Statement by Minister for Treasury and Resources re Relocation of Police Headquarters with questions

STATEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES ON TUESDAY 1st NOVEMBER 2011

Relocation of Police headquarters

I wish to make Members aware of the progress that is being made to relocate the States of Jersey Police to a suitable new headquarters.

The Political Steering Group, set up to oversee the delivery of a new Police headquarters, Chaired by Assistant Minister the Connétable of St Peter, John Refault, has now met three times.

After considering a number of possible sites, the Group has identified what it believes is the most suitable States-owned site at the open section of Green Street car park on Route du Fort. Substantial preliminary design work has identified that this site can accommodate all the police requirements in a single, purpose built building constructed to modern standards. This is a better, practical solution than Lime Grove, which would have meant locating police across two sites and refurbishing the existing Rouge Bouillon Police station.

I can advise that this is now the preferred option and the project will move to detailed feasibility and commence the planning process. The Police are actively working with the project design team and the Chief Officer and his staff are looking forward with optimism to the conclusion of this project.

As members would expect, there will be full public consultation with those people who are likely to be affected by the proposed development and the Steering Group fully intends to work closely with local deputies and the Connétable of St Helier. A first meeting with deputies took place last week.

The Police will undertake full consultation with those people who will be affected and the Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police has personally committed to meet with neighbours as part of this process. I anticipate we will be in a position to begin a consultation process with local residents in the early part of next year.

The Route du Fort project will not only meet the currently allocated budget, it will also free up the whole of the Summerland site and part of the Rouge Bouillon site for housing. From a financial perspective, this solution is superior to the Lime Grove option as it releases more land, which reduces the net cost.

In addition, the building work required is expected to provide a valuable stimulus for the construction industry during what continues to be a difficult economic time. This stimulus would not have been provided by buying Lime Grove.

With this in mind, we have instructed the project design team to do all it can to ensure that any construction work can begin as soon as possible.

The Political Steering Group will meet early in December to review the findings of the feasibility study. It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted by the end of February 2012, with construction starting later in the year and the project completed by the end of 2014.

After many years of living in inadequate and inappropriate accommodation, I am confident that the States of Jersey Police will be relocated to purpose-built new headquarters.

Yesterday the Chief of Police told me he was delighted that a solution appears to have been found for the States of Jersey Police. He said he was particularly pleased for his staff, as this development will provide the kind of working environment they deserve to deliver modern policing in Jersey.

Overall, whilst this has been a difficult issue to resolve, I have no doubt that this single site proposal will prove to be a better solution for the service, deliver better value for the States of Jersey, release more land for housing and provide a purpose built environmentally efficient headquarters for the Police.

The Bailiff :

So then we come to Statements on a Matter of Official Responsibility and the Minister for Treasury and Resources will make a statement regarding the relocation of the States of Jersey Police Headquarters.

5.  Statement by the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding relocation of the States of Jersey Police Headquarters

5.1  Senator P.F.C. Ozouf (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):

I wish to make Members aware of the progress that has been made to relocate the States of Jersey Police to a suitable new headquarters. The political steering group set up to oversee the delivery of a new police headquarters chaired by my Assistant Minister, the Constable of St. Peter , has now met 3 times. After considering a number of possible sites, the group has identified what it believes is the most suitable States-owned site at the open section of Green Street car park on Route de Fort. Substantial preliminary design work has identified that this site can accommodate all the police requirements into a single purpose-built building constructed to modern standards. This is a better practical solution than Lime Grove House which would have meant locating police across 2 sites and refurbishing the existing Rouge Bouillon Police Station. I can advise that this is now the preferred option and the project will move to detailed feasibility and commence the planning process. The police are actively working with the project design team and the Chief Officer and his staff are looking forward with optimism to the conclusion of this project. As Members would expect, there will be full consultation with those people who are likely to be affected by the proposed development and the steering group fully intends to work closely with local Deputies and the Connétable of St. Helier . A first meeting with Deputies took place last week. The police will undertake full consultation with those people who will be affected and the Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police has personally committed to meet with neighbours as part of the process. I anticipate we will be in a position to begin a consultation process with local residents in the early part of next year. The La Route du Fort project will not only meet the current allocated budget, it will free-up the whole of the Summerland site and part of Rouge Bouillon site for housing. From a financial perspective, this solution is superior to the Lime Grove House option, as it releases more land which reduces the net cost. In addition, the building work required is expected to provide a valuable stimulus for the construction industry during what continues to be difficult times. This stimulus would not have been provided by buying Lime Grove House. With this in mind, we have instructed the project design team to do all it can to ensure that any construction work can begin as soon as possible. The political steering group will meet in early December to review the findings of the feasibility study. It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted by the end of February 2012 with construction starting later in the year and the project completed by the end of 2014. After many years of living in inadequate and inappropriate accommodation, I am confident that the States of Jersey Police will be relocated to purpose-built new headquarters. Yesterday, the Chief of Police told me he was delighted that the solution appears to have been found for the States of Jersey Police. He was particularly pleased for his staff, as the development will provide the kind of working environment they deserve to deliver modern policing in Jersey. Overall, while this has been a difficult issue to resolve, I have no doubt that this single site will prove a better solution for the service, deliver better value for money for the States of Jersey, release more land for housing and provide a purpose-built environmentally efficient headquarters for the

