Deputy Steve Luce, who last week suggested that the heart of St Helier should be a thriving, pedestrian-ruled area, has prompted a backlash from people who want more parking in town.
As preliminary plans for what the States have called the Future St Helier Project are being developed, Deputy Luce said that reducing the number of cars driving through town and parking on St Helier’s streets was a key step in creating a greener, more pleasant experience for pedestrians and visitors.
However, JEP readers have cast doubts over Deputy Luce’s broad aims, saying that town needs more parking that allows easier access to the shops.
Commenting online, one reader wrote: ‘Pedestrianising most of St Helier will kill off the shops. More parking is needed, not less.’
Another feared that more parking on the outskirts of town – a possibility, according to Deputy Luce – would make shopping visits far more difficult for elderly Islanders.
The Council of Ministers have suggested that St Helier be made a priority in the upcoming Strategic Plan, the document which will guide major States policies and focus for the next three years, while also becoming the chosen site to house much of the Island’s growing population. Senior Ministers also want Jersey’s capital to become an ‘economic powerhouse’ where people want to live, work and visit.
However, adding hundreds of homes in and around town threatens to turn St Helier into a ghetto, according to one reader. Responding to Deputy Luce’s suggestions, ‘Puffin’ wrote: ‘People with money to spend will not want to be anywhere near town, as they won’t be able to park, so will buy more on the internet, taking more money out of the economy. St Helier as we know it will become one huge ghetto. The new “economic powerhouse” – I can’t wait.’
Take our poll on the price of parking
Sand Street – 523 spaces
Minden Place – 246 spaces
Patriotic Street – 616 spaces
Pier Road – 738 spaces
Ann Court (temporary car park) – 200 spaces
Green Street – 91 spaces have been lost to make way for the new police station, meaning that there are now 517 spaces remaining.
Snow Hill – At the start of 2013, the then Transport Minister Kevin Lewis unveiled a £4.8 million scheme to turn Snow Hill car park into a multi-storey facility. However, the plans to build a second level of parking – which would have provided 90 extra spaces – were shelved later that year.
Gas Place – There used to be 380 parking spaces here, however the car park closed in January 2011 to make way for the Town Park.
THE JEP last year reported that drivers could use their smartphones to check parking availability in town in the future.
The Transport and Technical Services department hinted at the move, as part of their plans to entice shoppers to St Helier, while giving evidence to the Economic Affairs Scrutiny panel.
Although there were no firm plans in place, the then Transport Minister Kevin Lewis and John Rogers, the department’s chief officer, said that a parking ‘app’ was something they were considering.
Mr Rogers said that drivers could check their phones before leaving home to find out which car parks had available spaces.
However, before a parking app could be created all car parks would need to have an automatic number-plate recognition system installed – the same technology that is in use in Sand Street.
Alternative parking locations
In February 2012, the JEP reported that there were 117,500 registered vehicles in the Island and 70,300 licensed drivers, but only 2,726 spaces in Jersey’s multi-storey car parks. At the time, St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft suggested a number of alternative car park sites:
ROUGE BOUILLON – Mr Crowcroft said that the existing police station was a prime site for a car park and that he would like to see a section of the area reserved for a public car park when the force relocate to Green Street.
L’EMPRIERE – The car park, which is behind the Magistrate’s Court in Union Street, has about 40 spaces and is currently used by parish staff. However, Mr Crowcroft said that the site could hold more vehicles.
PIER ROAD – The Constable said at the time that the long-stay car park is the most underused of all the multi-storeys and would be a good destination for a Hoppa bus route.
ANN COURT – There are 200 spaces at the Ann Court site, however Mr Crowcroft said at the time that he wanted an underground car park at the site to be completed within the next few years.
THEY have been in existence for more than 20 years and are a way of life for most of the Island’s motorists. But for some people, scratching away at a paycard before you leave the car has become something of an annoyance. With advances in technology and parking prices rising, could it be time to ditch Jersey’s unique parking payment method?
- In an online poll in August 2014, we asked Islanders what they thought of the paycard system. A total of 1,157 people took part, and the poll revealed that 70 per cent (812) were in favour of replacing the system, with 30 per cent (345) wanting to keep it.
- An automated parking payment system was introduced at Sand Street car park in October 2012, and according to Transport and Technical Services, the scheme was a resounding success.
- Similar systems, whereby you pay for as long as you stay, have been in place at the Airport and at the Waterfront for more than a decade.
- In Guernsey, the vast majority of public parking is free. When a States proposal to charge the public to use a car park in St Peter Port was passed in 2014 there was public outrage, with one former politician stating that it was a breach of human rights. There were also concerns about how it would affect the footfall in St Peter Port. [/breakout]
