‘Slow’ States lose out on new police station
Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 2:57PM BST.
THE States have lost out on a £20m new police station after delays allowed a finance firm to snatch the Green Street roundabout site from under their noses.
A company owned by State Street – the company that owns Mourant – signed a 21-year lease for the Lime Grove building on Friday, bringing to an end an 18-month project to create a new police station on the site.
Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand says that a ‘risk averse’ culture within the States is responsible for the delays that effectively scuppered the deal.
The hunt is now on for a new site for a police station – a project described by Senator Le Marquand and Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf as ‘critical’ in a letter to the JEP last month, in which they described the current police site as having been ‘not fit for purpose for a number of years’.
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Very interested to know how much tax payers money had been spent on this farce.
It stands empty for 7 years and Ozouf still misses the boat. You could not make it up.
Welcome to Jersey, Land of apathy and ineptitude.
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old JCG site!
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So hold on, a site that’s been empty since completion has finally been let immediately after it became public knowledge that the police wanted it. Something is off here, why the sudden interest in a property that you couldn’t give away for years.
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Good.
There s lots of space around the incinerator… or on the waterfront
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We have had over five years of shiny new ministerial government.
During this time two of the supposedly brightest and best Ministers, one of whom is a declared contender for Chief Minister and the other is supposedly about to declare his interest, have been in agreement that a new police station has been needed for several years but have been unable to do anything about it.
Furthermore after 18 months of dithering they have failed to rent a suitable office block that has been empty for years.
I would argue that it is the drab old committee system with go faster stripes and a couple of furry dice in the back window.
We know it’s crap and they know it’s crap, but nothing will be done about it.
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There an empty pool on a hill………nice veiws….edge of town.centre for east meets west…………quick demolish and put up a new one in 24 months………..
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Lime Grove – a snatch 10 years in the making?
Maybe the States should have another look at the old JCG site before a surprise bidder come out of nowhere. Either way it will be nice to see Lime Grove occupied, it was becoming an iconic eyesore.
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I have always said that if the SOJ was a private comapny, it would have gone bust or been forced to close to down for other reasons, along time ago. Couldnt organise a p*** up in a brewery!!!
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Hardly missed out….a new one could be purpose built cheaper as has been highlighted in these columns…also the fact that it had been empty as no one wanted it hardly has Mourants “Snatching” it at the last minute …it was empty for seven years…..so where was the urgency as the old building they say has not been fit for purpose for years….load of Bo**o*ks…this not fit for purpose soundbite is weary and worn like the same applied to minden car park which would be there in a hundred yeras if left to it’s own devices we have many very old sound buildings…look at the Gerry bunkers made with sand off the beach …you cant even blow them up…we are not fools gentlemen…grow up.
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What does not fit for purpose mean? And if that is true why has it served admirably for so many years?
Is it not simply the case that the police want a newer, shinier building?
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Worked in Police HQ for long enough and a lot longer then ILM to know that it is very fit for purpose. Some parts may not have changed for years but it still does what it says on the tin; detain dangerous offenders, interview suspects, provide workspace for all PC’s and car parking for police vehicles.
Any ‘new’ building will cost millions and this is hardly the time to be making a move. Simple, you’d think.
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The Odeon Cinema building can be converted and is an ideal site for Police Headquarters. The area is highly crime-ridden and would benefit from a police presence.
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for those who want to sell a property in jersey and are struggling – state under property details that the states police are interested in the purchase and instantly your property will be sold!
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Clever boy Ben
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Clearly Pip and Truthseeker are devoid of facts. Firstly it was not vacant for years, Mourant in fact commenced a lease in 2006, and then pulled out, however they had to pay for five years lease (if this were the States imagine what you lot woudl have said). They were unabel to lease during this time, and now Mourant (or State Street) have now decided to go ahead with it.
Far from missing out, the protocols in place have ensured the States dodged a bullet.
Amazing how you infernal group of the vocal minority whinge and complain, if they had signed you woudl have moaned…. so is it too much to ask Pip and Truthseeker to in fact research before they rant…. I guess it would be…
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This is a far better outcome than if the States (ie we) had bought that thing. I would hope that Ozouf and others aren’t too disappointed. I also hope that they understand that the old Police Station will do for as long as we are very short of money, which we are.
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A new police station has been on the nice to have list for some time.
When Wendy Kinnard was Home Affairs Minister it was mooted that we should build a new one on the Waterfront.
I think we had one of those jolly artist’s impressions in the Post and then the idea sunk without trace.
Give them another decade or so and something will be done.
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Not sure if it applies to commercial property transactions but, if you are close to an agreement to purchase, surely you ask the vendor to “take it off the market”?
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S2,
You worked there so you will know better than anyone who has commented.
