Constable in new call for £1.2m home for Sea Cadets

St John Constable Chris Taylor has requested that ministers find £1.2 million to build a new home for the organisation, which offers young Islanders the chance to develop skills linked to the sea.

Mr Taylor says that the States have reneged on previous commitments to do so, and he has suggested that money that is currently set aside for vehicle replacement across the States’ fleet be used to fund the project.

In the report accompanying his amendment, the Constable says: ‘For the last 17 years the States have failed in their obligation to provide suitable premises for the Jersey Sea Cadets.

In 1996 £600,000 was voted to provide the Sea Cadets with a new unit at Les Galots. Over the years the States have wasted this money, and the Sea Cadets have now been given notice to quit their present unit and will shortly have nowhere to go.

‘In 2011 the Assembly amended the Island Plan in order to ensure that the area at Les Galots be allocated to the Cadets.

‘If the original sum of £600,000 was index-linked to the Retail Prices Index, the sum would now be in excess of £1.2 million.’

A disused pub beneath Mount Bingham was mentioned by Transport Minister Eddie Noel as a site for redevelopment earlier this year

Meanwhile, the Constable has also called for proposed increases to vehicle emissions duty (VED) to be scrapped.

And in further amendments to the Budget, tractors and historic cars could be made exempt from proposed increases to vehicle emissions duty.

Grouville Constable John Le Maistre and St Mary Deputy David Johnson have both lodged amendments which argue that certain vehicles should not be subject to proposed increases in the charge, which is banded according to the volume of emissions a vehicle produces.

As part of the 2016 Budget, Treasury Minister Alan Maclean has proposed that the duty by changed to encourage drivers to buy more environmentally friendly vehicles.

In his second amendment, Mr Taylor says: ‘The Council of Ministers promised the electorate that they would not raise taxes until the required savings have been made across the public sector, so if it is decided that VED is a revenue-raising tax, the changes cannot happen until the public-sector reform savings have been made.

‘If this is a policy to reduce carbon emissions in Jersey, then we do not believe that any proof has been given as to how the changes proposed will achieve it.’

Meanwhile, Mr Le Maistre has argued that vehicles over 50 years old should continue to be exempt from VED.

Currently, older vehicles are not subject to the charge, but the proposed Budget plans to introduce it.

The Sea Cadets previously shared a home with the Jersey Field Squadron

In his amendment, Mr Le Maistre says: ‘These cars are bought by car enthusiasts for use on special occasions and are used so little that their impact on the environment will be minimal.’

The 2016 Budget, which was lodged in October, also proposes that certain types of tractors pay increased levels of VED.

However, Deputy Johnson said that emissions levels were not a deciding factor when choosing agricultural equipment.

He added that removing the increases would ‘recognise the importance and value of the agricultural industry’.

The Budget is due to be debated at the final States sitting of the year, which begins on Monday 14 December.

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