The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
2.5 Deputy C.J. Scott Warr en of St. Saviour of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding a pedestrian crossing at Longeuville Road, St. Saviour :
Following a decision taken in December 2002 by the then Public Services Committee to allocate £20,000 for a Longueville Road crossing and extensive subsequent work to ensure the safest pedestrian solution, including preliminary negotiations with a third party to acquire land, what action, if any, is the Minister taking, or has in fact taken, to overcome the current financial impasse which is now placing this project in jeopardy?
Senator T.A. Le Sueur (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
Could I ask the Assistant Minister dealing with property to answer this question, please?
Deputy J.A.N Le Fondré of St. Lawrence :
Firstly, I should state that I do support the provision of a pedestrian crossing outside Miladi Parade in Longueville. This was first brought to me in the middle of May and I did feel a responsibility at the time to query the justification for buying land for a refuge crossing costing some £35,000 as opposed to significantly cheaper options that did not require such land, and it has taken some time for the relevant information to be provided to me. There has also been a question of the resourcing of compensation
as it appears that the land owner is not really a willing seller. The last piece of information, which admittedly was only recently requested, was received last Thursday. While pedestrian safety has to be paramount, the public expect us to use their money wisely, especially at times when money is tighter than it used to be, and I make no apologies for researching this matter. Expert advice has been received from both the Road Safety Officer and the T.T.S. (Transport and Technical Services) Department as to the most suitable type of crossing. But being rather aware that matters were getting bogged down, I took the view it was more important to move this project forward. There is a certain amount of subjectivity over the decision but putting my personal views aside, I signed the decision on behalf of property holdings to purchase the land last Friday. Therefore, from my view, the potential impasse has been avoided now that all the information has been received.
2.5.1 Deputy C.J. Scott Warr en:
While I am extremely pleased that this project has now finally been signed off, does the Assistant Minister accept that there in future needs to be a more joined-up approach when deciding from which department funds will be allocated for long- agreed projects?
Deputy J.A.N. Le Fondré:
I could not agree more with the Deputy . I was discussing with the officers in my department as to a number of issues that are coming to fruition. They have all come to my attention recently and we will be likely to be issuing a general guideline, essentially to try and avoid this type of issue happening, i.e. when the works of the project might be approved but it is not clear where the actual source of any other monies might be attributed to it.
Deputy C.J. Scott Warr en:
I thank the Assistant Minister for his answer.