The revision of the masteplan for the St. Helier Watrerfront

4.8  Senator S.C. Ferguson of the Minister for Environment regarding the revision of the Masterplan for the St. Helier Waterfront: [1(482)]

Following his announcement on 15th September 2016 that a review of the Masterplan of the St. Helier Waterfront would be undertaken with a revised Masterplan to be adopted in 2017, will the Minister confirm that the results of this review will be presented to the States this year and, if not, will he explain why not and when they will be presented?

Deputy S.G. Luce of St. Martin (The Minister for Environment):

A revised development framework for the St. Helier Waterfront will be lodged as soon as possible. It is currently envisaged that this will be done in February 2018 with a view to its consideration by this Assembly in March and not 2017, as originally envisaged. The reason for the time taken to move this work forward is that it was first thought that this review might be relatively limited in its scope. However, working with the Design Council Code, the adequacy of the entire Masterplan relative to current needs and the changed context of the Waterfront is being tested and the scope of this work has been broadened at my request. Any new framework for the Waterfront needs to be properly considered in its context. It is important that the Waterfront becomes better integrated into St. Helier . The principal focus here needs to be on transport, movement and connectivity. Work is ongoing and this is an important project that will shortly broaden out to engage key stakeholders.

1. Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Given that the area from Jardins de la Mer along the marina front is prime waterfront property, will the Minister confirm that he will not agree to the property next to Jardins de la Mer being reclassified as a builder’s yard at least until after March 2018? It is Planning Application reference P.2017/1070 for the information of the Assembly.

The Deputy of St. Martin :

The Senator may have to bear with me, I think I know where she is going here. But I would say that obviously work that needs to be done on the Waterfront needs to be serviced and at times there will be a requirement for the development companies that do this work to store machinery, to store aggregates, to store materials and we have recently granted permission for a storage yard to be used there but it certainly will not be for the foreseeable future.

2. Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Correction, at the moment quite a lot of the materials being stored there are in fact for College Gardens. Would the Minister comment on that?

The Deputy of St. Martin :

I am not aware of where the materials are being used but I will certainly look into it.

3. Connétable A.S. Crowcroft of St. Helier :

I think it is a shame the Masterplan review has been delayed but I welcome it, nonetheless. Would the Minister agree that when he speaks of consulting stakeholders shortly, that what he means by that is that he will publish a timetable showing how he will indeed engage with key stakeholders but also with members of the public who are going to want to get involved with this? Is he going to be holding open meetings and so on, so that the public really feel they have been involved in this Masterplan review?

The Deputy of St. Martin :

I think the short answer is absolutely yes.

4. Deputy G.P. Southern :

I think the Minister suggested that he would bring back a report to this House if and when the remit of the review was expanded. Would he be prepared, following enhancement of the public realm through developments on the Waterfront, to bring a proposition if there are major changes to the vision for what is happening on the Waterfront?

The Deputy of St. Martin :

The last Waterfront Masterplan came before this Assembly and it is for that reason that I thought it was important that the new revised one came before the Assembly as well. As the Deputy says, there are a number of constituent parts to the Masterplan; there is obviously going to be office development there. I would continue to envisage residential, hospitality and some culture and that was envisaged in the original plan but it is the connectivity that is the real issue here. I have mentioned transport, walking, cycling, access and that is the part of the work that is being broadened out. This is not just about the very stark and sharp red line around the Waterfront. This is about how the whole of the southern part of St. Helier connects to itself. We have, for example, a lot of people who cycle and walk into town every day, they get to the end of the Esplanade, only to be faced with 6 lanes of traffic to cross. Those sort of issues need to be addressed right across from West Park all the way to the tunnel. Yes, I envisage it will be come back to the States for a debate some time early next year.

Deputy G.P. Southern :

For debate of a proposition if there are major changes to what is now envisaged. The Deputy of St. Martin :

I do not envisage any major changes. As I have said, the main number of constituents, office, residential, hospitality and culture will still remain. I do not see that changing. It may but I would be very surprised if it did. It is the connectivity bit but, yes, the Waterfront Masterplan is an important document. I expect to bring it back to the Assembly and for Members to be allowed to comment and make changes if necessary.

5. Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Yes, it is important. I am glad the Minister recognises the importance of public consultation. Will he confirm when he expects that to commence?

The Deputy of St. Martin :

As I said in my original answer, the work will shortly broaden out to engagement consultation and certainly that will happen this side of Christmas.

Senator S.C. Ferguson:

But can the Minister give us a date? The Bailiff :

You only get one final supplement, Senator. You still only get one final supplementary. Before Christmas you have been told.