Minister is using ‘dirty tactics’ over farm lease, says Constable

Constable Simon Crowcroft said his proposals to launch a six-month feasibility study into whether Warwick Farm would be a suitable site for a country park would be a ‘litmus test’ for the Council of Ministers and their commitment, under the Strategic Plan in 2015, that St Helier and its regeneration would be one of their key priorities.

A deal has already been lined up with an agriculture business to occupy Warwick Farm, on Grande Route de St Jean, and will come into force, if the States reject Mr Crowcroft’s park proposition later this month.

The nine-year agreement would have a five-year break clause, meaning that if the States opt to rezone the site for housing in the next Island Plan, as Andium Homes wants, then the lease could be terminated early. The company with which the lease has been agreed has not yet been revealed.

However, the lease with the agricultural company also includes provision for a pedestrian and cycle path across Warwick Farm to link Fern Valley and Vallée des Vaux.

Mr Crowcroft has accused Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel of ‘dirty tactics’ and said he was ‘not playing fair’ by signing a ministerial decision to lease the farm. The Constable argues that a proposition he successfully lodged eight years ago to carry out a feasibility study to provide countryside for ‘residents of the most built-up part of the Island’ has not been acted on and now wants to explore whether Warwick Farm could be a potential solution.

Deputy Noel has confirmed that under States rules there is a 15-working-day window after the decision was signed before the lease actually came into effect, giving the States time to consider the proposition first. If the proposition is rejected the lease would go ahead as planned, and if it was accepted it would not.

Mr Crowcroft said: ‘It is entirely wrong to be signing the lease before the debate. It is putting pressure on the backbenches to reject my proposition.

‘Having the decision agreed makes it much more difficult for me and other Members [to successfully argue for the feasibility study] and has given the tenderer the impression that they are going to get the property.’

Mr Crowcroft said: ‘It will be very interesting to see how the ministers vote. It is a crucial debate because it will mean the States has to decide: is St Helier really important to them and if it isn’t then let’s stop pretending it is? It is a litmus test on the Council of Ministers’ commitment under the Strategic Plan to the parish.’

The proposition is due to be debated on Tuesday 26 September.

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