St Helier rejects government’s £6.5m offer for hospital land

Jersey Bowling Club. Picture: JON GUEGAN

At a feisty parish assembly held at the Town Hall on Wednesday night, several parishioners said they wanted to send a message to the Our Hospital team about the ‘gun to the head tactics’ they had employed.

Those in attendance were warned that a rejection of the offer – which comprised £5.4m for two car parks as well as £1.1m for sections of adjacent roads and paths – would almost inevitably lead to the government pursuing a compulsory purchase. This, Procureur du Bien Public Peter Pearce said, could mean the parish receiving less than the offer being tabled.

Many who spoke at the meeting said that they felt the parish was being bullied by the threat of compulsory purchase.

Among the topics discussed were the loss of town parking spaces, the destruction of trees near Westmount and the impact the new hospital would have on the nearby People’s Park.

St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said that the meeting had been called simply to make a decision on the offer and that the time for debating the merits of the Overdale application would come at a later planning inquiry.

The government’s offer included plans to provide a new home for Jersey Bowling Club at Warwick Farm.

Those in attendance voted by 47 to 14 to turn down the offer.

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