Rew Valley Sports Centre to be leased by Isle of Wight school

The facility, over the road from the Newport Road school, has already been managed by the school since 2014.

The lease was recently up for renewal.

The Isle of Wight Council was looking to lease the sports centre and playing field to the free school again, on a peppercorn rent, for the next 125 years.

Rew Valley Sports Centre (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

If the lease had not been granted, the council said it did not have the money to enable the centre to continue operating, so the facility would close.

A decision was made by the authority's deputy leader, Cllr Ian Stephens, who followed officers' recommendation to continue to lease it to the free school.

The site is able to be used for indoor and outdoor cricket, rugby, hockey, football and has a running track.

The council said the only interested party was the school.

By agreeing the lease, the school will insure the building as well as keeping it clean and tidy and pay £2,000 towards the council's legal fees.

It would also have the right to break the lease at either 25, 50, 75 or 100 years.

The facility is available to hire by clicking here

There is an obligation to incorporate a community use agreement, requiring the school to offer the facility to the community whenever it is available, at a fair and reasonable cost.

The council will not be responsible for any of the operating costs of the sports centre, which in 2014 were around £50,000.

Without the free school taking the sports centre on, the facility would close, the council said.