Reliability was key for us

From John Sawyer, director, Puddleducks Ltd.
THE directors of Puddleducks Ltd feel that it is time to put the record straight regarding the conjecture and speculation surrounding the safety and suitability of the vehicles that were operated by the company to Elizabeth Castle and the nature in which the route changed hands.

During our nine years of tenure we viewed safety and reliability as the two most important aspects of our business and with that in mind we pursued a policy of preventive maintenance and a programme of driver and crew training.

Our vehicles were inspected and licensed annually both locally and nationally and our drivers held the required radio operator’s licence and first aid certificate.

The three Puddleducks had a combined capacity of 98 passengers, allowing school groups, wedding parties and large conference groups to access the castle. On the night of the ‘raves’ we carried up to 1,000 partygoers without incident.

Many people think that the Puddleducks date back to the Second World War, but in fact that is not the case at all.

The Puddleducks were built by the previous owner of the company, Henk Goed who, in the early Eighties, having run the business for some time with modified war time vehicles, used his engineering expertise, coupled with his first-hand knowledge of the local operating conditions, to build two 28-seat craft, specially designed for the West Park to Elizabeth Castle route.

This was followed, many years later, by the introduction of a 40-seater, again built by Mr Goed, which was completed in time to join the fleet in 1998, when we took over the business.

During our nine years, the service was rarely disrupted except during times of bad weather when the wind speed or wave height exceeded our operational limit – and this was not very often.

When the directors of Puddleducks Ltd decided to move on to other things the service was put up for sale.
The Jersey Heritage Trust were advised and offered first refusal and it is interesting to note that the trustees, at the time, said that they had no wish to operate the service.

The route was put out to tender and although there were two parties interested in buying the existing equipment from us and continuing to run the company as a small stand-alone business, with no cost to the JHT or the public purse, the JHT decided to award the route to another operator who offered to bring in new vehicles.

The JHT also decided to change the nature of the agreement with the operator and introduced a Connex-style agreement, offering to pay the service provider an annual fee for operating the service.
It’s a shame that JHT and possibly public funds are now required to provide the service that previously cost nothing.

In awarding the contract to this chosen operator the JHT denied us the opportunity of selling our business as a going concern.

At that time we passed on our concerns to the JHT regarding the suitability of these new vehicles, having looked at them previously ourselves, and we also raised the probability of late delivery.

In fact, when the new vehicles didn’t arrive on time, we offered to provide an interim service with the Puddleducks, which had already been serviced and certified for the 2007 season. Unfortunately the offer was not accepted and as a result the castle did not have a carrier for some considerable time.

I do not wish to comment on the service that has been provided during the last two seasons, but I would like to say that, during our nine years of service we are proud to have provided a seamless, safe and reliable service to both Islanders and visitors – at no cost whatsoever to the Jersey Heritage Trust or the public purse.
El Patio,
Links Estate,
Grouville.

Article posted on 30th May, 2008 - 3.00pm