In what could signal the first step towards restoring the ageing fort to its former glory, the Chief Minister has revealed that plans to build a new link to access Fort Regent from Snow Hill are being considered – with details due to be presented to ministers before Christmas.
And he said a planning application could be lodged next year.
During a virtual public meeting to discuss the Government Plan this week, Senator John Le Fondré said that redevelopment of the ageing leisure centre was a priority for the Council of Ministers.
He said a specific project was under way to enable access from Snow Hill, where the former cable car station which served the Island in the 1970s and 1980s was located. Although that station had long since been removed, the Fort Regent cable car station was demolished only in 2018 – three decades after becoming redundant.
However, the Chief Minister did not say how such a new project to link the two areas might be carried out or how it could look.
Senator Le Fondré said that the Fort had been a constant area of neglect for governments over the years.
‘We talk about it and every time we get sidetracked. You then get to the end of next year and you think “We haven’t done anything to Fort Regent again”,’ he said.
He added that he hoped to see the updated plans on the entrance project within the next month.
‘[I am] hoping to see revised plans again before Christmas, and we’ve seen some, which are actually about getting the entrance to Snow Hill sorted out,’ he said.
‘Now that’s something that we have been asking for for 30 years. If we can tick that and we’ve actually done something, then that would be a planning application next year.
‘And if we can be contracted and committed to that before the elections, again, it will be happening.’
A total of £4 million has been set aside in the Government Plan for redevelopment of the Fort and Senator Le Fondré said that money would also be spent on improving the facility, including potentially the gardens.
It is not the first time proposals for a revamped Snow Hill access link to Fort Regent have been explored. In 1999 two spires containing lifts were mooted and in 2014 the Fort Regent Steering Group suggested a glass-floored ‘skyway’ platform leading upwards from Snow Hill.
And last year architect Nick Socrates proposed transforming the area into an urban park inspired by the sand dunes and featuring at least two high-speed lifts connected to the leisure centre.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham also said that money from a recently established £50 million fiscal policy fund to help boost the economy following the pandemic could also be used to help redevelop Fort Regent during 2021.
During the broadcast, the Chief Minister also confirmed that £10 million had been set aside to support arts, culture and heritage projects during the course of the Government Plan, which outlines income and spending until 2024.
He also said that work was being carried out to close loopholes that allow foreign investors to purchase buy-to-let properties, and that this would probably have been much further progressed had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘If we’d had an a normal year, I think there would have been a lot more progress in this particular area,’ he said.
‘But certainly most of us around the table think that what we call the external buy-to-lets, frankly, need to be addressed. Certainly, for me it was an election commitment and we need to deal with it.’
The Senator added that legislation to remove favourable-treatment stamp duty arrangements for commercial property was also close to completion.
The issue of immigration was raised and Senator Le Fondré confirmed that a debate on the Island’s new migration control policy, which will set out the post-Brexit work permit framework, had been delayed until 9 February following a request from Scrutiny head Senator Kristina Moore.
The debate had been due to take place next week.
The Chief Minister also indicated that another round of the £100 voucher card scheme could take place in January and February, which would involve Islanders having their existing cards topped up.
The meeting was also attended by Social Security Minister Judy Martin and External Relations Minister Ian Gorst.
