A ST Helier Deputy is calling for a Lido-style tender process to be carried out next year to find an operator for the West Park bathing pool.
Deputy Inna Gardiner has lodged an amendment to the proposed Budget seeking a total of £600,000 to repair the Victoria Marine Lake next year, and £60,000 per year to maintain the pool facility going forward.
It comes after a petition to repair the enclosed bathing pool gained over 1,500 signatures.
Its ambitions have been supported by the St Helier representative, who said the facility should be saved due to its “significant historical and cultural importance” to the island.
In a report accompanying her funding bid, Deputy Gardiner explained: “This amendment seeks to fund the necessary repairs to allow the pool to be safe for public swimming, and provide sufficient funding to allow annual maintenance costs to be met.”
An additional maintenance spend of £60,000 per year would “negate the possibility of any further closures”, she added.
Deputy Gardiner is also asking the Infrastructure Minister to seek expressions of interest from community operators to run seasonal activities at the site.
She said that the cost of restoration of the Marine Lake was deemed “commercially sensitive”, so the funding requested within the amendment is “an estimate”.
Deputy Gardiner explained that the repair figure of £600,000 had been derived from the previous costing in 2015 adjusted for inflation, with “an additional amount included in appreciation of the building costs being somewhat more than inflation”.
The £60,000 for maintenance was suggested in line with the Havre des Pas Lido annual maintenance fee, added Deputy Gardiner.
The Havre des Pas Lido tender process is currently facing an independent review after community group Love Our Lido lost its “preferred bidder” status following a break-down in communications.
