Tourism Development Fund: Grant: Jersey Heritage: La Cotte de St. Brelade Archaeological Project

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A decision made 19 June 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2015-0051
Decision Summary Title :	Tourism Development Fund – approval of £180,000 grant to Jersey Heritage for development of the La Cotte de St. Brelade archaeological project		Date of Decision Summary:	11 June 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Strategic Development Officer		Decision Summary: Public or 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 £180,000 grant to Jersey Heritage for development of the La Cotte de St. Brelade archaeological project		Date of Written Report:	11 June 2015
Written Report Author:	Strategic Development Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Tourism Development Fund – approval of £180,000 grant to Jersey Heritage for development of the La Cotte de St. Brelade archaeological 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 £180,000 to Jersey Heritage for development of the La Cotte de St. Brelade archaeological 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 its meetings in April and May of 2015 and recommended that £180,000 be granted to Jersey Heritage on the basis that specified conditions were met. These conditions included the delivery of a presentation and report demonstrating the vision for ‘Ice Age Island’ and how it could contribute to Jersey’s tourism product.
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 L J Farnham		Position: Minister for Economic Development
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Tourism Development Fund: Grant: Jersey Heritage: La Cotte de St. Brelade Archaeological Project

La Cotte de St. Brelade Archaeological Project - Jersey Heritage’s application to the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) for the La Cotte archaeological project.

During the Spring 2015 TDF intake, an application was received from Jersey Heritage for a grant of £180,000 towards the completion of pressing conservation works and the realisation of the archaeological potential at the La Cotte de St. Brelade site.

It was proposed that the funding would contribute to a programme of conservation and stabilisation with the following objectives:

to complete the initial programme of regeneration and stabilisation work at the site of La Cotte de St Brelade; and
to undertake the first phase of a long term (10 year) archaeological excavation at the site; and
to ultimately provide an engaging and spectacular visitor experience for tourists and the Jersey public; and
to generate new materials, scientific discoveries and narrative stories for media attention and public display; and
to provide the solid grounding for a UK or European funded long term programme of further excavation, regeneration and research.

Preliminary discussions held with primary stakeholders and representatives from the States of Jersey (particularly Jersey Tourism) in January 2015 identified certain ambitions for visitation and interpretation of La Cotte that connect to wider visions for tourism development across Jersey, the grant will help deliver these ambitions.

As a condition of the grant the Partner agrees to deliver a report and presentation on a specific tourism strategy focussing on:

Visitor access to La Cotte
The types of interpretation that could be developed or refreshed
The development of ‘stories’ that could be used to promote the site that connect to the branding of Jersey

The TDF Advisory Panel gave detailed consideration of the application over four TDF Panel meetings in April & May. The Director of Jersey Heritage also attended one of the meetings to present their case and allow the Panel to ask questions.

Following final consideration by the Panel on 8th May 2015 the provision of a grant in the sum of £180,000 was approved.

The project is scheduled to commence in Autumn 2015 and phase 1 will culminate with the facility opening to the public (by tour guide) shortly after.

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