TENANTS of the former railway tunnels at St Aubin who have used the site for decades face the prospect of having to find new premises after the government confirmed that their leases were not being renewed for “safety reasons”.
A petition to remain by one of the groups – St Brelade’s Smallbore Rifle Club, which has used the tunnels since 1947 – has attracted more than 400 signatures.
Several organisations and businesses use the tunnels to store equipment. Among these are the owners of Le Petit Train who keep their trains there when they are not in use on the promenade.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan said safety concerns had led to meetings last summer with the tenants, and that those concerns had been reinforced by reports produced this year.
“At present, Jersey Property Holdings is working with all tenants to try to find solutions for the tenants,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has confirmed that it is in negotiation with property owners above parts of the tunnels to try to secure rights to access and grant leases for parts of the tunnels which – under Jersey property law – they also own.
Mr Jehan explained: “It was recently discovered that parts of the tunnel network extend into land which is not in public ownership. Therefore, the extreme parts of the tunnels belong to the private owners of the land above. However, [they] have no way to access their parts of the tunnels as they have no access rights through the main entrance tunnel which is in land in public ownership – the main entrance is off the Railway Walk.
“JPH has met and written to the private owners to explain the situation, and to ask if they would be agreeable to granting rights for the public to continue using the full tunnel network. Thus far, the responses have been favourable to the public,” he said.
The main railway tunnel was built in 1897 and 1898 as part of the railway which stretched from St Helier to Corbière, and it was subsequently enlarged during the Occupation, extending the complex under private properties in St Aubin.
The government said that most of the leases expired at the end of last year and were not renewed because of the land-ownership issue, and concerns about safe travel distances in the event of fire. One lease has a further six months to run, while the last expires in 2026. They added that initial exercises had been undertaken to determine the cost and feasibility of measures to reduce the risk but that the financial outlay was considered excessive in comparison to the benefits to the public.
“However, a further more detailed exercise is now being carried out, the outcome of which will be considered in detail by JPH and the Minister for Infrastructure. Some of the mitigation works would require planning permission which may be difficult to secure due to the historic status of the tunnels,” they said.
The JEP approached the St Brelade’s Smallbore Rifle Club and Terry’s Trains but both declined to comment while discussions with the government continued.
