THE Economic Development Minister is working to fight the plague of empty shops at the north end of Queen Street.
Deputy Morel said that he was appealing to the owners of empty units which previously housed retailers such as Dorothy Perkins and Monsoon to entice businesses to trade from their premises and “invest in the Island”.
He said the upper end of Queen Street, near La Motte Street, was one of two main areas that he was aiming to revitalise.
Deputy Kirsten Morel spoke to the JEP following the publication of Enabling Business, his response to last year’s Barriers to Business report, which set out a raft of recommendations about how the government could make it easier to do business in Jersey.
Deputy Morel’s response revealed that work was under way to implement 17 of the 38 recommendations, adding that the rest had either been “tabled for future review”, considered part of an “ongoing process” or “not requiring any action”.
He said that the government was “exploring” relaxing the Island’s strict rules around alcohol licensing and Sunday trading, as well as other projects to breathe life back into certain areas of town, including the Market.
His response comes several months after data revealed a 24% drop in foot traffic in town in August 2023 compared to the same period in 2019 (before the impact of the pandemic), equating to around approximately 250,000 fewer individuals seen in King Street.
“There are two main areas that we need to move on when it comes to revitalising town,” he said.
“In the domain of infrastructure, Broad Street has been closed to traffic for some time but hasn’t been paved to make it look like a pedestrian area. This is one of several small areas of town where work could be done on them to make them feel more up to date, more modern.”
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan announced last month that there were plans to pave over Broad Street this year – despite some campaigners calling for it to return to disabled parking.
Deputy Morel continued: “Elsewhere, I have been asking my officers to move on the north end of Queen Street. There’s effectively an entire block which is empty of tenants.
“Whilst these are privately owned and therefore we don’t have control over them and the owners of these buildings, we can work hard to try to get interest in those and attract retailers from outside of the Island who would be able to invest in the Island.
“Seeing that end of Queen Street with so many empty shops is not helping town at all from a revitalisation perspective. We need to get them filled.”
The minister added: “I have appealed to property owners, suggesting to them that they are best serving the Island if they get businesses trading from premises.”
One of Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham’s key priorities is to “deliver a plan to revitalise town”.
The Common Strategy Policy states that this would “ensure Islanders benefit from the delivery of new homes, improvements to the Central Market and the Fish Market, enhancements to public spaces that support cycling and walking, and a new plan for public parking, all whilst protecting and enhancing St Helier’s unique character”.
It adds: “Planning for a vibrant town centre is critical to the sustainable development of the Island, and will give us the vision for our capital that will continue to provide land and opportunities to meet most of the Island’s future development needs.”
