£1.8m skate park to be delivered "within budget" despite delays

Monday 07 November 2022

The long-awaited skatepark at Les Quennevais will be delivered "within budget" despite its numerous delays, the Assistant Minister with responsibility for sport has said.

The skatepark has been an ongoing project for more than two years.

The location itself was approved in January 2020, but it took until November 2021 before the final plans were signed off. It was initially intended to be ready by the end of May 2022.

However, delays have stalked the project ever since - the project was firstly pushed back to July, then into the autumn.

At the end of last month, Deputy Lucy Stephenson, Assistant Minister with responsibility for Sport, revealed on Twitter that the project was now delayed until the end of the year “due to a few issues with materials and knock-on from some earlier design tweaks.”

She said, however, that it would be "worth the wait".

The Government had previously stated that they have had difficulty procuring the necessary supplies due to the conflict in Ukraine. 

Delays due to a few issues with materials and knock on from some earlier design tweaks mean it’s now due to be finished by the end of the year. Im reassured it will be worth the wait????

— Lucy Stephenson (@LucyStevoJSY) October 30, 2022

The project was expected to cost £1.8m when it was signed off a year ago.

Asked by Express whether the latest set of delays would have a cost impact, Deputy Stephenson responded: "We are in the process of finalising contract costs following changes and delays, but are still expecting for the project to be within budget."

Meanwhile, previous plans for a separate skate park at South Hill Gardens in St. Helier are yet to get off the ground.

Pictured: Construction of the Les Quennevais skatepark is well underway.

Plans were initially submitted in March last year, with the hope that the park would be up and running in January 2022. However, they were quickly withdrawn for revision due to concerns about cohesion with the surrounding area.