Efforts to ensure to ensure the public toilets at the former Nude Dunes site at La Pulente are open this summer are yet to prove successful due to “technical and legal issues”, according to the Infrastructure Minister.
Constable Andy Jehan provided the update in response to a written question from St Brelade Deputy Montfort Tadier.
It follows comments made by the Minister earlier this year, when he stated that the Government intended “to take the action that is necessary to ensure the toilets are open for the summer”.
The focus is on options which would ensure public access to the existing toilets
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan
The converted former toilet block was sold off by the States for around £100,000 in 2014.
It was briefly home to Nude Dunes, which went bust in November 2023 just months after opening its doors.
Owner Nadia Miller later asked Planning for permission for a change of use after failing to
find a buyer for the site as a restaurant, and submitted plans for a two-bedroom self-catering unit with an attached café and public toilets.
But a protest co-ordinated by St Brelade Deputy Montfort Tadier in July saw almost 300 people gather at the beach to “show support for the protection of La Pulente and the wider coastline from privatisation and overdevelopment”.
The plans, which garnered more than 120 public comments, were refused in December.
That refusal was later upheld by Environment Minister Steve Luce.
In April, Constable Jehan explained that the negotiations regarding the toilets at the site relate to a requirement for the owner to “facilitate public access”.
“Active and ongoing” discussions
In his response to Deputy Tadier, he said: “The Minister for Infrastructure and departmental officers have since met with the property owner and are currently investigating technical and legal issues behind potential resolutions to ensure public access to the toilet facilities.”
He added that discussions were “active and ongoing”.
Deputy Tadier had also asked whether the Government had considered installing temporary toilets on public land adjacent to the Nude Food site, but Constable Jehan said that “this option is complicated by issues relating to land ownership and planning requirements”.
He continued: “At present, the focus is on options which would ensure public access to the existing toilets.”