WHEN is a deadline not a deadline? When, it seems, it falls at the end of June, the date set by the Council of Ministers for Harcourt, the potential developers of the next phase of the St Helier Waterfront project, to post a £95 million bond as at least a partial guarantee that they would be able to complete the work.

Harcourt failed to post the bond by the appointed time, but they have been granted extra time to meet the Island’s requirements. That might be an entirely fair and appropriate approach to what is undeniably an awkward situation for all parties. Unfortunately, given the dearth of official information about Harcourt’s failure to meet the deadline or the terms of the extension, members of the public are in no position to judge whether this is the case.

Indeed, bearing in mind the catalogue of failure and half-achieved goals which have, to date, characterised so much of the Waterfront saga, many people will instinctively fear the worst. Their fears, moreover, can only be exacerbated by information about the state of the property market and development sector in the Republic of Ireland, Harcourt’s home base, and evidence that the developers have experienced legal difficulties in another jurisdiction.

There are, meanwhile, additional difficulties closer to home. It is evident that the global economic downturn is biting here. Its ultimate effect on our financial services industry and that industry’s demand for the sort of new accommodation that the Waterfront’s Esplanade Quarter is supposed to supply must be matters for serious concern. It is therefore legitimate to ask whether the present circumstances can be regarded as favourable for the launch of a £350 million scheme – the largest ever proposed in this Island.

With a question mark still hovering over Harcourt’s ability to obtain the necessary finance for such a massive undertaking, uncertainty about the medium- to long-term health of the economy, with the certainty of sustained major disruption if the development goes ahead, and with the disappointingly ineffective Waterfront Enterprise Board still in a kind of limbo, this is a time for cool, clear thinking and sound decision-making.

There is no doubt that many new headaches will be created if the States next week approve Deputy Phil Rondel’s proposition to defer the whole development until the economy improves, but the stakes are so high that no go-ahead can be given until we know for certain that all promises can be kept, who is truly capable of delivering the goods and, crucially, that there will be adequate future demand for Jersey’s financial services to justify continuing with such a huge undertaking in such dramatically changed circumstances.