Simon Crowcroft said it was ‘salt in the wound’ that the government was investing large sums of taxpayer money in parks outside of town, but not contributing to maintaining parks and gardens in his parish. The maintenance of public amenities in St Helier is paid for through parish rates, which is not the case in other Island parishes.
The government plans to invest £750,000 of fiscal stimulus in replacing a water play area at Coronation Park, which has been closed for some time due to a leak.
Mr Crowcroft said the park in St Lawrence had already been invested in, and if he wanted to improve Parade Gardens in St Helier, he would have to up parishioners’ rates.
He added: ‘I am clearly very frustrated that this long-standing unfairness is not being addressed and does not seem to be a high priority for the Council of Ministers. I have been banging this drum for years.’
Parks in his parish received no support from government, he said, with St Helier meeting the cost of bills that ‘simply do not apply’ in other parishes.
As St Helier grows and becomes more populous, Mr Crowcroft said the situation was ‘only going to get worse’.
Recommendations are expected to be brought forward by the government regarding the issue once the terms of reference for a review have been agreed, following a successful amendment lodged by the Constable at the end of 2020, which was amended by the Council of Ministers.
But Mr Crowcroft said they did not have terms of reference yet, meaning the review panel had not met.
He said it was time for action – rather than a review – to ensure there was fairness in the delivery of services to the public, which did not disadvantage St Helier ratepayers.
He added that the States should engage with the parish over a ‘meaningful contribution’ to St Helier ratepayers for municipal services, which he said would benefit all Islanders.
The Treasury Department was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of going to print.
