The Constable of St Helier has vowed to keep fighting to extend the Millennium Town Park after losing a key vote yesterday – claiming the debate over the Gas Place school will become a major election battleground next year.
Constable Simon Crowcroft gave his reaction after failing in a bid to place government plans for a new primary school at the Gas Place site on hold.
States Members voted by 31-10 to reject the proposition, which would have required the government to pause and review the need for the new school in the context of a falling birth rate and the Island’s financial challenges, but Mr Crowcroft said the issue was far from settled.
“It was clear that the government was in coalition with Reform”
“I was disappointed, but not surprised by the outcome – it was clear that the government was in coalition with Reform Jersey on this and I didn’t expect more than 10 votes,” he said. “But I know from conversations I’ve had that there is a much larger degree of support.
“There are a number of senior States Members and officers who don’t think we can afford this new school, and that we don’t need it, but I think they will be reluctant to rock the boat this side of the election.”
Mr Crowcroft said it was not a question of trying to find another site of the same size in St Helier, but of exploring other alternatives.
“90% of people we are talking to are very worried about the new school”
“I think they should be looking at other town primaries, notably Springfield, which I believe could be refurbished and expanded to make it able to carry on for another 20 years,” he said.
Although he admitted there was likely to be “no turning back” on government plans to build a new Youth Centre on the former brewery site at Ann Street at a cost of £16 million, Mr Crowcroft said the campaign to extend the Millennium Town Park would continue.
“I will continue to work with campaigners, as 90% of people we are talking to are very worried about the new school, the traffic it will generate, and other factors,” he said. “Candidates will need to say whether they support the extension to the park and people will vote accordingly.
“I am still optimistic that we can achieve this ‘dream’, as it was described rather pejoratively by the Education Minister and believe it is something worth fighting for.”
Current schools in “inadequate buildings”
States Members voted down the Constable’s proposal after two-and-a-half hours of debate.
Mr Crowcroft’s proposition was supported by Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache, who pointed to Education Department data showing that primary schools would only be at 72% capacity in 15 years’ time.
Deputy David Warr, meanwhile, said that existing schools – St Luke’s, Springfield and La Passerelle, which have all been earmarked for closure – could be refurbished instead, with pupils moving to a temporary facility at the former Social Security building in the meantime.
But it was the arguments of the Education Minister that schools were currently operating in “inadequate buildings” and that there was no clear alternative site for a new school that won the day.
The other States Members to support the Constable’s plan were St Saviour Constable Kevin Lewis, and Deputies Max Andrews, Louise Doublet, Carolyn Labey, Philip Ozouf, Barbara Ward and Karen Wilson.
Deputy Labey was the only member of the Council of Ministers to support the plan to extend the park.