COMPULSORY-PURCHASE orders on St Helier land needed for the future-hospital project at Overdale will not be finalised until the new Council of Ministers has formed, the outgoing Chief Minister has said.
John Le Fondré holds ministerial responsibility for all departments until such time as a new team is formed, which is due to take place next week.
However, he has confirmed that he – as acting Environment Minister – is ‘not minded to issue the final notice’ and instead will leave the decision to the next minister.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft had written to the Chief Minister asking him to pause the ‘controversial’ bid for land after the parish received a series of compulsory-purchase notices last month – during the ‘purdah’ period which is designed to halt government activity during an election.
The orders were issued by the States Greffe, acting on the instructions of outgoing Assistant Environment Minister Gregory Guida and related to the parish car park near West Park Apartments, car parking along the edge of the People’s Park, the Jersey Bowling Club site at Westmount, and areas adjacent to Westmount Road.
The value placed on the land was more than £1 million less than the £6.5m offer rejected by a parish assembly last year, and did not include a land swap, which was part of the previous offer and would have seen the Jersey Bowling Club be moved to Warwick Farm.
Responding in a letter to Mr Crowcroft, Mr Le Fondré said: ‘As you will be aware, to date, no land or property has been bought for the hospital project through compulsory purchase.
‘Most of the land required for the new hospital has already been acquired through negotiation. I would hope that the parish land could also be completed through negotiation, which has always been the preferred route.
‘For completeness, as has been previously stated, a rule-of-thumb estimate for delaying the project has been estimated as circa £100,000 per day (ie approximately £36.5m per year).
‘Furthermore, any cancellation in the project will requires a new States decision and a recognition that the potential loss to the taxpayer of the only scheme to have planning permissions will be many more tens of millions of pounds (in abortive costs as well as the cost of a new application, which based on past experience is likely to be a very significant sum of money).
‘This therefore demonstrates why such decisions have been taken, with the public interest very clearly in mind.’
He added that the first compulsory-purchase notices were issued in December last year and 11 May respectively, while the second stage was approved on 15 June by then Assistant Environment Minister Gregory Guida.
The final stage, which would complete the compulsory purchase, has not yet been concluded.
