Jobs and sites on the line
Friday 19th June 2009, 3:01PM BST.
The award-winning Maritime Museum and Occupation Tapestry Gallery on the New North Quay are facing closure
JERSEY Heritage staff have been warned that sites will be closed and redundancies made if the group’s funding crisis is not resolved soon.
The most likely sites to shut are Hamptonne, the Maritime Museum and the Occupation Tapestry Gallery.
Six emergency meetings were held on Monday evening to tell the group’s 120 staff, who range from full-time employees to those working for as little as two hours a week, about the crisis.
Director Jon Carter said that more States funding was desperately needed to prevent jobs being lost, but would not say whether lay-offs were imminent.
He revealed that 20 people would have to be made redundant ‘as a worst-case scenario’ to save money.
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It’s surprising that they’re short of funds given the large price increases at their sites over the past few years, and weren’t they also experiencing a good increase in visitors too ?
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44 million to boost the economy? closing these attractions will be just another reason for tourists not to visit, surely a small amount of the 44kk could be spent on heritage.
Or maybe the states fire a few of the Jersey finance guys on 200k a piece then support the museums.
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If the States have just given £25k to boost tourism, why are they not supporting Jersey Heritage, oh sorry! keep forgetting it’s not the finance industry, so no money!
by the way where has the £44million gone
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its not just places like this where people are losing their jobs , earlier this year when the public started talking about the downturn in jersey, i had said that june and july will show where things are heading, so no suprise here.
i expect to hear more of the same next month.
no, i am not a analyist, just a ordinary joe stab in the dark.
the queue for income support and job seekers allowance must be growing.
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they should have thought about finances before getting involved with the costly “ducks” scenario,that would have gone a long way to keeping these other operations going.
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Very sad this is our heritage and I have always renewed my family membership. The states need to fund this as visitors will not. People are just not coming to the island anymore.The Jersey Tunnels are thriving though lord knows why with the price they charge shame the states let Daisy Hill get their hands on it however the States should be funding these sites they can’t just close.
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As a regular visitor to Jersey I am appaled that some of the heritager sites may close. Why on earth can’t the States support these sites.
On the other hand I have been a member on two occasions and have never recieved an invite to continue my membership, I always have to ask again when I reach the Island, perhaps Jersey Heritage could be more pro active in asking for money?
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Ok I can understand Hamptonne having to temporarily close and it could still be opened for key dates but not the maritime museum.
It won an award as the best museum in Europe, it it near the marina and the port for passing tourists. It is the best wet weather entertainment in the Island for those with kids.
The last flash day was the best one I have ever been to and the pirates were fantastic. Most Yr 1′s in the Island are studying pirates at the moment.
Support the maritime museum, Jersey’s heritage was based on the maritime industry.
If tourism are scratching their head on where to spend the money surely this is a worthy cause so our visitors actually have some heritage to visit but then as the fields are being concreted over then maybe our heritage and our countryside are not really the states priority for tourists or locals.
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The Jersey way is to raise prices, it never occurs to anyone that sometimes a slight drop in price brings a large enough increase of people through the door to make more money than they will raising prices.
Some places would rather be empty in winter (while still having the same overheads) than cut prices over the winter months (which are mostly locals anyway) and encourage the locals to visit at a time when they won’t be bothered by tourists.
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Q I agree completely. The maritime museum is a treasure. Could harbours help? St Helier would be a sadder and more deprived place without it..surely money could be moved around. JHT have done so much to boost their income compared to other similar organisations and their staff are not on high wages. How much is being spent on sport in comparison? Why is any States subsidy going to ‘free market’ finance? Why is the statutory culture champion so quiet? Why can’t we just pay a bit more tax and keep it open?
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my family have been going to jersey for 21years.we have always visited all museum sites each year.hamptonne being our favourite.we never miss a year.its not right that these places should close.you want tourists to come to the island but ive watched the tourist sites close.what would the tourist have to see.i and my family dont just come for a week but for 3wks as a family and i come over for 3wks in april/may.i love visiting the island.please do not close these sites of interest.
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im disgusted that museums should close.my family holidays have been spent in jersey for 20years plus.have had family memberships for a number of years to the museums.we go to hamptonne about 6 times a year.we never tire of listening to the goodwyfes stories.the october hols are booked to coincide with cider weekend which over the years ive become involved with.we love the castles and the maritime museum.if you want to keep visitors coming to the island please keep tourist attractions open not close them.too many attractions gone already.tropical gardens,candlecraft,woodcraft to name just a few.please dont close these sites
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please do not close these sites down.we as a family love these sites.regular visitors to the island for over 21years.these sites have become the reason we come on holiday for every year.we base oyr october holiday around hamptonne cider weekend.i myself help out with my family it makes a lovely weekend out.we also visit the other sites .too many tourist attractions closed dont close these.you need to attract tourists not turn them away
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Several years ago Israel suffered one of its all too regular economic dips. The powers that be decided to cut State expenditure by cutting back on the cost of maintaining major tourist sites.
Result: a swingeing drop in tourist and pilgrim visits, resulting in a severe reduction in foreign currency receipts.
Jersey! Watch and learn from the mistakes of others.
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One hundred and twenty staff……very costly indeed a huge wage bill…do they really need that many……….?
