Northwood House, Cowes

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

Since the Forum of the Northwood Village was closed I thought I would post on here and see what the wide spread view is of the Island with regards to Northwood House in West Cowes.

For those of you that don’t know the house was gifted for the enjoyment of the people of Cowes in 1929 by the then owners the Ward Family. As you would expect the then council had no idea what to do with so used it as offices until the building fell into such a bad state of repair they moved out and left it to rot. It now has a wedding licence and can be hired as a venue for such but in its current state there isn’t much demand.

So the Northwood House Trust is challenged with the task of finding a new use and someone to save this fine house from further decay at the cost of £3million, the only trouble with this is that the trusts chair who was named on the Northwood Village Forum as nothing more than the Councils man on the inside wants (and with the full backing of the council) to sell off the house to a hotel operator or even a care home.

Now if this happens it would mean that this house that was gifted to the people and these same people who had absolutely no benefit out of it what so ever since it was gifted will loose the house and park all together as any hotel operator is not going to want to have the likes of you and I cluttering up his fine dining restaurant or his guest looking out on someone exercising their dog as they have done for years in its grounds.

So far only 2 people have come forward and officially said that they are interested in taking the house on, Chef Robert Thompson who wants to use the house to springboard his career and open a fine dining restaurant with the backing of a hotelier who in order to recoup his vast investment to refurbish the house on top of its restoration costs will have to extensively redevelop a large part of the house and grounds to get the extra rooms the house so desperately needs. It has been well documented on a number of forums that the people do not want to see the house.

The second is a property management company called Viyella, (not to be confused with the clothing brand owned by Austin Reed Group) They want to take the house for a management term, and in that time they want to fund the houses restoration and running costs while introducing new activities there like a museum, art gallery, a public bar, restaurant and continue using it for weddings as well as conferences. From what we have learnt about this company is that it has just moved to the Island and has plans for a lot of major redevelopment for the island, and their Northwood House proposal is part of a long term rejuvenation strategy for Cowes and Northwood. They are know to invest heavily in an area improving infrastructure and the local economy and improve an areas desirability and thus its house prices before embarking on their redevelopment projects, so it would seem although they do have an ulterior motive for restoring the house, the long and short of it is that the house gets restored and given back to the people for them to enjoy..

We have since learnt that despite this the trust with the coercions of certain council members just want to sell the house off and be done with it, it’s a liability to them and they just want to sell a long lease of it and let them do with it what ever we want, despite it being gifted us we don’t have a say and never have
The point of this post is to bring this matter to your attention as after all it has been your taxes that have paid for this house and a so called trust that was put in place has been infiltrated by our more unscrupulous council members and have the chair as their man on the inside, it would seem what ever they want the chair will allow and she will not listen or entertain any one that says otherwise. The other trust members favour the house being used for the benefit of the community but don’t have the power and it would seem, the trust is anything but a democracy.

I call upon the people of this island to make a stand and help me fight to save this house for the people of the island and not let the council sell it for a hotel or a care home.

Please note that because people spoke out about the chair of the trust and council on the Northwood Village Forum it was shut down, lets see if the try and shut this down

Thank you

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Friendly · Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Posts: 15

The house now has a Facebook Page, lots of interesting stuff on there that was taken from the Northwood Forum before it was shut down.

Good to see this subject getting made public, I joined just so I could post my comments as they shut Northwood Village forum down.

Well Done

I support you, lets see this house saved

Robert · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 20

I support you too. I live in Ryde, but I have been to Northwood House a couple of times and I'd love to see it given a new lease of life. It's another example of mismanagement on the part of our Council (both parties).

laineyiow · Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 184

I think that it is a great travesty on the Island that anything that the Council have been involved with seems to be left and money not spent on it so that it is then deemed untenable and should be closed down or sold off. Northwood House, Shanklin Theatre, Ryde Theatre all spring to mind!

