From Michael Green.
AFTER the vote was recently cast in favour of the long-awaited funding for the Town Park (albeit by an indecisive hand), I waited with bated breath in anticipation of some ruse to prevent the park from immediate construction.

My suspicions were realised when, in the JEP of 30 September, it was reported that the Chief Minister came up with the ultimate solution to prevent all those thousands of Town Park petitioners from seeing their dream come to fruition by blandly announcing that there will be no Town Park for a further 2½ years – a period which I anticipate may stretch beyond that, with costs continuing to rise. He will be aware that by 2012 the £10 million recently approved will be woefully insufficient.

The astonishing reason he has given is the necessity to find alterative parking spaces to replace those lost to the Town Park, which is clearly stating the obvious.

And I remain sceptical over the suggestion that the yet to be built Ann Court underground car park will be of sufficient size to replace the hundreds of spaces currently filled each day at both Gas Place and Minden Place.

I say astonishing because, as far as I am aware, throughout the months and years that the proposals for the Town Plan have been debated and scrutinised and poured over, not once has anyone in authority expressed this view publicly before, including the Planning Minister.

When the proposals for the Town Park were announced last week, which were to include housing estates bordering each side as part of the Town Plan, did the Planning department really not consider the very important subject of alternative parking, or was it conveniently left off the agenda as being unsolvable?

The Chief Minister’s better-late-than-never advice clearly puts all the plans for the area on permanent hold, which clearly conflicts with the dreams of the Planning Minister. In light of the Chief Minister’s remarks, there can be no justification for the demolition of Minden Place car park with the lost of hundreds of spaces at a time when the Chief Minister will no doubt be actively engaged in seeking alternatives to the Gas Place car park.

Furthermore, with regard to the grandiose plans for the Waterfront, which seem to have sunk into the morass of suspicion and doubt, I cannot recall seeing any statement such as that now announced for the Town Park regarding alternate parking to compensate for the hundreds of spaces which will be lost if the Esplanade project takes off.

Was the important item of alternative parking also regarded as an immovable obstacle and conveniently swept under the Planning department’s carpet?