Tourism Development Fund: Grant: West Park Marine Lake Trust: St. Helier Sea Restoration Project

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A decision made 31 January 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2014-0008
Decision Summary Title :	Tourism Development Fund – approval of £115,000 grant to West Park Marine Lake Trust for the St Helier sea pool restoration project.		Date of Decision Summary:
Decision Summary Author:	Executive Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (If exempt State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Tourism Development Fund – approval of £115,000 grant to West Park Marine Lake Trust for the St Helier sea pool restoration project.		Date of Written Report:	28th January 2014
Written Report Author:	Executive Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Tourism Development Fund – approval of £115,000 grant to the West Park Marine Lake Trust for the St Helier sea pool restoration project.
Decision(s): The Minister, on the advice of the Tourism Development Fund Advisory Panel, approved the award of a grant, subject to contract and conditions, from the Tourism Development Fund of £115,000 to West Park Maine Lake Trust for the St Helier sea pool restoration project.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Tourism Development Fund Advisory Panel is comprised of members drawn from the private sector who are charged with making recommendations with regard to awarding grants from the Fund. Applications are taken in two funding rounds (Spring and Autumn) which are then considered by the Panel at a series of meetings. The TDF Advisory Panel considered the application at four of its meetings in November 2013 and recommended that £115,000 be granted to West Park Marine Lake Trust on the basis that specified conditions were met. These conditions included confirmation of the other sources of funding, assurances over the maintenance & operation of the facility and the longevity of these arrangements. The Panel considers that the opportunity to regenerate this disused area into a public water sports facility, with the project overseen by a willing, experienced and well supported group comprising the Bosdet Foundation, the Parish of St Helier, the States of Jersey Development Company, will offer long term benefits to both the tourism industry in the Waterfront area of St Helier and to the local population. The Panel recommends the project to the Minister, and seeks approval to proceed with the grant accordingly.
Resource Implications: The grant is made from the Tourism Development Fund, which has sufficient resources to cover the grant . There are no further manpower or resource implications.
Action required: The Minister instructs the Executive Officer to issue the contract on the basis of any conditions stipulated by the Tourism Development Fund Advisory Panel and in accordance with the Financial Direction on Grants (5.5).
Signature: Senator AJH Maclean		Position: Economic Development Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Tourism Development Fund: Grant: West Park Marine Lake Trust: St. Helier Sea Restoration Project

West Park Marine Lake Trust (WPMLT) application to the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) for the St Helier sea pool restoration project

During the autumn 2013 application round, an application was received from Jubilee Marine Lake Working Group to be known as the West Park Marine Lake Trust, for a grant of £115,000 towards the refurbishment of the West Park Marine Lake in St Helier.

It was proposed that the West Park Marine Lake be restored to create a recreational facility for tourists and local residents. It was intended that the lake would provide a water sports centre with the potential to house a range of sports and events, with the facility being operated under the management of the Bosdet Foundation (BF) -

(BF is a charitable foundation whose aim is to help people in need in Jersey through the development of the Les Ormes leisure facility and the revenue of the property portfolio. All its charity funds are generated by sport and property products.)

The TDF Advisory Panel gave detailed consideration of the application at four TDF Advisory Panel meetings in November and at a meeting with the applicant attended by the Chair of the Panel and the Director of Tourism & Marketing. As part of the assessment process, the Panel and Officers compiled a list of questions and concerns to be presented to the applicant for response.

Further clarification was also required regarding alternative sources of funding available to the applicant.

Following this, supplementary information was provided regarding corporate structure, additional sources of funding and the ongoing management and operation of the facility.

Following final consideration by the Panel on 26th November 2013 the provision of a grant in the sum of £115,000 was approved , subject to the following conditions :

Deed of Trustees documentation to be provided to Economic Development Department
The Parish of St. Helier will obtain a Lease for the land when the facility to be granted a lese becomes available). In practice, a licence for the use of the land (foreshore) will be issued by Jersey Property Holdings on behalf of the Public of the Island who hold the lease from the Crown.)
The Bosdet Foundation will oversee the management of the lake; ( see attached )
The Bosdet Foundation will enter into an operating agreement with the West Park Marine Lake Trust which will be set up to oversee the project as a whole;
The Parish of St. Helier will provide £100,000 as a one-off payment and then £20,000 annually towards the costs of maintaining the lake;
The States of Jersey Development Company will provide £100,000 as a one-off payment towards the restoration costs; and
The Bosdet Foundation will provide £50,000 annually for a period of 5 years towards the costs of managing the lake.

The West Park Marine Lake Trust trustees will comprise:

Pierre Horsfall, proposed Chairman of Trustees

Clive Barton, Senior Partner, Moore Stevens and Procureur to Parish of St Helier (Enforcer)

Jeremy Swetenham, Commercial Director Jersey Heritage Trust

Kevin Mansell, Education Sport & Culture Dept.

Andrew Pemberton Chartered Accountant (Treasurer)

The refurbishment works are scheduled to commence in March 2014 ( following the tender process in February 2014 ) with the facility opening to the public on 21st July 2014 to coincide with the start of the school summer holidays.

The Panel highly recommends the project to the Minister, and seeks approval to proceed with the grant accordingly.