I beleive you, it does what it says on the tin.
Why does everything have to be “state of the bl**dy art”
The SOJ own around 1billion £`s of property so why buy anywhere, what is wrong with JCG?
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Real Truthseeker should have a look at the JEP leader for today;
http://www.thisisjersey.com/2011/08/24/a-ludicrous-chain-of-events/
Not only do they seem to have got their facts wrong according to him but they are whinging and moaning as well!
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re 15
The building has looked pretty empty to me for the past three and a bit years. It may have been purchased in a lease or similar and then Mourant pulled out or put plans on hold – but it is EMPTY.
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S2 how cruel. The police have been promised a new state of the art building for years, and apparently staff morale is now very low because this deal has fallen through. Couldn’t we just spend 20 or 30 million to keep them happy?
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Presumably this was to be a Police Station in addition to the existing one? When will Mr. Bowron realise that it’s not about the quantity of his officers, it’s the quality – I see little WPCs scurrying around town who look old enough to be doing a paper round but will still need a desk somewhere….
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good gracious a couple of years ago the states of jersey bailed finance buisinesses out at great cost to the public and now look how they have been repaid no mention of grat or proverbial backhanders
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Dave (22) I doubt very much that staff morale is now very low in the police because the deal has fallen through. Doesn’t quite pass the reasonableness test of what makes people happy. And if theye were looking forward longingly to working on a roundabout, they can take solace in their generous salaries and benefits.
Mo (24) no idea what you’re talking about. The fiscal stimulus fund was directed at the Construction industry – hence the shiny new pavements along Victoria Avenue. You may be confusing Jersey with the UK, easily done.
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DAH! Ozouf strikes again!!! … YOU JUST COULDN’T MAKE THIS UP!!!!
Although this has stopped him pouring another 20 million down the drain at the moment he is still intent along with Le Marquand to keep spending money we simply don’t have.
MORE TAX RISES TO COME!!
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The Current Police facilities are not fit for purpose and have not been for many years. Yes it does do ‘what it says on the tin’ but that does not make it fit.
By the posts on here you would think that it is okay for something that is 30 plus years out of date, in some parts condemned, to continue to be worked in but more importantly used to house those that do not want to be there.
The mismanagement by the States over many years has failed to address this problem and even with Lime Grove would not have done so for the very long term.
Opportunities were lost to build from new on a site earmarked on the Esplanade partly because of politicians stating it was not good for tourism to have a Police Station as the first thing visitors saw when arriving in the island!!!!!
What an absolutely ridiculously moronic mind bogglingly stupid an assertion that was and remains to be. The witless decisions made following these utterances resulted in years of indecision and loss of money because everything has gone up in price but they only ring fenced enough for the job back then.
Do not look for an existing building to convert as it will never be properly fit for purpose. Find a site and build a brand new station with facilities designed to last 100 years.
For those of you who nay say on this a police station is not like a normal office block. There are numerous safety, security and storage issues coupled with fleets of vehicles and inbuilt communications that are not present in a day to day office environment.
The Island has never had a purpose built Police station so build it right and you will only ever have to build it once.
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Think they should have brought back the old Sub Station, that use to be in the Centre of Town. At least they will know how much trouble there is in Town late at night if they are in it!!!!
I no longer go out late in Town, don’t feel that safe, hate getting jip from teenagers/drunks, and some nights you can walk the length of King/Queen Street and pass people who are not speaking English, daren’t have a drink myself otherwise I’ll forget which country i’m living in !!! (no offence intended but it is the truth!)
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I think that this has to be good news.
When I was at school, anybody who was unsavoury was said to come from “Rouge Bouillon”. The phrase had a certain ring to it.
It would not be the same credible and stinging insult to say that someone comes from “near Green Street Rounabout”.
So, I say, long live “Rouge Bouillon” and long may it continue.
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Eric
How about building it on the old Snow Hill car park?
Plenty of space for vehicles, out of the way and yet very central, 2 points of access (Snow Hill and La Route Du Fort)……..
Where will the fire brigade re-locate to though?
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Fit for Purpoise
‘When I was at school, anybody who was unsavoury was said to come from “Rouge Bouillon”’
In my day, Grassett Park got all the brickbats.
How things change, it’s quite posh down there now and the island is spoilt for choice with contenders for the title ‘unsavoury’!
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More money being wasted !! And now there is going to be an investigation into why they missed out on it blow me what a f—-d up place this island is . And yes i am local and was born here .
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To The Real Truthseaker
It’s you that needs to get your facts right !
Lime Grove has never been let . Mourants took a pre let on Ritchie Brocken’s new Colomberie office and then sold its trust business to State Street.
Before rubishing others try to live up to your name !
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