A PROPOSITION which would force the government to double the size of the Millennium Town Park could be lodged next month, according to the Constable of St Helier.
Simon Crowcroft said that in the meantime he would continue to try to lobby ministers to commit to the extension, which he described as a ‘unique opportunity’ to provide much-needed open space for town residents and visitors.
His comments followed the exclusive revelation by the JEP last month that Andium Homes had dropped plans to develop the former Jersey Gas headquarters into social housing – instead recommending that the land be used to extend the Millennium Town Park.
At the time, the firm said the government, which owns Andium, did not want the project to go ahead until it had assessed whether the site might have other potential uses. It has since been suggested that plot could accommodate a new primary school or emergency-services headquarters.
Mr Crowcroft said: ‘Obviously, I would prefer to have the Council of Ministers support Andium’s proposal and then they would be able to take the initiative for it and it would be their plan.
‘That would be better than having to persuade them and there is such an obvious benefit to the community. The Council of Ministers have a shot at an open goal here and they should take it.
‘I am not standing by the phone on this. If they do not support the vision for the site, then I will be seeking the Assembly’s approval to extend it but it would not be debated until the second sitting in March because of the [draft] Bridging Island Plan debate. I will have to lodge a proposition by 10 March and have obviously got meetings with ministers before then and I will be suggesting that this is an opportunity they should grab with both hands. If they do not endorse it, it will look like they are just using St Helier as a repository for sorting the Island’s housing problem and that they do not care about the quality of life of people living in St Helier.’
Mr Crowcroft added that he accepted the former Jersey Gas site would be an ideal place for a school and even that the People’s Park was a good area for a hospital, but also said that St Helier needed parks for the decades and centuries ahead.
He continued: ‘The comparison I always make is Central Park in New York. There must have been so many occasions when developers have cast an envious look over it and thought about how many homes could be built there, but the idea that someone could cast Central Park aside would be outrageous.
‘This is our only opportunity to extend the Millennium Town Park, but there are other sites for a new school or emergency-services headquarters. That is what makes this situation unique, exceptionally valuable and an opportunity not to be missed.’
