DETERMINING whether to build a new town primary school on the Gas Place site in St Helier is looming as one of the biggest questions facing the incoming Council of Ministers, with the new St Helier Constable calling for a decision to be made by September.
Newly-appointed Education Minister Catherine Curtis said this week that she was open to revisiting the decision to proceed with the new school, however Constable Inna Gardiner, told the JEP she was concerned about undue delay.
Budget funding of £12 million was approved by the States Assembly last December for the two-form school, which would replace existing primaries at St Luke’s and Springfield, as well as incorporating the special-needs provision currently based at La Passerelle.
Building the school was a top priority for former Education Minister Rob Ward, but the project faced significant opposition from those who wanted to extend the Millennium Town Park into the Gas Place site and find alternative options for the primary school.
Deputy Curtis, a representative for St Helier Central and Reform Jersey’s lone representative in the Council of Ministers, confirmed earlier this week that she will need to decide – in conjunction with her ministerial colleagues – how to move forward.
She told the States Assembly on Monday that she would be fulfilling the legal obligation for the Education Minister to assess the current and future requirements for school places, with such analysis coming amid a backdrop of a declining birthrate that is set to reduce demand for primary school places.
“I will be looking at those figures in the light of the declining birth rate,” she said. “If there was a better way to provide the necessary improved school facilities in town rather than building on Gas Place, then that would be a good outcome – however all previous research shows that [this] site is likely to be the best option.”
Mrs Gardiner, who served as Education Minister for the first 18 months of the last political term ahead of the change of government in January 2024, said she felt that with five years having elapsed since the original decision in favour of the school project, an assessment of other possible options should be carried out. The site formerly occupied by the Apollo Hotel in St Saviour’s Road was specifically mentioned.
The Constable said she did not see the question of the town primary and the extension to the park as a simple “either/or” matter.
“We want better education facilities for children and more green space they can enjoy,” she said.
Mrs Gardiner added that she also hoped that a new school would serve as a hub for the community, incorporating safe walking routes and shared facilities which could be used by residents outside school hours.
She also highlighted the importance of reaching a decision in time for the next Budget, due to be lodged in September ahead of an Assembly debate in December.
“If this is a top priority for the government, and it should be, then it must be in the Budget,” she said.
The need for a decision to be made was also underlined by Deputy Victoria Li, who was elected as chair of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny panel this week.
“The Education Minister will have access to the best data and it will be for her and the Infrastructure Minister to reach a decision on this,” she said.
“I will be looking for the decision to be reached transparently and if it is delayed then the cost of that delay should be made public.”
Deputy Li said she hoped lessons would be learned from the lengthy process to build the Island’s new hospital at Overdale, with an estimated £200m spent before the start of construction.
The most recent edition of the population report stated that 720 children were born to Jersey-resident mothers in 2024, the lowest total for 30 years and almost 10% down on the previous year.
Analysis showed that while there were almost 8,500 primary-school-aged children in the academic year 2019-20, this had reduced to 7,667 by 2024-25. And projections show the total falling to 6,713 by 2029-20, and a further drop to just under 6,500 by the mid-2040s.
However, some observers have pointed out that regardless of numbers, the facilities at Springfield and St Luke’s are inadequate for modern education.
Mrs Gardiner said that establishing parks on the sites of Springfield School, and the nearby Le Bas Centre, would be important moves that would increase the amount of green space in the area by 25%.
