Assistant Infrastructure Minister Hugh Raymond, who heads the Fort Regent Steering Group, said that, for too long, reports had been completed with ‘none of the agreed actions’ ever having been implemented.
‘When you look at the amount of plans and reports which have been written about the Fort over the years, it’s quite unbelievable,’ he said.
Deputy Raymond recently spoke out in favour of restoring the Fort, arguing that it was essential that Jersey regained what was once a flagship events centre.
The Deputy’s comments come after the Government Plan for the next four years was published revealing ambitious proposals to consider for the venue, including a sports village with a 50-metre swimming pool, botanical gardens and a casino.
However, Deputy Raymond said his main priority was to ensure that plans to expand the capacity of the Fort were acted on.
‘There is currently nowhere in Jersey to put on an event for 3,000 people, such as sporting or entertainment events, and we will end up missing out to other locations,’ he said.
Earlier this year organisers of five high-capacity events were given weeks to find an alternative venue after fire-safety issues were uncovered, forcing the venue to cancel all major events for the foreseeable future. Following a risk assessment, the Fort subsequently reopened for large-scale events but the number of people permitted to be in the building at any one time was capped at 1,170.
Speaking about why he feels there has been no progress on the Fort since the first calls for the site to be revamped were made in the 1990s, he said: ‘It seems to be a combination of underinvestment and an odd cycle of behaviour where people make all of these plans and pledges and then nothing happens.
‘I was just looking at one of the many reports about the Fort, which was published around 15 years ago, listing all of these amazing things that they were going to do and, when I checked, not one thing was actually carried out. Not one.’
Deputy Raymond added that he felt his biggest challenge would be the conflict between the Fort and the Hospital.
He said: ‘There is always going to be tension on the two projects and I would say yes, of course the hospital is more important but, what people seem to forget is the site [Fort Regent] is a historic site and it’s never going to go away. The walls are too thick to demolish, so why can’t we just do something with it?’
