IT WAS a battle between familiar faces at the recent hustings event in St Brelade, with former Constable Steve Pallett challenging incumbent Mike Jackson to serve as head of the parish.
Mr Jackson initially held the role from 2005 to 2011 and then again since 2018.
Mr Pallett, whose most recent term in the States ended in 2022 after four years as a Senator, was Constable from 2011 to 2018.
Management of parish assets was one of the main themes that cropped up on Thursday evening, with the current Constable stating early on in his opening speech that “investment in infrastructure remains a key priority”.
“Much of the work is unseen, but essential, particularly as climate change is expected to bring periods of increased rainfall – we must ensure that our systems are resilient to prevent future risks,” Mr Jackson continued.
“Reinforcement of our electricity cabling is crucial to provide for increased future demand.”
He added that the parish “continues to invest prudently” in its road infrastructure and that the Roads Committee volunteers were “compiling an asset register to enable planning future maintenance”.
Mr Pallett stated that the parish “has a responsibility to protect and manage its property assets”.
“Alongside the parish hall, we own many other valuable properties and these assets must be properly maintained and professionally managed.”
He outlined a desire to establish a property management committee, which he said would “oversee long-term maintenance planning, property assessments, evaluations, through a parish property plan”.
Mr Pallett contended that this would provide “a more professional and accountable approach to managing parish assets”.
The toilets at the Elephant Park were mentioned on more than one occasion during the evening, perhaps unsurprising given that a parish assembly earlier this year saw parishioners approve plans to upgrade the ageing block at a cost of £250,000.
Mr Pallett said there was a need to ensure “value for money” with parish projects.
“I think a lot of people were utterly dumbfounded by the cost of the elephant park toilets, and I think a lot of people came here to stop that,” he added.
Later in the proceedings Mr Jackson noted that dealing with the toilet block was his “first priority”.
“It’s been languishing on for years it seems, blocked by various elements and trying to scrape up the money to pay for it has been a real challenge. So we’re on that route now and that’s moving ahead in the right direction.”
But he also said the parish had “other bits of crumbling property” that needed to be addressed.
“Those are pretty high on the priority list, because I know if we don’t deal with that, the costs will just go up and up even more.
“There’s got to be a property maintenance strategy put in place and that applies also to the roads.”
Mr Pallett said his focus was on “bringing the cost of running this parish down”, or “at least attempting to stop it going up any further than it needs to”.
“I’m cognizant that when I talk about the parish administration, not only do I talk about the building, I talk about people that work here,” he continued.
“I’ve got huge respect [for them]. I’ve worked with many of them over a long period of time, but what I see in the parish accounts doesn’t excite me a great deal.”
He added that he needed to “sit down with the procurers” and “have a good look about how we can move forward and try to make the cost of running this parish less than it currently is”.
The saga around the former Nude Dunes site also reared its head towards the very end of the proceedings, with one parishioner joking that the discussion had moved “from the Elephant Park to the elephant in the room”.
Mr Jackson noted that the history of the site could be traced back to when the former toilet block at La Pulente was sold off by the States.
The building was once briefly home to Nude Dunes, which went bust in November 2023 just months after opening its doors.
Mr Jackson said that “maybe with the tables and chairs on the top terrace” the site could work as a café but stated that “I can’t comment on the planning applications, I don’t know anything about them”.
Mr Pallett said that his biggest concern related to planning law, but stressed that he was “not pointing a finger at anybody”.
“It was built for a purpose and it’s being suggested that it’s not going to be used for that purpose.
“If it’s not going to be used for that purpose, and it’s going to be changed in any way other than the original purpose, then there needs to be strict planning obligations, or strict planning covenant, or whatever you want to put on it to make sure that it is not turned into a residential home further down the line.”
