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15
1240/5(9244)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2016
Question
Will the Minister give a breakdown of the projected costs for each of the 5 sites short listed for the new hospital clearly separating out the direct building costs from extraneous site costs attached to each site, such as –
- the compensatory land costs in option E;
- the opportunity cost of not building housing/office space;
- the replacement of Jardins de la Mer in option D; and
- the cost of parking provision in each option?
Will he further explain why no mention is made in the website summary page of the protected open space' status of People's Park in the Island Plan?
Will he also explain the differences between good' and very good' clinical adjacency and reasonable' and good' future flexibility in options D & E?
Will he indicate what the risk' identified with the compensatory sites in Option E is?
Will he also give an assessment of the risk of indefinite delay attached to continued opposition to Option E, should it prove necessary to pursue compulsory purchase in respect of People's Park?
Answer
No pubic breakdown of costs will be provided for the five short-listed site options as this is commercially confidential information. To do so would impair future negotiations and tenders and would not therefore be in the public interest.
However, as the Deputy will be aware, having attended the States Member briefing on 2nd February at St Paul's Centre, the Council of Ministers is willing to share all the breakdown of costs with States Members subject to them signing confidentiality agreements.
This information has been provided to the relevant Scrutiny Sub-Panel under the terms of the normal confidentiality agreement.
The planning position in relation to the option of the People's Park site is clear. The Open Space policy (SCO4) allows for development that is for greater community or Island benefit or where appropriate compensatory provision is made. The proposals for the People's Park option meet both of these tests.
Both shortlisted options D (Waterfront) and E (People's Park) would make good hospitals. The assessment of option D is that the location of hospital departments vertically is not as good as in option E. Similarly, the future flexibility in Option D requires re-provision of ground floor support services whereas this would not be required in Option E.
Clearly, the key risk under compensatory provision for Option E is that this is not considered publicly acceptable.
I would hope that compulsory purchase would not be necessary were Islanders to determine that Option E should be the preferred option.