It's confirmed — no ‘dinosaur ‘Disneyland’ for Sandown seafront, but the future of Dinosaur Isle is secure.
Despite outcry from former leading councillors and the Isle of Wight’s MP Bob Seely, the Isle of Wight Council has decided not to move forward with the £33m plans for Sandown and to take the project in a new direction.
Leading cabinet members, last night (Thursday), unanimously supported a plan to look for a different site for the dinosaur-themed visitor attraction and instead develop an alternative regeneration proposal for Culver Parade.
Speaking at a council meeting earlier this week, Sandown South councillor Ian Ward said by moving the attraction the new Alliance administration had ‘abandoned’ the town and ‘did not care’ to fix its problems, including derelict hotels, or its struggling High Street and seafront.
At the time, Cllr Jonathan Bacon, said the investment proposals from Dinosaurier-Park International were like ‘fitting a square peg in a round hole’.
At Thursday’s cabinet meeting, Cllr Julie Jones-Evans, cabinet member for regeneration and business development, said she could not see how the plans would have fitted on Culver Parade.
A site visit was undertaken earlier in the year and Cllr Jones-Evans said it was very revealing to walk around the site and see what it meant and what could be taken away from the area — including Brown’s Golf course.
She said: “Sandown is a special place. We need to play to its strengths and not put something there that does not fit.”
Cllr Jones-Evans said the Island’s world-class palaeontology collection needs a really good home and said the council is still looking for a place to put a major new attraction on the Island.
Cllr Bacon said the recent discovery of a new Isle of Wight dinosaur, Brighstoneus simmondsi, showed the standard of the Island’s collection.
‘Not to be flipant’, he said, but it proved dinosaurs were across the Island and it was not all about Sandown.
Cllr Bacon said it was about what could be done to support palaeontology – the study of fossils – and maximise tourism and environmental potential.
After concerns the council had not spoken to local stakeholders, a consultation with relevant parties was agreed for new plans.
Cllr Lora Peacey-Wilcox, leader of the Isle of Wight council, said by taking a different approach it took away the uncertainty Dinosaur Isle employees had ‘hanging over them’ – allowing them to plan for the next three years.
County Hall will now look to secure an effective and sustainable long-term solution for its future
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