LOCAL building contractors are being invited to tender to build a Victims Centre and Sexual Assault Referral Centre, which will be constructed on the corner of Bagatelle Road and Bagatelle Lane in St Saviour.
The government has asked firms to express their interest to build “a new public building consisting of a range of therapeutic, medical, forensic and staff facilities across two blocks of accommodation, one single-storey and one double-storey of traditional construction with pitched roofs, together with external works, infrastructure services and drainage”.
The anticipated construction start date is March 2026. Funding for the £5m development has now been secured, subject to allocations in next year’s Budget being approved by States Members.
Originally due to open last May, the new centre will be built at the former Heathfield Children’s Centre.
The new building will replace Dewberry House, which was set up in 2017 as a recommendation of the Jersey Care Inquiry, but has since been deemed no longer fit for purpose by the Justice and Home Affairs Department.
Plans for the new facility include bringing the Sexual Assault Referral Centre under the same roof as Jersey Domestic and Sexual Abuse Support, and Jersey Victims First – which are both currently based in the Royal Square – so that survivors will only need to recount their experience once.
It will bring together police, healthcare and advocacy services, with video-enabled rooms for victim interviews, support for survivors going through court processes and a space designed specifically to support children in the criminal justice system.
Planning permission for the new centre was granted in November 2024. An appeal against the decision was later dismissed.