police.

1. Senator T.J. Le Main:

Does the Minister feel that he has been publicly and unfairly treated over the Lime Grove House issue and will he consider changing his mind on standing for Chief Minister?  [Laughter] [Members: Oh!]  

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

I am not going to make any comment in relation to that. I will be making a statement in relation to that matter within the next couple of days. I do feel that this Lime Grove House issue has been difficult and has certainly been one of the most difficult issues I have had to deal with.

[12:15]

I hope the statement today allays the fears that many Members of this Assembly and perhaps the public had in relation to the Lime Grove House saga. I maintain the view that a single site for the police is best and it is also best for releasing housing land for the Minister for Housing.

2. Deputy J.A. Martin:

Does this statement get the Minister for Treasury and Resources off the hook or does it do what it says because I was one of the Deputies who was called in last week and I said: "Before you do this, and it is already out in the press today, would you do proper consultation?" This is a done deal. This is not and the residents round there Health have not been consulted. We have got a high density nursing home across the road and this is not what I was promised at the meeting last week. I said: "Write to all the people, consult properly, do not end up with a statement that today the police are very happy that they are going to have a new police station there in 4 year's time. This is not how we do things." Will the Minister please agree? Forget the rest of Lime Grove House, they run around like headless chickens finding a quick place to make the Minister for Treasury and Resources look better and it just happens to be next to the other place they wanted except it and the last question, there is a question here is when we move the Town Park Gas Place to, and I was told by the Transport and Technical Service we will deal with that movement when we redevelop Green Street car park and we add another 300 spaces. This will not happen and we will have in No. 1 District again a car park 50 yards from the Town Park and we will have it for the next 20 years if this goes ahead.

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

For years I was told that there was no alternative site for the police. I found that difficult to accept and then I was put in the position of having to be supportive of Lime Grove House and all the issues that the Assembly is well aware of. The Deputy is right to say that this is not a fait accompli. This is the preferred site from the steering group which has been meeting in order to find a solution for the police. It is the preferred site. There is a great deal of work to be done on that and there is a great deal of consultation with residents. Residents were going to have some part of the police located at Lime Grove House. The proposal is to put the single site on Route de Fort and the steering group chaired ably by the Constable of St. Peter has spent time discussing the implications of that, sirens, et cetera, and has judged that this is the best location for the police and residents will be consulted. They will have undertakings by the Chief of Police about noise. In fact, it is not noise from the police in the area of Rouge Bouillon, it is the fire station and the ambulance that are the main emitters of noise and there will be full consultation and a full planning process. In relation to Green Street car park, that is a car park that does not currently fill. This will mean a reduction of 85 spaces for the police but the Deputy is quite right to state the importance of dealing with car parking and finding alternative car parking spaces, whether that be Ann Court, whether that be underground, the gasometer or elsewhere. Parking is an important related issue and will be part of the overall process of finding a solution.

3. Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Why is this site better than Summerland, which was the original Plan B, particularly when the concept of using Green Street as an ambulance station was rejected by the Ambulance Service some years ago?

