It’s testament to the commitment of a locally-owned development company, Le Masuriers Limited, that the approval of J1, their major scheme in the town centre, doesn’t mean their plans for their Bath Street scheme have been put on hold. Far from it, company representatives tell me that they are pressing ahead with a mixed-use scheme for the large site to the south of the former Odeon cinema. The development will be welcomed by the construction industry, and in due course will lead to a greatly enhanced pedestrian realm which will in turn make access to town a safer and more pleasant experience for those who currently brave the congested area of lower Bath Street. The scheme will also include public parking which will go some way towards compensating for the parking that was lost at Gas Place, encouraging shoppers to visit Wests Centre and the markets, and complementing the vital shoppers car park at Minden Place.
Le Masuriers' continued interest in the North of Town is evidence that the States' investment of £10m in the Millennium Town Park is proving to act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the area, as many people argued would be the case. And speaking of the park, while there are bound to be teething problems - not least the loss of so many parking spaces - it is already proving to be an enormous success quite aside from the knock-on benefits: it is extremely well used by children, and I heard a young mum remark recently that her child pops out for a play after tea whereas he would normally have been sitting in front of TV or computer. Come the warmer weather the park will really make its presence felt as the first season of new growth is experienced by the community: trees will come into leaf and plants into flower where they once did centuries ago when the area was 'Le Jardin de Middleton'.
I hope that the new Ministers of Transport and Environment, in particular, will keep their copies of the North of Town Masterplan on their desks rather than banishing them to their shelves. Too many expensive studies of this area of town have been undertaken in the past only to be ignored, as if the act of hiring a consultant to draw up possible schemes of wide tree-lined pavements, and so on, means that the job of regeneration is done. It isn't; the North of Town Masterplan is only the beginning.
The new Island Plan will also be a vital policy document for the continued improvement of the North of Town, ensuring that past mistakes of town cramming are not repeated here. For housing there are exacting standards in place for amenity space, parking, room sizes, insulation and sustainability, while policies in relation to transport planning and waste management will also have a significant impact on the development of this part of town. The Planning Department under its new Minister, Deputy Rob Duhamel, deserves credit for trying to speed up the process of planning applications, for increased exemptions, and, in particular, for responding to an Amendment to the Island Plan devised by St Helier's Roads Committee in respect of the cost of minor works planning applications for listed buildings, which came into force in January.
Former Minister of Transport & Technical Services, Mike Jackson, did well to complete the Millennium Town Park in short order, given the many years of prevarication by the States, and the Department is working with the newly formed 'Friends of the Park' group to continue the process of consultation over the development of the park. However, key proposals in the Sustainable Transport Policy, which will soon be two years' old, need to be prioritised by T&TS if the North of Town is to achieve its potential as a vibrant place in which to live, work, shop and relax: strategies for safer walking and cycling, a parking strategy which tackles the challenge of providing more shoppers' parking as well as the need for efficient deliveries and servicing, a feasibilty study for increasing the capacity of Snow Hill car park - all of these matters and more must be addressed by Deputy Kevin Lewis, the new Minister, if the North of Town is going to prosper.
For our part, the Parish of St Helier continues to foster a can-do approach to the regeneration of St Helier. Frequently our hands are tied, however, as the majority of decisions affecting the town are made by the Council of Ministers rather than the Constable, Procureurs du Bien Public and Roads Committee of the Parish. Yet I remain optimistic about the future of St Helier and take my hat off to the innovative, courageous, determined and resilient business men and women who choose to do business in the Parish.
Connétable Simon Crowcroft