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I quite agree with all those above who are appalled that Jersey Heritage is facing cutbacks and closure.Why is it that as soon as there is an economic reversal the first thing those in power do is cutback those things that they have just spent a whole load of public money on to set up? They must have assessed that they are important or else why did they do them in the first place? Many above are asking why some of the £44mn has not been allocated to help Jersey Heritage weather the current storm and the answer is that £22mn would appear to have already been allocated to supporting development schemes,which while providing support for local construction industry jobs will last only as long as the developments concerned take to complete. Then the States will have “Bricks and Mortar”,the only thing they appear to understand judging by the size of the States property portfolio, and the cost to the taxpayer of all the redundant property in it.It is the nature of jobs in construction that you have to move where the work is.If it is not in Jersey at present then how about a few of those working in this industry who are locally based but whose jobs are under threat considering a commute to say the Olympic site in North London? There will apparently be no shortage of construction work there over the next few years?And how about some realistic airfares to say the City Airport, available only to locals, to allow this to happen? maybe a subsidy? Obviously this will be more difficult for second generation Jersey born people who will have to apply for a work permit! (Ah the States again failing the local electorate, hoisted on their own petard!)Such a scheme would retain the skills of these people for the eventual upturn when it happens locally but allow them a much wider market place for those skills.
The jobs at Jersey Heritage are precisely the type of local job this £44mn needs to be seeking to create.Obviously I am not suggesting public money should be poured into an “absolute Turkey” but things like the Maritime Museum,Hamptonne and even the Castle “Ducks” are essential if you are serious about cultivating an ongoing up market tourist industry. There are far too few bad weather alternatives to the beach and outdoor activities to be closing those we do have,and which have apparently attracted significant interest already.More to the point would be some constructive development of these attractions e.g. How about some presentations at the Maritime Museum, say a talk by the retired lifeboat coxain about his more hair-raising experiences, or a local fishing boat captain on techniques of fishing, or an elementry “how to sail” presentation?And give these things some free and effective publicity.I have said elsewhere that the interesting educational industry is something this Island could be extremely good at, and it would provide alternative employment to the finance industry on an ongoing basis.There is even scope to develop a finance industry version of this (Maybe employing some of those out of work experts?) after all visitors to the Islands might benefit from having the offshore finance industry explained in more detail, then they might not just feel we are all a bunch of Ferrari driving Charlie Hungerfords!As usual I am carrying on a bit but it is essential that we do not loose the opportunity to achieve something positive at this time, and it is far to easy to be negative.Just a small gripe, the maritime museum is not very disabled friendly with regard to access. Maybe there’s a small construction job there for someone?
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I go to Hamptonne fairly regulary (I am a heritage card holder with young kids) and it really is a load of rubbish. The cafe is poor, there is no attempt to make the place interactive. The pigs have a sty that is entirely concrete. There is a broken down tractor just parked for kids to play on. On the positive side, it is a nice place to have a picnic and see a small number of animals.
Compare it to any sort of themed farm attraction in the UK and the gulf in astonishing. Why not have a few pony rides for kids, a home made ice cream stall, maybe even a shop selling genuine Jersey produce (cheese would be obvious) etc? Basically, things that bring in a few pennies. As it is, I turn up there, spend an hour and leave. It is a prime example of a wasted opportunity.
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I find it very interesting that everyone’s first instinct is that the States should be doing more… Seems to be a common refrain. It’s like the whole island’s population are dependent wards of the state, with no responsibility or power over their own lives.
How many folks here, especially ‘locals’ who constantly refer to foreigners not be considerate of local heritage, are volunteers at Jersey Heritage. If more people supported JH, by volunteering their time, it would reduce ‘some’ of the financial burdens they face.
After all, it’s not ‘all about money’. Oh what am I saying, this is Jersey, it’s ALWAYS about money.
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as a visitor for more then 20years i cant believe the museum service want to close these sites.i visit them with my family every year.our visits to jersey would not be the same without them.my children have grown up with the sites and even now the youngest is 19 she still loves hamptonne and cider weekend.you need to cater for visitors with places for them to visit.not shut them down.there are too few places to visit now on the island.you need to create tourist attractions not close them down.there seems less attractions each year.we love jersey but we are not all beach lovers,which means other attractions needed.please think again befor you lose more tourists.feeling appaled at the thought of these sites going
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Dear Sir,
for several years now,my wife and I have been visitors to your beautiful island with
its superb coastline, excellent food and fascinating history.
Our original reason for visiting was my sister and her husband living on the Island, and it has become an
annual holiday we look forward to with great anticipation and excitement.
Imagine our shock and distress to find , firstly from your pages – 19/06/09 – and then from the staff at
Hamptonne that it was possible that the Heritage funding was in crisis and that jobs and three sites
might close. I cannot imagine the narrow thinking behind this foolish decision – surely if we cannot
remember our past we have no future ? The sites are educational for both visitors and residents as well
as being a source of entertainment and relaxation.
I am aware of the amount of money being collected for charities on the Island as also of the number
“financially secure” residents – is there no way that some funding can be found for such an important
issue ?
The facilities provided are first class and the staff we have met dedicated and enthusiastic and
surely do not deserve to be dumped in this manner for the sake of a sum of money which , by today`s
standards , is paltry.
I do not wish to criticise something which is not really my concern , but as a visitor with money to
spend and a feeling for the Island I cannot emphasize how short sighted I find this possible outcome
to be.
I expect to read the good news in your pages before the summer is over that public outcry has
persuaded the powers that be to step in and halt this retrograde step. Come on Jersey before it is too
late !!
Sincerely
Anthony T. Aylen
Josephine M. Aylen
Bromborough
Wirral
UK
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