Petitions powerless in hospital site selection

Wednesday 26 August 2020

Petitions will not influence the site selection process for the new hospital, it has been confirmed.

The Government released its shortlist of sites for the long-awaited future hospital in July:

• St Andrew’s Park;
• People’s Park;
• Overdale;
• a group of fields to the north of Five Oaks in St Saviour;
• and Millbrook playing field plus farm land north of the inner road in St Lawrence.

But many were unhappy with the final five, which were selected from a long list using a set of questions set by an anonymous ‘Citizens’ Panel’, with the Constable of St. Helier going so far as to accuse Ministers of deliberately selecting sites that wouldn’t find favour with the public as part of a “cynical ploy” to focus attention on their preferred sites.

Pictured: Overdale's run-down premises has long been thought to be one of the front-runners for the new hospital development. 

In the weeks following the shortlist’s reveal, three e-petitions have been launched by dissatisfied islanders to add or remove sites. Together, they have garnered more than 1,600 signatures.

Under the e-petition rules, if any of the three gains more than 1,000 signatures, Ministers will have to officially respond. If any gains over 5,000, the motion has to be considered for debate in the States Assembly. 

The first is calling for the two parks and Millbrook to be removed from the shortlist, in line with calls from the Constables of St. Helier and St. Lawrence. 

The second is asking for the inclusion of the former St. Saviour’s Hospital and Warwick Farm, which is the current site of Jersey Hemp - sites that had already been discounted from the running.

The most recent is a bid to get Five Oaks – a site whose area was recently quietly expanded to include several more private chunks of land – thrown off the shortlist on the grounds that the “location has horrendous traffic issues already with all the schools and poor road connections to the western Parishes.”

But, according to the Government, the petitions’ efforts are futile.

“Islanders were initially invited to suggest sites. The site selection process was then informed by a set of detailed technical assessments using criteria agreed with the Citizen's Panel.  The petitions are not part of the site selection process,” a spokesperson said. 

Asked if the public will have any other opportunity to have a say on the site selection process, they added: “Detailed information will be published on the site selection process, which may be complemented by an exhibition – likely to be digital due to ongoing Covid 19 restrictions. This will present the evaluation process, key characteristics/criteria and the next steps.

“Consultation and engagement will continue to inform the design of a fit-for-purpose new hospital for Jersey and the planning application process.”