Cost of conversion of coastal forts and similar properties into holiday lets

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY J.A. MARTIN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 4th JULY 2006

Question

Would the Minister provide members with –

( a ) a breakdown of the £758,660 that has been spent on forts and fortifications to convert them to letting

accommodation, including details of the amounts spent on each project?

( b ) details of which premises have been turned into tourist accommodation and how many people each will

accommodate?

( c ) a copy of the Business Plan, if any, that was produced before embarking on the above projects? and,

 ( d ) details of any future proposals to provide financial support for private sector enterprises from the

Tourism Development Fund?

Answer

As mentioned in the answer to Deputy J.A. Martin of St. Helier on 20th June 2006, the Tourism Development Fund has awarded two grants to the Coastal Forts and Fortifications Project. The first, for which funds have been transferred, was for £250,000, the second was for £340,000 making a total of £590,000. Detailed business plans were presented to the Tourism Development Fund Sub-Committee for both grants and the Sub-Committee was satisfied that the project met the criteria of the Scheme. Both grants were subsequently agreed by the former Economic Development Committee and the total grant was agreed by the Minister for Treasury and Resources.

The initiative is a joint project between Economic Development, Transport and Technical Services, Planning and Environment and the Jersey Heritage Trust. The Jersey Heritage Trust is the project manager.

I would be happy to arrange for the Deputy , indeed any member to visit the sites and be given a detailed overview of the project.

1. Asat 31st May 2006, a little over a third ofthe total projectbudget had actually been spent. Of the £298,000 whichhad been spent: £206,000wason building fabric, £41,000on furnishing and £51,000on fees. The work to date has been focused onBargeAground and Fort Leicester, although some modestsums have been incurred in respect of otherfortsand towers within the programme.
2. At present two properties have been finished, Fort Leicesterand Barge Aground.The Radio Tower,   Corbière will be the next to beopened.

Site Number of beds Fort Leicester 6 to 8

Barge Aground 4 to 6

Radio Tower 6

L'Etacquerel Open Fort

T o tal project beds not yet known, but probably 47, or more. However, many sleep at L'Etacquerel.

3. The Business Plan forthe project has been sent to Deputy Martin and a copycanbemade available to  

other members if required.

4. On Friday last I met with thenewly constituted Tourism DevelopmentFund Advisory Panel. We have agreed that we will hold a Forum for private sector entrepreneurs in the near future. The purposeof this forum will be to lookat ideas that could or would benefit from TDF funding or indeed assistance of any other form from the Statesand I will then be in a position to return to the States with a proposal.

I firmly believe that we should help the private sector realise their ambitions but we must be sure that we

have a suitable mechanism in place. To this end we have asked Oxera to develop a Pre and Post project evaluation model to determine and ensure value for money.