Intial funding set for Le Rocquier sports facilities

Thursday 14 December 2023

Initial funding for new sports facilities at Le Rocquier has been secured in next year’s government budget.

The Council of Ministers accepted an amendment to the Government Plan, lodged by the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, which commits to prioritising £4.7 million of funds – which had already been earmarked for this development – for the project “to improve access to sports facilities in the East of the Island”.

An amended proposition from Deputy Steve Luce to secure £29.8 million of funding for the 3-year overall project subsequently "fell away" without debate after the Panel's amendment was adopted.

He had previously spoken about the lack of sporting facilities in general in the east of the Island as a "massive issue", with his main concern relating to "the health and safety of the students at Le Rocquier School".

Pictured: Deputy Steve Luce was initially hoping to secure funding for the entire project.

In the report accompanying their accepted amendment, the panel wrote: "[It is] of the opinion that the project for Le Rocquier sports facilities has been deprioritised by government and that the process by which this has been undertaken has not been transparent for the Members of the Assembly or the public."

The scope of proposals to develop the facilities, it further wrote, have been reduced since approved in Government Plans of 2020-2023 and 2021-2024.

It continued: "There could be reasonable expectations that it is a project that would have been progressed, as it had indicative capital expenditure approved as part of previous Government Plans.

"The purpose of this amendment is to bring the Le Rocquier School and community sports facilities project to the attention of Assembly Members. The panel is of the opinion that this is a worthy project which, if taken forward, would provide benefits to Islanders."