer “has ceased trading”
He told VB, “I’m just verifying a couple of points with officers and will try to get back to you by lunch time.”
This afternoon he told us, “I am not able to recall my exact words I am afraid and have been unable to check the BBC iPlayer.
“However the situation is that the issues around reparation have always been complicated by two issues. Firstly, at the time of the installation, a UK presence for the company who designed and supplied the lift did not exist.
“Efforts were made at the time to seek reparation. On one occasion the company director was summoned to the site and repairs were carried out at the time.
Italian legal system
Sadly, the effectiveness of those repairs was short lived. However when further problems arose, the view was taken that it was not in the best interests of council tax payers to pursue the matter through the uncertain and costly avenue of the Italian legal system and courts.
“Furthermore, the company who installed the lift, Thompson Lifts, have since the installation ceased trading.
“As I say (and hopefully conveyed albeit in truncated terms on the BBC programme) these two issues combined to explain the council’s historic and frustrated attempts to gain compensation.”
Can’t find details of Thompson Lifts
UPDATE 9:22 16.Oct.2010: It should be remembered that Cllr Brown wasn’t in the Cabinet at the time that the lift was constructed as the Conservatives only came into power in 2005. In his replies, he’s relying on responses from council officers.
We had a look at Companies House, but have yet to find a company (dissolved or otherwise) named Thompson Lifts. This doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t exist.
We’ve asked for further details from Cllr Brown and will update this article once we’ve received them.
