A DECISION to award a contract to manage and operate from the Lido to an events management firm should not be overturned ministers have said ahead of a debate on the issue – with a protest against the government’s choice planned on the day of the vote.
Commercial operator First Point was selected to manage the site, which includes pools, steps to the pool, a sundeck, a café, showers, toilets and changing rooms.
But the tender could be blocked with the States Assembly due to decide whether it should go to First Point – who won the tender – or to community group Love Our Lido, who were initially selected as the top applicant but lost its preferred bidder status.
If Members accept the proposition, ministers will be asked to interrupt the tender process, offer a lease to Love Our Lido and promise to give them £170,000 a year for the site’s maintenance.
The question is set to be an emotive one with members of the public, swimmers and Lido users, who turned out en masse to a public meeting on Thursday night set to stage a protest in the Royal Square on Wednesday from 12.30pm.
Those connected to the Love Our Lido group have voiced their opposition to the tender process, but ministers have said the deal should go on as planned and First Point should take over at the start of 2026.
Deputy David Warr, who heads up the Lido Steering Group and is behind the proposition, said the selection of First Point was “going against the will of the public”.
Love Our Lido and First Point were the two top options in the process, and Love Our Lido were told they had been given “preferred bidder” status in July. But they claim they had to wait until September to be given a draft lease agreement, 23 working days before the deadline to sign it. Eight working days before the deadline, they said, they found out electricity bills would cost them around £30,000 annually.
Giles Robson, who would become a governor of Love Our Lido, said on Thursday that they asked for an extension but were instead removed as preferred applicant and that the lease was offered to First Point.
Deputy Warr said States Members were asking him about specifics of the expressions of interest.
“There is a lot of confusion about what’s being asked in the Assembly, that’s become clear to me,” he said.
“States Members are asking me for more clarity about what the bids are and what they mean.”
His proposition, he acknowledged, was “quite a big deal”.
“I’m asking the procurement process to be stopped. Obviously that’s quite a significant step.”
Assistant Infrastructure Minister – and St Helier Constable – Simon Crowcroft said on Thursday that “no government minister is going to put out a message that the Government of Jersey will interfere with tender processes unless there’s something seriously wrong with them.”
He said they would need to “find out” ahead of the vote.
In a published comment, ministers have opposed Deputy Warr’s proposition, arguing that they wanted to “uphold established public procurement and Assembly processes”.
They said Deputy Warr’s proposition “disregards and seeks to unilaterally overturn the outcome of a properly run and independently overseen Expressions of Interest process”.
Love Our Lido isn’t a charity despite intentions to become one, they said – adding that this was “a key reason” for withdrawing their preferred applicant status.
They added that the £170,000 Love Our Lido were asking for were much more than the £66,000 First Point would receive.
They added that bookings with the current tenants should never have been taken, as the tenants knew they had to leave by Christmas.
The proposition was put forward at short notice, so the JEP understands the States will first have to decide whether they can hear it at all.
