Managing a disastrous mistake
Monday 7th June 2010, 3:00PM BST.
IN the superstitious past, Islanders might have said that it was cursed. Now, however, the St Helier Waterfront is regarded by everyone – save a tiny minority who refuse to take off the rose-tinted spectacles – as a long-running disaster and a striking example of how a vital project in a vital area can be grossly mishandled.
The latest misfortune to befall the development has involved not a new building of spectacular ugliness or marina gates of questionable efficiency.
It concerns three of the attractions in the leisure complex that includes the multiplex cinema, the Aquasplash pool and the gym. Bar Rock and two nightclubs, Liquid and Envy, have shut up shop because the company holding the lease on the building housing these establishments has gone into liquidation.
Legal wrangling now means that there appears to be no prospect of these businesses reopening before the end of the tourist season.
Because the Waterfront is such a familiar place, it is easy enough to pass it or view it from a distance without really taking stock of exactly what we have after so many years of effort and so much expenditure.
It is also easy to lose sight of the massively disappointing contrast between what is there and what was initially promised.
The long-term closure of key elements of the leisure area can be regarded as a final straw.
It can take its place alongside a hotel voted the ugliest building in Britain, a leisure pool that falls far short of the standards set by similar facilities in a multitude of other tourist destinations, residential developments which, with the exception of the apartments overlooking the older of the two marinas, lack any flair or distinction, and a cinema complex that has all the appeal and atmosphere of an empty barn.
Oh, and in case you have forgotten, we also have a steam clock, one of the most incongruous and pointless structures ever to have been bought with taxpayers’ hard cash.
The first mystery, of course, is how we collectively managed to sleepwalk into this depressing state of affairs.
Political ineptitude has no doubt played its part, but the successive incarnations of the Waterfront Enterprise Board must also shoulder their share of blame for singularly failing to deliver the goods.
The second mystery – and one which must be solved – is how we can make the most of what we have and manage to turn this archetypal sow’s ear into something at least vaguely reminiscent of a silk purse.
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The whole area is beginning to look a little grim with these large and empty buildings mirrored by Liberty Wharf in the old abattoir across the way with its continully postponed opening date.
If ever the money is scraped together and work starts on the Esplanade Quarter one wonders what horrors the island will be exposed to then.
Frustrated islanders could ask who got us into this mess but once again there will be no answer.
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The whole Waterfront disaster seems to be a competition to see how much money they can pay civil servants to create this mess. How much does the main man get £300k – only in Jersey!
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Perhaps the public would be better served by the JEP if an investigative journalist could publish a story on just how much we are paying the WEB directors for this continued farce rather than the latest “bomb shell” that the States employ a tea lady. Savings on tea lady £4k and another unemployed person – money wasted by WEB in the millions.
What is rather sad is that I am sure we will have many politicians jumping up and down on the tea lady issue but very few coming forwards with ways forward on these more complicated issues. We need a better quality of States members to sort out these problems – not likely if we keep attacking them at every opportunity.
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….and why is nobody being held accountable for this costly shambles?
Heads should be rolling!
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‘We need a better quality of States members to sort out these problems – not likely if we keep attacking them at every opportunity.’
I would argue that a failure to criticise the States in the past has created an ineffectual house that lacks the political will to stand up to the Civil Service or indeed to stand for anything at all!
Money was wasted on a colossal scale without any criticism at all.
One only has to think back to Fort Regent in its salad days, the Beauport potato dump, the Le Pas Holdings saga or plenty more.
Millions were spent in many cases with little or no accountability or effect.
It is only now that the States have to start budgeting or even cutting that the huge gap between the claims and aspirations of the executive in the shape of the CoM and the senior civil servants and their ability to deliver has become apparent.
Things will not change as long as apologists for failure keep on insisting that it is all for the best in the best possible world
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Well maybe, just maybe we are to blame, let me explain, there is a book on the waterfront hotel as the saga of planning etc dragged on for so very long, the original design had balconies and was a nice design, but we the locals kicked off and oppossed it, we ended up losing Hilton as an operator and it ended up being a commercial decision by the operator as costs to build went up and up, then there was the Crossland bit with Center Parcs coming in, how good would that of been for tourism, but oh no yet again opposition and jumping up and down so he (and Center Parcs) pulled out, now for Dandara we had Towers, ok not everybodies cup of tea but better than the boring 4 storey buildings that we are going to get, with Crossland you had the most fantastic park funded in perpetuity, not sure what quality of open space we are going to get now!
People I am afraid that Jersey is a place where good ideas come to die, because we are against everything and cannot agree on what should be there!
Good design is not easily definable, so its hard to please everybody, I think we have got what we deserved because we never give anyone the chance, we always know better and the crunch is, we say what we want but we never want to pay for it, I don’t see any calls for the States to pay for a new waterfront and for our taxes to go up to pay for it!