I understand that there used to be a lovely theatre on Sandown Pier - don't know if the Council had their hand in that - but I fee that they should have helped keep it open.

It seems to me that the Council just want to shut everything down - there soon won't be anything worth visiting if the Council have their way.

Northwood People · Joined: 10 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

I run the Northwood House Facebook Page,

Great to see this subject carried on on here, come and have a look at my Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=100000516835022&ref=search&sid=589641997.4060258388..1

Become a friend and add your support.

We have posted some of the postings from the former Northwood Village Forum, go and have a look and see what you think.

Thank you

Lets all Save Northwood House

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

Thank you all that have shown support so far and it is good to see people from the old Forum finding their voice on here.

It is no surprise to learn that in most cases it is the same people in the council that fail to act to save these buildings and in most cases are behind the move to get rid of them. The officer responsible for Northwood House is Barry Cooke, he and the Northwood House Chairwoman Liz Mackenzie support the idea to sell of this house off as it removes a problem from their books and then they can say that selling it saved it. It might but what about the people it was gifted to. Is this what the Ward family wanted for it?

So far only one company has come forward and suggested a community based use for this house but because they are not proposing to take this house of their hands completely despite offering to fund it for the duration of their term the trusts Chair Liz Mackenzie and the council officer Barry Cooke have dismissed their proposal and have even blocked any attempt they made to gain further information on the house so they could conduct a feasibility study, now why would anyone who is supposedly working in the houses best interest and therefore the in best interest of the people it was gifted to not encourage this company to come produce a proposal for consideration?

This is a fact I have seen the proof with my own eyes and when this was posted on the Northwood Village Forum they shut it down. This company only asked for a copy of the condition report, a document that had been freely handed out to all the other interested parties that initially came forward but when the asked, Liz Mackenzie blocked it. Yes other people have shown an interest in the house but so far the only 2 named parties are this Viyella Company and Chef Thompson, Everyone saw the state the council have let it fail into and run a mile, and so would most sensible businesses.

Robert Thompson is living in a dream world if he thinks he can profit for Northwood House, it is estimated that it will need about £18million spending on it to convert into a luxury hotel. How does he propose to regain that every year on top of its running costs and wages?

Does he think the local residents are going to sit back and allow him to do this? So far there is a 200 strong army of residents willing to fight any application made by anyone for a change of use to a hotel or care home, and I know of about 20 wealthy and influential people building a case for civil action against the trust and the council if they do not allow the house to be used as it was originally gifted.

So it would seem that the people you voted in are about to sell you out once more. Take note Alan WELLS, Willie SANDERSON, Geoff BANKS, Lynn HAMMOND, Rebecca McGREGOR (DEPUTY MAYOR), John WILCOX, Jon MATTHEWS, Vanessa SLADE, David WALTERS, Roger MAZILLIUS the people of Cowes will remember this when they come to vote next year.

Time for a change is not people?

Pinball · Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 3

Grant a long lease to a hotelier -or similar- with wording in the lease that the current community activities that NH is currently used for MUST be given priority in perpetuity.

Andy Moore
Cowes

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

Pinball · Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 3

I think a commercial operation, such as a hotel, is the only option.

EinsteinsGhost · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 92 Location: Ryde

I am quite new to the Island and know little of this building. I suspect 'pinball' may be right and this sort of project may be the only long term realistic option. I note the building was 'gifted' to the council by the Ward family which I have no doubt was a very generous gesture, but does it follow that keeping it in Council ownership is best for the Council Tax payers of the Island? This is a very large building and with limited use and of course whatever it ends up as, would need an absoulte fortune spending on it first. I fear market forces should apply to this.

