St Helier residents back £600k town and skills investment

Thursday 01 February 2018

Hundreds of thousands of pounds will be spent on Havre des Pas, Halkett street, First Tower and apprenticeship schemes after St. Helier residents gave them a big 'thumbs up' at a Parish meeting last night.

St. Helier Constable, Simon Crowcroft, asked parishioners how a sum of £642,130, awarded in lieu of the States not paying Parish rates, should be spent.

Politicians had backed his amendment to the 2018 Budget which released funds that had been budgeted for the purpose of the government paying rates on States buildings, which had been agreed by States Members in 2016.  

The parishes are able to spend their cheques as they want, which St. Helier decided to shortlist to:

• £155,000 for a feasibility study for the Havre des Pas Village Improvement scheme to give a safer, better quality of life for residents – similar to changes that have been made in St. Aubin.

• £250,000 for the refurbishment of Halkett Street to enhance the shopping environment in the centre of town, with repairs to pavements in the area and even a water fountain to discourage the use of plastic water bottles.

• £150,000 for pedestrian safety improvements in Tower Road for the walking route used by parents and pupils of First Tower School.

• £87,000 to widen the parish apprenticeship scheme to more people looking to learn skills and obtain qualifications in maintenance, vehicle workshops as well as the Parks and Gardens department. 

All projects were backed overwhelmingly by those at the Town Hall last night, apart from the parish apprenticeship scheme which caused a bit more of a divide with a 28 to 14 vote in favour.

Pictured: £155,000 will be spent on a feasibility study on improvements to Havre des Pas. (Google Maps) 

Constable Simon Crowcroft told Express the vote in the scheme will increase skills that “the parish can pass onto young people” which will enable more “stone masons and tree surgeons in future.”

He added that the Havre des Pas residents have “waited for a long time for improvements” and this investment in the feasibility study will be a “catalyst to get the project started” but they felt the infrastructure improvements should be funded by the States of Jersey and not St. Helier – as has happened in other parishes.

The residents also raised questions on other projects within St. Helier, which weren’t shortlisted by the Constable and Procureurs de Bien Public for the ex-gratia payment. Constable Simon Crowcroft said they weren’t put forward on this occasion but gave his word that he would look into them – they include the skate park and more water fountains within the Parish.