Setback for garden funding

Setback for garden funding

With government finances tight, Tourism board chairman Deputy Lyndon Farnham is not prepared to allow the money to be handed over unless he has the backing of the States.Even if Tourism Development Fund members decide to fund the restoration project, Deputy Farnham will insist that the final decision is made by the States.If the political backing cannot be secured, the chances of the Victorian gardens ever being restored to their former glory would be severely dented.Although in theory the Tourism Development Fund members could approve the expenditure without the matter being referred to the whole House, Deputy Farnham doesn’t think it would be appropriate given the constraints that have been placed on public spending.The project, which is budgeted at between £6m and £7m, needs the initial £1.6m investment to begin in earnest.

It is proposed that a trust should be formed to run a project which its promoters say could be worth £50m to the Island’s economy over five years.

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