Dispute between council and leaseholder over ice rink heads to arbitration

A dispute over the lease for an ice rink on the Isle of Wight has been referred to arbitration, putting court proceedings on hold.

Isle of Wight Council took legal action because it believed AEW, the leaseholder, had breached the lease for the seafront facility, which has been closed since October 2016.

The BBC has reported that AEW claims that a sub-lessee owed it £200,000.

A scheduled court hearing did not take place earlier this month after AEW referred the matter to arbitration, which will determine if a breach has been committed.

The court proceedings have been stayed until the outcome of the arbitration process.

Helen Miles, Isle of Wight’s Monitoring Officer, said: “The council was absolutely right to issue legal proceedings because the court can deal with forfeiture and possession matters. We felt this was the best way of bringing this to a swift and final conclusion.

“Under the terms of the lease, AEW was entitled to refer the issue of whether a breach has arisen to arbitration. If the arbitrator finds there has been a breach the court process will recommence and forfeiture and possession will be sought.”

Ryde north east member Cllr Wayne Whittle said: “After over two years of waiting for AEW to reopen the building, it is disappointing that it continues to find ways of doing anything positive to finally resolve the future of the facility for the community of Ryde.”