We want our ideals but have no money to pay for it!
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Gary
I’m sorry but I have to disagree.
Who opposed this? It certainly was not me or anyone I know.
Was this real oppostion by the public or was that used as an excuse to cover up some murky “business” dealings?
Call me cynical but I have no faith whatsoever in the idiots who govern this island.
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#6 Well said, Gary!
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There was a public campaign against the “state of the art” Hotel and a petition [I think it was 6000 signatures including mine] was presented to the States, which the States acted on and called for a revised plan for a smaller hotel. The original company said “no thank you” and walked away to invest their millions in a community more business focussed. What we have is what the public were demanding so don’t blame this one on the politicians.
Perhaps the moral of the story is that if people keep on moaning about the finance industry they will also say “no thank you” and more to Guernsey or the Isle of Man.
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I do not believe such inneptitude or inability really exists….Snouts in troughs is my bet,and if and until the system is rebuilt on good values, honesty and integrity…the same old gangsters will keep up their Turgid game.But there is serious change in the wind,it is vital to vote and crucial to lobby for what we deserve………or the spivs will win and we really can not let that happen..come on Jersey, you know you want to…!!
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I am trying to get my head round this.
Gary 6 It is the fault of the Islanders that the design of the waterfront is poor.
Well at least we agree it is a mess, the responsibility for design however rests with the designer. The fact the Islanders have a wish for an attractive development a reflection of the size of the petition, the fact they got a mess is the designers fault.
Freedom of information now !
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Cuts. Slash and burn. Goodbye WEB.
Monday!
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Aren’t they talking about expanding WEB’s role to cover the entire island?
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Yet again complete incompitence from some of our so called States members, The reason i say this is there supposed to be elected for the good of the people, I have’t seen any good for years, just broken promises.
The real fact is the whole Dandara, Harcourt situation has been far from clear, This falls in the hands of web. From start till the present day the handeling of web as a whole has been utterly discusting, The only reason i can see for this is personal financial gains, There can’t be any other reason for this, what else is there to gain.
The states as a whole need to be vetted to see who has personal interests with companies on the island, There seems to be a awful lot of bias to companies not just here but in Guernsey as well! look at what happened to Mr Falla when it was brought to the attention of the public he was putting all the building work in guernsey to his own company, this went on for years until someone pointed it out.
Maybe we should have more hoteliers in the states to get the tourist industry running again.
The one thing we have in our favour is Jersey is a small island and word spreads more quickly with the use of the internet and blog pages, it is slowly changing peoples attitudes towards issues, people arn’t getting away with what the used to, it will take time though.
A clean, strong, honest goverment is what is needed, one that actually do what there elected to do.
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The saddest thing is we can not turn back the clock. Our harbour area has been destroyed for ever. I am in my 50′s so can still remember the beautiful water front that was once there. Generations to come will never know that, they will only see the ghastly buildings that covered that beauty up. Oh and on the subject of wasting our hard earned taxes, don’t forget the golden ball tide guage that never worked but is now just a rusting pole at the entrance to the marina.
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Want to improve the waterfront instantly ?
Normans, PLEASE paint your building white!
Its the simple things that give character. Modern buildings just dont blend in with the old. Simple..Che!….comparethemeerkat.com
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Well, the whole ting is a mess, and as Gary says, it is partly the public’s fault.
But what I would like to see is radical and simple: Jersey owened businesses on the Waterfront and at Liberty Wharf. Pizza Hut, the Pasty Company, M&S: it is hardly a unique experience and does nothing for our economy.
Why not fill Liberty Wharf with local businesses selling Genuine Jersey products and paying tax. Cut the rents, put a children’s play area there and encourage families to spend time there.
Replace the nightclubs with a big gallery. Invest (not spend) £100m of the rainy day fund in a collection of world class photographs that would make an internationally famous collection. These can always be sold later if needed but would bring tourists and income in the meantime.
Perhaps have a water based theme park that someone like the Le Feuvre’s who operate Amaizin Maze could run: I know, the idea of getting locals with a proven track record involved seems incredible, but why not
But let’s have some imagination and not just hand it over the big UK corporations that won’t pay tax locally and – most of all – won’t bring anything distinctive to the area.
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I a agree with gary #6. It is mainly the public’s fault.
Time and again I see the public voting or petitioning against anything that is different. Well you have got the bland and ugly.
just imagine if the Sydney opera house was proposed to be built as the Jersey opera house back in the early 70s. There would have been an uproar and voted down.
Also, I like the steam clock and so did a french person who stopped me in liberation square and asked for the time. I pointed her to the steam clock and she replied how nice it was. Too different for you lot??
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