A FORMER care facility for Islanders with complex needs in St Martin has been sold by the government to the Jersey Development Company for £1.3 million – less than half its previous asking price.
Aviemore, a former five-unit specialist accommodation facility operated by the Special Needs Service, neighbouring Haut de la Garenne, was previously put on sale on the open market for a minimum of £3m.
A ministerial decision signed by Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan confirmed the sale of the property to the arm’s-length developer, which describes itself as the government’s “regeneration arm”.
The JEP has asked the JDC about its plans for the site.
The site, which overlooks Grouville Bay, previously housed individuals “with learning disabilities who have the most complex needs and are in crisis”.
The facility was previously subject to a number of Health and Safety Inspectorate orders relating to a lack of written policy or procedure in protecting employees from “violent or aggressive incidents” from clients.
The building has stood empty since a phased closure that started in 2021, after it was linked to an allegation of child abuse, and in 2017, the Jersey Care Inquiry heard that staff had assaulted young Islanders with disabilities.
An independent review that same year found that staff cared more for their own safety than for residents.
The 2021 Government Plan acknowledged that the facility itself was a barrier against providing “appropriate and safe care, as well as providing a safe working environment for the staff”.
The five-unit building “cannot be fully occupied”, then-Chief Minister John Le Fondré’s government said, which meant that individuals had to live in private-sector accommodation.
As a result, the government decided in 2021 to convert part of the over-65s mental-health facility at Rosewood House to replace Aviemore.
The government also bought a £995,000 St Saviour bungalow to house a single Aviemore patient with learning disabilities as part of a wider restructuring of its specialist care facilities.
In 2023, then-Chief Minister Kristina Moore said that the site would be sold and that she wanted the proceeds to be used to create a fund for “improving outcomes for care-experienced Islanders”.
Estate agents Quérée described Aviemore as “a large, two-storey main building arranged in a U-shape (together with various later additions), believed to be of traditional block construction set under a series of pitched and flat covered roofs”.
The 2,775-square-metre site also has a garden, an unused swimming pool and parking for about 30 cars.
