THE JERSEY Development Company has secured planning permission to use the former arcade site at the Waterfront for an children’s indoor play area and café.
Once home to Tamba Arcade, the site was later used by Arcadia – one of several businesses at the Waterfront to have ceased trading in recent years.
In March, the JDC revealed that a new children’s soft play zone was being established at the Waterfront, which would enable the existing facility at Fort Regent to close and help pave the way for the Fort’s planned regeneration.
At the time, the States-owned developer said that refurbishment works at the former Arcadia and WYSIWYG premises had been completed – and that it anticipated the new play
zone would be ready for public use “by late summer”.
In a letter accompanying the recently-approved change of use application, JDC managing director Lee Henry said: “The premises comprises that area previously used as the Tamba Arcade at the Waterfront Leisure Complex.”
He continued: “The premises has lain vacant for some time and Jersey Development Company seeks consent to provide a children’s indoor play facility and ancillary café provision.”
The officer who recommended the application for approval said the site was located “in a sustainable location within the primary urban area”, citing Bridging Island Plan policies that support “the redevelopment of sports, leisure and cultural facilities, such as this, within this area, aiming to ensure access to a broad range of high-quality facilities in across the island to provide for the needs of our diverse community”.
The JDC is also hoping to secure permission for its revised plans to transform the Waterfront, which it unveiled towards the end of last year.
It has described the latest proposals as having addressed “a number of issues” raised when the previous iteration of the scheme was refused by a panel of politicians in September 2023.
The JDC’s vision includes new residential units as well as a new cinema, outdoor pool and landscaped gardens alongside other community and leisure facilities.
