Plans for youth facility on Jersey Gas Place rejected
He said: "Teenagers of this island are underserviced, we have seen the shutting down of Fort Regent, the shutting down of the skate park in town, just all these facilities that are no longer available to our young people."To do a meanwhile use at Gas Place for me was a no-brainer. [It] was easy to do and it just baffles me that so much negativity came out at that debate."However, Ferey, who voted against the plans, said: "I think also the plan was to have a play area in that space and we already have well-formed plans for a new youth facility on the Ann Street site which will encompass a climbing wall, a sports hall and a kick pitch on the roof tops."So there will be a youth centre and a type of play facility in that vicinity in the coming years. "So I was concerned that if we redirect our energies and resources into a different project it could jeopardise two of those big projects for St Helier. One being the school and one being the youth centre."
'Considerable cost and effort'
Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Elaine Millar, argued that a meanwhile use for the site would only last a few months as ROK Construction was using the site as it completed the Maisons les Arches housing development.She said: "They will have occupation of this until June 2026."It's estimated that enabling works for the new primary school would begin in October 2026, so this meanwhile use would only be for a few months at considerable cost and effort."But Warr disputed it and said: "ROK are not currently using the whole of the site, in fact if you go in the Gas Place showroom right now its three quarters empty already."A lot of people need to go up there and see the reality of how that site is used."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Jersey's new housing and infrastructure scheme 'long overdue'
A new 25-year strategy aimed at improving homes, schools, roads, and public spaces has been welcomed by business government hopes to make the island more attractive to younger generations by investing in affordable housing and repairing ageing plans have been praised by Jersey Chamber of Commerce (JCC) as a "positive step", while Jersey Hospitality Association (JHA) said the proposals were "long overdue" and set out what had "been missing for too long".Both warned that the strategy hinged on the next government, following the 2026 elections, being able to deliver on its promises. Funding for the programme will come from an existing capital budget of about £70m to £80m per year, chief minister Lyndon Farnham previously chair of a public accounts committee deputy Inna Gardiner believes the government will still need to borrow significant amounts. She said while she is not against borrowing, it needs to be affordable and controlled. "The current proposal doesn't set any clear limits so it doesn't define either where we had the hard caps and debt could just drift upwards, so we need to ensure that we're able to pay the debt," she said. 'Let's get moving' Investment will focus on improving roads, expanding mains water and drainage networks, as well as community focus president Lee Madden said the authority welcomed the plan, but called for clarity on its said: "This plan sets out a comprehensive roadmap for ensuring Jersey's infrastructure keeps pace with the needs of our community and economy. "However, ambition must be matched by delivery - our members are asking the same questions the public will be: how will this be paid for, and will it be delivered on time?"CEO Murray Norton said it was a welcomed step as he urged the government not to lose momentum."Let's get moving, avoid prevarication and strike a fair balance between ambition and affordability," he added. JHA co-CEOs Ana and Marcus Calvani said sustainable economic growth was needed in the visitor said: "We have been calling for an urgent need for diverse economic growth and this is an encouraging response from government, not overly visionary, but focused on what is critically needed from our public sector."The JHA said it wanted to see targeted investment for affordable family housing, revitalised community spaces and an overhaul of Jersey's drainage and Mrs Calvani added: "This plan is not about government building hotels, it's about government finally building confidence. "If Jersey wants a thriving visitor economy, it must first deliver the infrastructure that enables private sector investment."
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Telegraph
The VAT raid on private schools continues to unravel
Punishing parents for paying for their children's education was never going to end well for Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary. Few policies have been so speedily exposed as vindictive and counterproductive as Labour's imposition of VAT on school fees. At least 10,000 pupils have been forced to move out of independent schools and have thus become a burden on the Exchequer. Some 50 schools have already closed and more will surely follow. The state sector has yet to see the much-vaunted 6,000 extra teachers. One of the perverse effects of this experiment in class warfare has been to penalise poorer families. The genuinely affluent are able to pay their fees years in advance. As The Telegraph today reveals, many thousands have done just that, potentially avoiding the VAT that was imposed from this January onwards. The top 50 independent schools held £515m in advance fees last year, up from £121m in 2023. This may have cost the Treasury over £100m in VAT it would otherwise have received. But parents with more modest means cannot afford to do this. Many have been forced to take their children out of private education, thereby turning schools that had catered for a broad range of backgrounds into a closer approximation of what the Left stigmatise them for being: the preserve of the wealthy. As if this mean-spirited fiscal assault on education had not done enough damage, Lord Kinnock has now proposed to extend the principle to health as well. The former Labour leader – now enjoying a comfortable retirement thanks to years on the Brussels gravy train – is all for charging VAT on private health care too. Those who remember the days when Margaret Thatcher used to bat such daft Labour proposals back across the Despatch Box will doubtless recall that fees for private health were then tax-deductible. Now, there is an idea that the Conservatives should seriously consider reviving.
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Reuters
US judge says he won't explain error-ridden ruling in Mississippi civil rights case
Aug 4 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Mississippi declined to give an explanation for a ruling he issued last month which the state said contained references to made-up material, incorrect plaintiffs and defendants, and other serious errors. In an order, opens new tab on Friday, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate in Jackson, Mississippi said his July 20 decision contained 'clerical errors referencing improper parties and factual allegations,' and that he issued a new opinion after correcting the mistakes. 'No further explanation is warranted,' Wingate wrote. The judge's decision, issued in a civil rights case brought by the Mississippi Association of Educators, stopped the state for now from enforcing a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state universities and public schools. After Wingate replaced the ruling with a corrected version, lawyers for the state asked, opens new tab him last week to clarify what had happened and to "preserve the record." Wingate said in Friday's filing that judges have the authority to correct what he called clerical mistakes and errors arising from oversight or omission, and no further action was needed. He also declined to make the original, faulty ruling available on the public docket. Wingate, the Mississippi attorney general's office and attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The state's lawyers have not publicly suggested a reason for the errors. They came to light the same week that a federal judge in an unrelated New Jersey case also retracted a decision containing seemingly made-up case citations and other errors. In the New Jersey case, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that a temporary assistant had used an artificial intelligence platform to research the decision, and that the opinion was inadvertently issued before a review process was able to catch errors introduced by AI. The judge in that lawsuit, Julien Xavier Neals, said in a notation on the docket that a corrected decision will be issued. As the use of AI in legal work has grown, lawyers have faced ethics scrutiny or been sanctioned for failing to catch fictitious case citations or other mistakes produced by the technology and including the errors in case filings. Indiana University law school professor Charles Geyh called the mistakes in the Mississippi and New Jersey rulings 'more egregious than I'm accustomed to seeing in federal court.' The case is Mississippi Association of Educators et al. v. Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, No. 3:25-cv-00417-HTW-LGI. For plaintiff: Joshua Tom of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi Foundation; Robert McDuff of Mississippi Center for Justice; Amir Badat of Badat Legal; and Nicolas Stanojevich of Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco For defendant: Rex Shannon III and Lisa Reppeto of the Mississippi attorney general's office Read more: Two US judges withdraw rulings after attorneys question accuracy Judge disqualifies three Butler Snow attorneys from case over AI citations AI 'hallucinations' in court papers spell trouble for lawyers Trouble with AI 'hallucinations' spreads to big law firms
