TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES
COMMUNITY SAFETY FUND – AWARD OF GRANTSOPERATION OF AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES TO JERSEY HERITAGE SITES
Purpose of the Report
To consider applications for grants from the Community Safety Fund. a request from Pure Adventure Jersey Limited to operate amphibious vehicles on routes to Jersey Heritage sites, including Elizabeth Castle.
Background
Jersey Heritage has awarded a 10 year contract to Pure Adventure Jersey Limited, primarily to operate an amphibious vehicle service between West Park and Elizabeth Castle. Jersey Heritage and Pure Adventure are keen that the new vehicles, which will replace the “Puddle Ducks” DUKWS that have been a familiar sight in Jersey for many years, will operate the concession to Elizabeth Castle and can be used to develop other visitor opportunities and links to other sites.
Arrangements for considering applications for and awarding grants from the Community Safety Fund, for small but important initiatives, have previously been approved (under Ministerial Decisions MD-T-2007-0058, MD-T-2007- and 0112 and MD-T-2009-0069).
The criteria approved for considering applications and awarding grants are:-
- The proposal should be beneficial to the community at large;
- For one off items of expenditure directly related to community safety;
- Island based;
- For proposals that would significantly enhance or raise awareness on community safety and for which there is no or insufficient public funding;
- A maximum interim award of £20,000 per project.
Discussion
Further applications have been received for grants from the Community Safety Fund, as outlined below.Vehicles
The vehicles that Pure Adventure intends to use are built in the USA and are a high specification amphibious coach. (Photographs of the vehicle will be available at the presentation of the report). The vehicle is 9 metres long and 2.5 metres wide and capable of carrying 36 passengers. Being 2.5 metres wide, the vehicle is wider than the maximum allowed (2.3m) for normal circulation in the Island. To circulate on the public road, the vehicle requires an exemption permit (P30) under Article 78 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956. In addition, to operate as a public service vehicle, the vehicle should have a licence granted under Article 9 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935. A pre-cursor to award of a licence is that the vehicle has an appropriate certificate of fitness which normally means complying with the requirements of the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003. It must also be noted that the vehicles are understood to be 13 feet high. This is higher than the requirements for the branchage clearance height of 12 feet and could mean that there will be certain sections of road where this type of vehicle will experience similar difficulties navigating as is experienced by container lorries. Pure Adventure intend to operate two vehicles.
The Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003 sets out the basic requirements for taxicabs, omnibuses and char-a-bancs to provide for the comfort and safety of passengers using these vehicles. A basic requirement is that the driver’s seat is on the right of the vehicle and in such a position that the driver when seated can give the appropriate hand signals on the off-side of the vehicle ie it is a right-hand drive vehicle. The driver position in the amphibious vehicle which it is proposed to use, has the driver sitting in the middle of the vehicle. Being an amphibious vehicle, the passenger deck is also higher above the road than a normal bus/coach and so the entrance arrangement is different to the norm. These factors mean that the amphibious coach could not meet the requirements of the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003.
However, there has been a precedent for exempting a public service vehicle from these requirements – the road train. When first proposed for use as a visitor facility in the Island, special arrangements had to be put in place that would allow the vehicle to be used on the road and provide a char-a-banc service. This entailed defining the road train in the Order, exempting the road train from the requirements that the driver sits on the right and from aspects of the requirements for char-a-bancs, without compromising safety. Similar exemptions would have to be put in place for the amphibious coach if it were to be allowed to circulate on the road carrying paying passengers.
The Department would have to provide instructions for the Law Draftsman to prepare an amendment to the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003 to allow an amphibious coach to operate on the Island’s roads.
[While it would be necessary to obtain a legal opinion, it is the view of the Head of Driver and Vehicle Standards that the DUKWS, which previously operated the Elizabeth Castle route on a char-a-banc licence, should not have qualified for such a licence as the vehicles used could not have complied with the requirements of the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003. A pre-requisite for the grant of a char-a-banc licence is “that an appropriate certificate of fitness is in force in respect of the vehicle”.]
The use and safety of the vehicles on the sea is the responsibility of the Harbours Department and the Minister for Economic Development. (It is understood that the "grandfather" rights which allowed the existing DUKWS formerly used on the Elizabeth Castle route to continue to operate despite significant advances in marine safety, are due to run out in 2 years time. So continuing to use the DUKWS to service Elizabeth Castle for the next 10 years is not an option.)
Routes
The principal operational route remains West Park to Elizabeth Castle. However, while it is understood the proposed amphibious coaches can operate in rougher seas and worse weather than the DUKWS, Pure Adventure and Jersey Heritage are keen that visitors are offered alternative experiences when access to Elizabeth Castle is difficult. In addition, Pure Adventure believe that there is a need to cater for visitors all year round and would like to offer additional routes that could only be provided by a vehicle such as the amphibious coach.
Details of the vehicle’s turning circle have been provided and it would appear that the vehicle could negotiate junctions in a similar manner to existing buses and other large vehicles. Drivers will have to be trained in the use of the vehicle for both road and marine use.
Details of the proposed routes are attached as Appendix 1. The proposed routes are:-
Route 1 – West Park Slipway to Elizabeth Castle
Route 2 – West Park Slipway to Hamptonne
Route 3 – West Park Slipway to La Hougue Bie and Mont Orgueil
Route 4 – West Park Slipway to St Aubin’s Harbour
Route 5 – West Park Slipway to Bouley Bay/Bonne Nuit Bay
Route 6 – Gorey Harbour to Anne Port
Route 7 – Hotel pick-up service.
Route 1 has been operated for many years and does not involve significant road use. This is understood to be the route that Pure Adventure is contractually bound to serve, seven days a week from 31st March to 4th November between 10am and 6pm.
