- Islanders urged to link around Esplanade car park
- Demonstration being arranged before June States debate on proposition to halt finance centre progress
- St Brelade meeting held to canvass views on the controversial building project
- Treasury Minister defends plans
- Would you join a demonstration against the project? Take our poll below
ISLANDERS have been urged to form a human chain around the Esplanade car park to demonstrate their opposition to plans to build the Jersey International Finance Centre at the site.
Former St Brelade Deputy Sean Power called for action at a parish meeting last night arranged by Deputy Montfort Tadier, who wanted to hear views on the States-owned Jersey Development Company’s project.
Deputy Tadier has lodged a proposition calling for progress on the project to be halted until a review of the scheme by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel is published. His proposition also calls for a binding referendum to be held, asking Islanders whether they agree the six-office complex should be built.
During the closing of the meeting at Communicare in St Brelade, Mr Power said: ‘On the Sunday before the States debate I suggest this parish show other parishes a human ring fence around the Esplanade car park so that people can come out and stand side by side and say “no, we don’t want this – we want the Scrutiny panel to come out with their report”.’
Following the meeting, Mr Power said that people should encircle the car park as a ‘statement of opposition’ and hoped that the move would attract a similar turnout to the Line in the Sand demonstration over countryside development which was held in St Ouen’s Bay in 2009.
Around 60 people – mostly St Brelade parishioners – attended the two-and-a-half-hour meeting. Most of those in attendance agreed that the States should wait for the conclusion of the Scrutiny report before progressing any further with the project.
Following opening statements from former parish Deputy John Young and Treasury Minister Alan Maclean, the meeting heard from members of the audience. JDC managing director Lee Henry was also on hand to provide extra information.
- The Jersey Development Companys plans for the Jersey International Finance Centre on the Esplanade car park site include six new office buildings
- Proposals for the third building in the scheme were passed earlier this year
- To date, the organisation has secured planning permission for three large office blocks as well as the underground parking that will form part of the overall plans
- In total the six-building scheme would provide 470,000 square feet of modern, grade A office space
- Lee Henry, the managing director of the Jersey Development Company, has said that 50 per cent of the whole site would be returned to the public in the form of community space including a park and tree-lined boulevards
- Under the plans, a number of parking spaces have been relocated to unused scrubland near Jardins de la Mer while the work is carried out.
- Senior politicians say the project will help to attract new business to the Island and give existing companies a new choice of high-quality office space
Many parishioners raised concerns about the risk involved in the development and voiced concerns that businesses were being dragged to the west of town, leaving other parts empty.
Julie Pearce, from St Brelade, said it made more sense to leave private developers to take the risk of providing new offices in the Island.
Sharon Cox added: ‘My main concern, knowing the state our finances are in, is that we are going ahead with something that could bring more problems for our finances.’
Senator Maclean moved to reassure the audience that the JDC was bound to cover the cost of building by securing pre-let lease agreements before work began, in order to minimise the project’s risk.
Mr Henry addressed concerns about potential site contamination raised by campaigners Save Our Shoreline Jersey and also reminded the audience that no public parking would be lost during or after development.
‘We have calculated that 50 per cent of the site is going to be handed back for use as community open space,’ he added.
‘That includes new public space, a public park along with tree-lined boulevards.’
Following the meeting Deputy Tadier, whose proposition is due to be debated on 16 June, said: ‘I think it’s healthy to go through a process like this. We got a good turn out, mostly people from the parish but there were a few from elsewhere too.
‘I think the strong message is let Scrutiny do its job and let’s see what the facts are before we go gung-ho into this.
‘I hope that the States sees the reasonable call that has been made.’
- Former St Brelade Deputy John Young said: ‘What I don’t want to see in St Helier, and I don’t think anybody else does either, is wall to wall office developments so that on weekends and evenings there is nothing there except a soulless wasteland.’
- Treasury Minister Alan Maclean said: ‘I believe we have gone too far to stop now. I believe we need to allow the professional development company [the JDC] to get on with the remit we gave them. This project has already been reviewed and reviewed and reviewed.’
- Islander Jacqui Carrel said: ‘We are looking at the potential of a lot of sea pollution if we build down too far.’
- Dave Crocker said: ‘Don’t build any more glass-fronted tin-roof buildings and give me just one boulevard I can walk through rather than just block after block after block.’
- Former Senator Sarah Ferguson said: ‘As far as I’m concerned it just looks like we’ve got more incinerators going up.’
- St Brelade Deputy Graham Truscott said: ‘There is so much at risk we’ve got to get this right.’
