Council to carry out building survey on Basingstoke Ice Rink
They say they may have to take legal action to get multi-million pound repairs carried out
A survey is to be carried out to assess the condition of Basingstoke ice rink.
The survey, which will be carried out next month, will enable building experts to assess the full extent of the repair work needed.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough council say they'll then consider whether, under the terms of the leases on the building, it is necessary to take legal action to get the repairs carried out.
The borough council owns the land on which the building stands but the ice rink is not a council facility. The current landlord Standard Securities and operator Planet Ice have leases on the building that require them to keep it in ‘good and substantial’ repair, otherwise the council can take legal action to seek to have repairs carried out.
Landlord Standard Securities has put the ice rink on the market with a price tag of £2.4 million.
Cabinet Member for Finance and Major Projects Cllr John Izett said:
“It is disappointing that it has had to come to this, but we can see no other course of action. We had hoped that through negotiations with landlord Standard Securities and operator Planet Ice we could find a way forward for them to carry out the repairs they are responsible for. But they seem content to keep the rink going in its current poor condition.
“With the ice rink going up for sale, it is important that anyone taking on the lease should have a full picture of the condition of the building and their responsibility for repair should they acquire the premises.
“The council has already made its position clear that buying the ice rink is not considered an appropriate use of public funds, especially as the funding of the repairs is the responsibility of the leaseholders. The ice rink is run on a commercial basis by a specialist ice rink operator with multiple other sites across the country.
“We have been constantly asked to do something but I don’t believe that councillors or residents would support us bailing out the companies involved with public money to make up for their lack of investment in an asset.”
We approached Planet Ice for a statement but so far they have not replied to our request.