Ministers have shunned suggestions that the Victoria Marine Lake should be repaired – saying that work to restore the neglected relic from the heyday of the island’s tourism industry would be “uneconomical”.
Dating from 1897, the enclosed bathing pool – which was once Britain’s largest marine lake – is owned by the Government and managed by the Parish of St Helier.
The Victoria Marine Lake has been out of action since 2019 when tidal damage caused a ten-metre hole to appear in the retaining wall.
It comes amid a resurgence of interest in the once-great attraction from islanders, which has led to the creation of the 240-member-strong Tidal Pool campaign group and culminated in a public meeting with by St Helier Deputy Inna Gardiner at the start of the month.
Despite this, Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan told Deputy Gardiner this week that the government was not looking to develop the Lake.
He said that he had visited it alongside his Assistant Minister and Jersey Property Holdings officials in September, at which point “warning signs were installed” and contractors approached for repair work due to safety concerns.
However, he said: “The order of magnitude of the costs were deemed to be uneconomical to commission, particularly in light of the fact that the Assistant Minister reported that, when the Parish had a lease on the lake, use was very limited due to the proliferation of sea lettuce.”
Constable Jehan said that there had “ been a commercial proposal for annual repair and an assessment of annual maintenance to keep the pool available”. While the values are “commercially confidential”, he noted that that previous repairs to bring the pool into use in 2014 cost £315,000.
“Proposals have been received and contractors challenged to provide innovative solutions, however, there is little other than simple replacement of granite blockwork and cement capping that will achieve the effect, and it must be acknowledged that the environment, particularly in winter storms, is unforgiving and means that comprehensive works will be required,” he continued.
Given that work is underway to develop the Waterfront, in addition to “the need to improve shoreline management and coastal defence”, the Minister said “it is anticipated that there will be a diminishing requirement” for the pool anyway.
“In this context, it is currently uneconomical to repair the Marine Lake. It should be noted that there has been a considerable investment in the Havre des Pas pool wall and sluices to provide the facility for sea swimming at low tide, the function originally conceived for the Marine Lake.”