Spending must be cut

Tuesday 4th May 2010, 2:59PM BST.

From Brian Hotton.
THE States need to cut spending before they raise taxes, if they do not there will be no cut backs. Consolidation of departments and use of the private sector is the answer.

Housing: Responsibility for the Housing Department should go to Jersey Property Holdings. Why have two departments dealing in property? Cut out duplication and a ministry, resulting in savings.

Peter Body asserted (JEP, 2 April) that Jersey Enterprise do ‘some very good work … but they have limited resources.’ Jersey Enterprise are doing work which should be done by the private sector, here again cutting States expenditure, not as Mr Body suggests give them more money.

Tourism, is another department which is doing work which would be better done by the private sector.

Instead of a public-private setup, let the hospitality industry do the work with a States grant. After all, they are at the sharp end and wish to make a success of their industry.

Some of the fiscal stimulus money should be used for investment, where there will be an annual financial return.

Invest in the underground car park on the Town Park site, and at least there will be a return on the sum invested, with tangible assets, unlike the investment in paper stocks and shares, although of course we do need them.

If the Town Park is constructed with housing as Senator Cohen is putting to the States, or as Constable Crowcroft is suggesting a Town Park with no parking, both proposals would cause more problems than they will solve.

There are near to 700 cars parked on this site, for residents and for commuters. Where are people going to park? Workers cannot park at Minden Place, it is a shoppers’ car park. Residents returning from work may well be able to use Minden Place, but what about if they have a day off or holidays? We could have hundreds of cars circling around town looking for spaces.

It is all well and good saying there will be spaces available but where? Again cars would be going round in circles looking for parking. At least if you know where the car park is, with 700 to 1,000 spaces, the chances are you will be able to park there.

1
joker

May 5, 2010 at 3:14 pm

Why do people think an underground car park is a money making option for the tax payer?

Underground car parks are expensive to build. Gas Place is made far more complicated due to land contamination and potential water ingress. There are rumours circulating that the cost of such a car park would be in the region of £10 million.

At current pay card prices that car park would never generate enough income to pay for itself never mind maintenance costs and the likes. Here’s an example; it costs £5.28 per day to park there, excluding public holidays and assuming a full car park every Saturday that’s (300 spaces x £5.28 x 313 days) which is £475,200 per year income. This means it would need at least a 20 years pay back period assuming prices increase to offset the time value of money. We haven’t even factored in maintenance or running costs yet increasing the pay back period further still. By which point, or probably before, it will need millions spent on it for a major overhaul. In short the car park would always run at a deficit relying on income from other car parks to top it up. To make matters worse most of our multi-story car parks look as though they are about to fall down and are in need major re-investment.

So either parking prices rise significantly to pay for the extravaganza or here’s a better idea; leave gas place as a car park and plant a few trees to make it look nicer. In the time it took me to write that last sentence I just saved the tax payer £20 million.

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2
Edwin Le Goff

May 24, 2010 at 8:43 am

Joker is certainly joking.

Where in B Hotton letter was there mention of 300 car park spaces?

‘Water ingression’ red herring, undergroung car parks are built under rivers, trains run under,rivers yes, Joker they really do.
Contamination is a cost that has nothing to do with the car park, it has to be done whether there is a car park or not.

So lets have a 1000 space underground car park and price it so the States do make a profit.

A private car park in Kensington Place are letting dedicated spaces for 24/7 cheaper than what the States charge for 9 hours a day 6 days a week.

Ed.

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