Friendly · Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Posts: 15

Yes it is a sad truth that the future of a lot of stately homes is that of a hotel. Northwood after its restoration would require a massive amount of remodelling as its current layout is not suitable as there is not enough rooms that could be used as bedrooms and there is now where to put in a lift so as the rumours would suggest it would mean that however takes it on would have to eat up a huge amount of the park to build a wing or 2. On the Northwood Forum someone that seemed to know a lot about house said it needed a lot more spending on it than the £3,000,000 suggested so with that and the cost of converting the house and building the new wings, I really can not see how anyone could make this pay. I accept that the council can not be expected to fund the houses restoration so a use must be found for it.

Fortunately for us do have an option, as published quite considerably in the County Press and it would appear with their backing is this Viyella company want to take the house and restore it. They will return the house to its former glory and finally allow us to have some benefit from it.

I see there is yet more in the County Press regarding the future of Northwood, it would seem that they want to raise the precept to £38 and a re holding a secret meeting to discuss its future. I also confirmation of the rumour that the house is going to be used as a care home. It would seem that regardless of Viyella offering a solution the people and the County Press support, the council still favour doing things their own way. I would not be surprised if the person who gets this house is one of their friends or someone they are connected to.

Maybe it is true, maybe Cllr Alan Wells is as corrupt as people say he is, I hope not, lets hope he finally proves his worth and does something for us, I mean, does his job and what we voted him in to do.

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 316 Location: Carisbrooke

Is it a Cowes thing or something? The same sort of thing has happened across the river with the Frank James' Hospital.

Northwood House was gifted to the people, so the people of Cowes should be responsible for it. The Council are not the people and surely haven't the right to flog the house off. Or have I got it wrong and the Council are the people.

What could it be used for if it was restored to it's former glory?
£3million is not a lot for a restoration job, but afterwards will it produce enough revenue for upkeep?

I take it English Heritage aren't interested, in which case, sadly you could be flogging a dead horse, if they can't see any potential then it's time for the bulldozers.

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

The wording of the deed of gift is ambiguous, it was gifted to Cowes Town Council for the enjoyment of the people, and since then a precept was levied on the people over and above their taxes to support it. The houses deed was later passed over to the Isle of Wight Council who have continued to neglect it further.

As it stands now the council don’t want to put another penny into it and are even planning on raising the precept to cover its costs, what they plan to do with the additional money is beyond me.

We have a chance now to do something about it, no body wants the house sold and turned into a hotel or care home and the majority of people support the Viyella Proposal to restore and manage the house over a period of time and introduce new profit making schemes that will ensure a continued use and community based involvement for the house. No doubt this view will be ignored and the house will be sold off on a long leasehold to a hotelier or old peoples home.

Short sighted council once more solving a long term problem with a short term solution. Can they not see that the house will be more valuable and versatile and maybe more use to them once it is restored rather than passing it on altogether and letting someone else benefit from it.

English Heritage will fund half the restoration costs once a party has come forward, but that is as far as they will go. And the figure quoted is just to restore what is already there and not improve any of its facilities. The house apparently is structurally sound it, it is just the bodge jobs done by the council appointed builders that need to be put right and cure the damp problems. Once done it should be fit for purpose.

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

I should of said that Viyella are proposing to fully the fund the building, I suspect the council do not want to loose the income from the precept if they did.

newcowesman · Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Posts: 18

Something I need to put right with regards to a posting I made earlier.

I was very wrong about Lyn Hammond. For the past two Cowes Weeks she has organised and run the car parking at NH supported by all her family and Cowes Carnival Committee working with her, the money taken going to the Trustees who up to that point had no financial backing to initiate the structural survey and take legal advice on the status of the Trust.

I am Very sorry Lyn for posting something without first getting all my facts right.

I also have confirmation that At present there are actually four expressions of interest / initial proposals in Northwood House - These include;- Priory Asset IoW, Hamborough, Viyella and a Nick Duffill, introduced by Jon Matthews and Jon Shackleton, accompanied on his initial visit by Alan Wells and George Brown.

Note the council connections to the last one, 3 guesses which one gets chosen......

Whole thing stinks and the best thing is that we voted for these crooks.