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

There is a two-phase process in resolving Rouge Bouillon, in my view: firstly, relocating the police and secondly, as a second phase of the project, I believe that we should be moving to relocate the Ambulance and the Fire Service to a non-residential site perhaps around the Harbour area and commercial areas where residents would not be disturbed in a way that the police does not do. The original Lime Grove House development released Summerland so that is a common site that would have been released for housing. The current proposal - the preferred site that is the subject of this statement - releases additionally Rouge Bouillon and I just take minor issue with the statement of the Minister for Home Affairs earlier about a later delivery. The Lime Grove House solution would have had police on 2 sites and there was not sufficient budget in order to deal with the refurbishment of the police station in the original plan and that would have been delivered much later on. While the administration is later, this gives the police the complete solution earlier on a single site and I think delivers a more efficient and more environmental solution. It is vastly superior in terms of land released for housing which I would have thought would be welcomed by the Senator.

Senator S.C. Ferguson: Supplementary, Sir? The Bailiff :

Excuse me, Senator, I am sorry, I have got a lot of Members wanting to ask questions and there is only 10 minutes so

Senator S.C. Ferguson:

Well, are you going to tell the Minister to just abbreviate his answers a bit, Sir? The Bailiff :

Well, that would be a good idea.

4. Senator P.F. Routier:

This statement sounds like good news for the police and the public who interact with the police service but I really want to pick up on the point about car parking. Currently the car park is well used, although the Senator did mention it does have spaces occasionally, but it is well used and the east and the north of St. Helier is suffering at the present time with a lack of parking as found out at the opening of the Town Park the other day. I would ask the Senator if he can give any assurances to the public who are looking for parking around the east and north of town that parking will be available to them in the future.

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

Absolutely, we need to increase car parking capabilities. I think we have made the wrong decision in doing away with all the car parking and not dealing with the unintended consequences, even though the Town Park is marvellous. We do need to find additional space. Ann Court, the existing potentially expansion site of the Town Park, Snow Hill and the Waterfront and Pier Road is a car park that is not well used. Differential pricing: the new sites should all be part of this overall package.

5. Senator F. du H. Le Gresley:

My original question was also on car parking but I have changed it to another question. Could the Minister give an assurance to Members that the whole of the Summerland site and part of the Rouge Bouillon site will be used for Category A housing, not Category B housing?

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

My view is that they are excellent sites for affordable homes, both in terms of shared equity, social rented and other forms of first-time buyer accommodation but that will obviously come at a cost. We will deliver the site within the £22 million. We will get a net benefit if we get a return from that land. Those are matters for the subsequent Assembly to deal with.

6. Deputy T.M. Pitman:

Could the Minister tell us does he really believe that having a new police station so close to a major very busy roundabout is the best way forward? Has that really been fully considered because to me it does not seem to make a lot of logic?

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

I would point out that Lime Grove House was also directly on the roundabout even though the egress was under the adjacent office building. This is superior. The ingress and egress from this site will be from La Route du Fort not on the roundabout and I would encourage the Deputy , as I have done, to walk around there and see how it will work practicly. I have seen designs. I am satisfied with the advice from Transport and Technical Services but there is more work to be done. I think this site is going to work and the police are happy with it.

7. The Deputy of St. John :

Will the Minister bring this to the House for debate because I have some real concerns that if a serious accident occurs within the tunnel, or somebody wishes to delay the police from getting to the rest of the Island, then they would block the tunnel and I have real concerns that if you want to mess up the policing of this Island from the centre/west of the Island by putting it on the east side of the tunnel is a real concern. Has this been taken into account, Minister?

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

Yes, and of course the other corresponding issue is the police have to come from the other side of the tunnel so there are populations of Jersey. It is the most densely populated area of Jersey on the southern side so those are the issues and, of course, the tunnel is not the only way through. I have been concerned about those issues but I am satisfied and the police are satisfied which should assuage the concerns of the Deputy .

The Deputy of St. John :

Are we going to have a debate, Sir, please? Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :

In relation to a debate, that is going to be a subsequent matter for this Assembly. The necessary permissions are for planning. That is not subject to States approval but obviously a Member could bring it forward for a debate in this Assembly but I am confident that this is a good solution economically and efficiently.

PUBLIC BUSINESS

The Bailiff :

Very well. That brings to an end questions to the Minister. So we now come to Public Business.