The cost of having a personality
Tuesday 6th April 2010, 3:00PM BST.
IT is clear that organisations ranging from the States to private households should live within their budgets and cut expenditure if it exceeds income. This principle is generally accepted, but controversy begins when decisions have to be taken about where economies must be made.
The Jersey Heritage Trust has been no stranger to the dilemmas posed by cash shortfalls. For many months – and in spite of a few false dawns – it has been suggested that one or more of the trust’s major attractions must close. Now, alas, the axe has fallen and Hamptonne, the Island’s excellent museum of country life, will be closed, except for special events.
It is easy to comprehend the trust’s position. Its funds will stretch only so far, so something had to give. That said, the word ‘heritage’ in the organisation’s title is highly significant. It indicates that the present difficulty in respect of what should stay open and what should close is about far more than pounds and pence.
If the wider picture is considered, it seems extraordinary that a prime tourist attraction must shut its doors at a time when we are eager to attract more visitors to boost the holiday sector. It also seems extraordinary that a site that is so redolent of this community’s past must be mothballed at a time when preservation of the Island’s special identity and the projection of its image to the outside world are of such great concern.
If there is a crumb of comfort to be found in the trust’s strategy, it lies in the fact that, for the moment, the Maritime Museum and the Occupation Tapestry Gallery will remain open. Unfortunately, their eventual closure has not been ruled out either, and if a gem such as Hamptonne can be closed, nothing can be regarded as entirely safe.
Of course, there is a further dimension to the trust’s problems which could yet produce a solution. Although it is a body with its own budget, it comes under the umbrella of government which can, if it so chooses, boost the funds available.
In these tough conditions, as we struggle to emerge from recession, money is, to say the least, not abundant. However, if States Members are serious about heritage, about the part it plays in enriching people’s lives and about the Island’s ‘personality’ at home and abroad, they should certainly look again – and with a greater sense of urgency and importance – at what can be done to ease the trust’s parlous position.
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Heritage received milions of ££££ of free handouts over the years and black hole did not disapeared…
We cannot afford to continue like that.
It is time to make difficult decisions
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It’s amazing that Jersey does not have official Farming, Occupation and Tourism museums – this is what tourists see the Island as, this is what we should provide.
Farming is left to individuals and the now-closed Hamptonne.
Tourism – anybody’s guess.
Occupation – rely on the War Tunnels to do it…until they pull out. Small museums like St Peter have been allowed to close and the CI Military Museum is in danger behind the soon-to-be-houses Chateau – local children as well as tourists should be taken there.
Once the owning individuals give up, all the local history will be Ebay’d off – and it’ll be too late.
Remember our past – it could improve our present.
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A – how on earth could they move the War Tunnels!
(Flippant I know)
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ade
It’s not impossible……just look where London bridge is now…..Lake Havasu (probably mispelt) in USA !
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But the States has 1.5 Million Pounds to give to the zoo despite it’s well documented history of poor administration and overspend. Only recently, almost 1 Million spend on architectural plans that will never see the light of the day…..
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“it seems extraordinary that a prime tourist attraction must shut its doors at a time when we are eager to attract more visitors to boost the holiday sector”.
It doesn’t when you factor in the fact that tourism is all but dead. And the reason for that? Well its plain as day for anyone with brain, travel and import/export costs. Get these sorted and Jersey would be much more competitive in the global market place. Is anyone up for sorting this massive issue out, or is it a case of don’t upset the applecart?
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Chris#1
Heritage raises millions of pounds every year to help pay for Jersey’s public buildings and services like the castles and the archive, so the money it gets from the public is not a ‘handout’. In fact the burden on the taxpayer is heavily subsidised by Heritage’s efforts. The heritage grant is not ‘free’ money either – in return Heritage provides education, information and entertainment for hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals.
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I would hate for Jersey’s heritage to be forgotten/lost however the reason that the museums are in danger of closure is that they are not adapting to meet the requirements of both the local and tourist customers they could attract.
A factor that is killing Jersey’s tourism industry is the cost of travelling in and out of the island. Take the cost of Jersey’s airport tax – probably 3 times that of many UK airports. All well and good that they can currently sting the people working in the Finance industry – but once that starts to scale back (which it inevitably will) the tourism industry will have suffered tens of years of neglect.
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Do not fear I have the solution, Dandara cannot build another building in Jersey unless they bail out Hamptone, think of it as repaying the Island for the damage they are doing to it.
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The ‘season’ is here is very short. Only now are things being brushed down and opened up, even though visitors have been coming and going for weeks ( hint: off-season short-breaks are unbelievably popular )
The ‘attractions’ do not have mass appeal, yet seem to rely on masses of people.
Jersey is an excellent and unique place to visit, but it has tough competition. It could be worth the bosses considering what Jersey’s ‘projection of image to the outside world’ actually means. To me, value for money is not something that’s easily promoted alongside poor accomm, disinterested staff in most shops and clogged roads.
Jersey’s small, increasingly irrelevant and, unless a few ostrich heads come out the sand, going to find things getting worse.
I know it can be turned around. I just hope it happens soon.
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agreenbean
Have you seen the accounts? I can assure you that Heritage does not raise millions of pounds every year.
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@godsmentor: The last time I checked, airport tax in Jersey was about £13. At Southampton it’s £32: at Bristol it’s £41.
I think the range of airports from which it is possible to get to Jersey has more to do with it. That you can’t fly to/from Brittany unless you’re prepared to go via Guernsey speaks volumes about the effectiveness of all those well-paid Tourism executives in their nice shiny new offices by the bus station.
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Knows Best#11
I have seen the accounts on the Heritage website and their annual reports and I’ve read Economic Development’s report that was in the news last week. That says Heritage earn over £1million in admissions and £.8million in trading and fundraising a year. That’s half the cost of the whole thing. The Economic Development report is pretty clear that’s just about as good as can be done in limitations of Jersey – they are also clear heritage organisations everywhere depend on government support, which was the point I was making to Chris#1. Heritage makes a huge contribution to Jersey and deserves everyone’s support.
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