Routes 2 and 3 it is understood would tend to be alternatives should Elizabeth Castle be inaccessible. The main roads to Hamptonne are narrow in parts and gaining access via the parish roads could prove problematic. Coaches and more recently wider buses have travelled the La Hougue Bie/Mont Orgeuil Route for a number of years. Both routes would require Pure Adventure to carry out further investigation to prove the route is accessible and determining suitable points for passengers to disembark.
Routes 4, 5 and 6 are expected to operate outside the dates of the contract with Jersey Heritage. These would be new experiences for visitors, including part of the route being on water or at low tide, along the beach. It is not envisaged that there would be significant difficulties on the St Aubin route although care would be required in the areas of on-road parking. The other routes would again need to be proved. (There is also the matter of positioning the vehicle at Gorey and which route it would use to get there).
Route 7 has not been detailed albeit discussions seem to have focussed on hotels around the Ring Road. Pure Adventure has been advised that there is a blanket ban on char-a-bancs operating within the Ring Road and that permission would be required from the Constable should access be required. Pure Adventure has also been told that all passengers would have to be picked up “off road” and that it would not be acceptable to pick up from the roadside due to the nature of the access to the vehicle and the inconvenience this would cause to pedestrians and other road-users.
Organisation | Amount Requested | Purpose |
Parish of St John | £8,500 | CCTV equipment for new skateboard facility |
Parish of St Saviour | £3,500 | Additional intelligent speed limit sign |
TTS | £6,000 | Part-time speed limit signs for two school sites |
Skateboard Facility –
The Parish of St John is building a skateboard park facility at St John’s Recreation Centre. The purpose of the skateboard park is to provide a dedicated facility for young people, predominantly from the north of the Island, who currently use the public roads, streets and other public areas for skating and skateboarding. Having a dedicated facility will provide a safer environment where there is much less likelihood of collisions with motor vehicles or other road users, or in the case of school playgrounds and other public areas, possible injury to others using the area.
£8,500 has been requested to provide CCTV equipment to monitor use of the facility, however, the overall cost of providing the facility is £30,000. While provision of CCTV may not at first sight meet the criteria for awarding a grant, the parish considers it essential equipment and perhaps any grant should be seen more as a contribution towards the overall facility rather than specifically for CCTV equipment. If considered as a grant to the facility, the criteria are met.
Intelligent Speed Limit Sign (SID) –
The Parish of St Saviour has requested a grant to purchase a further Speed Indicator Device (SID) for use by honorary police in the parish. Each parish was provided with a SID from the Community Safety Fund last year. The Parish of St Saviour believes that its current SID has made a significant contribution to improving safety on the roads in the parish and feels having a further SID available will allow the parish more ability to regularly rotate SIDs in ‘sensitive locations such as school approaches and also at various "hot spots"’.
A grant of £3,500 would allow the parish to purchase a further SID.
Part-time Speed Limit Signs –
Transport and Technical Services has been installing part-time speed limit signs in the vicinity of schools throughout the Island. The signs are active at school opening and closing times requiring motorists travelling on the roads in the vicinity of these schools to travel at no more than 20mph rather than the speed limit that normally applies to the road, making the roads in the vicinity of these schools safer at the times when students are walking or cycling to and from school. TTS would intend installing further zones at Le Rocquier School and in the Mont Millais area where several schools are sited.
A grant of £6,000 would allow TTS to purchase the electronic signs needed to introduce these two new zones. Installation would be done using the department’s revenue budget in 2011.
The applications meet the criteria and sufficient funds remain available in the Community Safety Fund. It should be noted that disbursing these grants will deplete the Community Safety Fund which will then be closed.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Minister:-
1. agrees the principle that it is in the public interest to allow this specialist vehicle to operate on approved routes on the Island’s roads;
2. asks the Law Draftsman to draft an amendment to the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003 which would allow such a vehicle to operate as a public service vehicle on approved routes on the Island’s roads, based on instructions prepared by the Department;
3. subject to the amendment to the Order being made and to Pure Adventure presenting suitable vehicles for inspection and obtaining Certificates of Fitness, grant licences to Pure Adventure to provide transport services between West Park and Elizabeth Castle for visitors to the castle;
4. accepts the principle of Pure Adventure operating Routes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 subject to Pure Adventure submitting further details of each route being proved and suitable facilities for disembarking passengers being available.
The Assistant Minister is recommended to award grants of £8,500 to the Parish of St John towards provision of an off-road skateboard facility for young people, £3,500 to the Parish of St Saviour to purchase an intelligent speed limit sign to improve road safety in the parish and £6,000 to Transport and Technical Services to purchase part-time speed limit signs to use in two new zones to be created at Le Rocquier and Mont Millais.
Reason(s) for Decision
To support community safety initiatives.
To permit Pure Adventure Jersey Limited and Jersey Heritage to provide transport services for visitors to Elizabeth Castle.
To allow Pure Adventure Jersey Limited and Jersey Heritage to develop further services for visitors to heritage sites in Jersey.
To permit Pure Adventure Jersey Limited to develop further visitor experiences in Jersey.
Action Required
1. Notify Pure Adventure Jersey Limited and Jersey Heritage of the decision(s).
2. Prepare drafting instructions to amend the Motor Traffic (Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness))(Jersey) Order 2003.
Subject to the Assistant Minister approving the grants, the sums to be disbursed to the relevant organisation.
Written by: | Alan MuirHead of Driver and Vehicle Standards
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Approved by: | Acting Caroline Anderson, Director of Transport |
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Endorsed by:
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Attachments:
Appendix 1 – Pure Adventure’s formal application including details of routes.
ASM
18 November 201015 February 2007
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