Extreme weather puts park in the dark

Monday 10 June 2019

Millennium Park's lights and iconic water feature have had to be turned off after the electricity board got "flooded" amid last week's extreme weather, leading to safety concerns.

With Storm Miguel having battered the Channel Islands with heavy rain and gale-force winds, a government spokesperson explained: “...Heavy rain flooded the main electricity board, so all power to the park has had to be turned off until the problem is fixed. This means the water feature and lights will remain off until the electricity supply has been checked and restored."

They added that a "separate issue" regarding some of the lights was also reported earlier in the week.

Having noticed the subsequent lack of light in the park, some islanders took to social media where they expressed concerns about the safety implications.

They drew attention to the fact that razor blades had been found in the children's play area the week before.

However, a government spokesperson confirmed that security organisation G4S had been contacted as a result, and that they had adapted their patrols accordingly.

The spokesperson added that a "team from [the Growth, Housing and Environment Department] is working to get everything back up and running as soon as possible" and that work to resolve the lighting issue would begin this week - "dependent on weather."