Waterfront Finance Centre

[namoop]

So Ozouf feels that the failed Harcourt development should be resurrected due to overwhelming demand from the Island's Finance Industry, according to the JEP?

Have I missed something here? Have Treasury suddenly discovered 300 million quid in some desk draw that they had forgotten all about? or, as I suspect, have the States' favourite developers Dandara, run out of things to do for the next four or five years?

Of course the third option is that the economy of the Island is in such terminal decline that this projected capital spend is the economist's version of the mercey bullet to the back of the head. Let's get it over with as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

[rogueelement]

Only £300 million?? nothing on a big ship!
Quite a lot on a leaky rowing boat though.
I saw a film once ,,, "build it and they may come" total complete and utter bollix , of course , but maybe Phil has had a vision on the road go Goa?

[Shiva]

I saw a book in Leaders Health Food shop this morning with the title: "You are what you eat"

Sort of sums up Phil Ozouf in one doesn't it?

[tonytheprof]

The maintenance for the road tunnel was given - 3 years ago - as 1/2 million pounds a year. That's a lot when the States are trying to make savings.

[ole razzy]

I saw a book in Leaders Health Food shop this morning with the title: "You are what you eat"

Sort of sums up Phil Ozouf in one doesn't it?

And lets not forget there is more to life then coq au vin! The Incredilbe Edible Anus, as promoted by none other then the incredible Silveranus Yates makes for a very fitting dessert!

[Dylan]

And lets not forget there is more to life then coq au vin! The Incredilbe Edible Anus, as promoted by none other then the incredible Silveranus Yates makes for a very fitting dessert!

I wish I had a fiver for every time you plugged (sic) your chocolate asses!

[moot]

http://www.thisisjersey.com/2010/08/02/waterfront-plan-gets-the-go-ahead/

Freddie C has now given the go ahead for the Esplanade Quarter. Harcourt couldn't come up with the guarantees and the reason for shelving it last year was the economic turn down. I have 2 questions : Have they now found a developer that can give cast iron guarantees ? Jersey's economic situation seems worth now than when it was shelved so what made Cohen give the go ahead ?  What has changed ?

[Fritz]

Obviously the £40,000,000 stimulus fund, coupled with the Esplanade Quarter will ensure that the 1400+ unemployed will be employed?

Or, (As in the past), will foreign companies be granted licences to import ,"Economically viable", labour?

[man in the street]

fritz, i think a new rubber stamp  will be ordered, for the economically viable.
being local is now a handicap, i m h o

[rogueelement]

Man in the Street is entirely correct, God only knows what the hell is going on now with the muppets in charge; do they now believe the recession is over? Is it possible that they think there is a queue of banks lining up to be slaughtered on the temple of the OECD, or do they simply think that all the old empty offices can be turned into care centres for the decrepit remains of what was once a thriving offshore centre?
I kid you not, the recession may be in its terminal throes , but Jersey .......... ah God , it was 18 months behind the curve and has positioned itself to be three years behind with the blithering idiocy of 0-10-20 means 20 .
When the rest of the World is moving along quite nicely (Circa late 2011) Jersey will still be trapped in the Le Sueur make believe world of you can make the OECD happy , be the best tax haven in the world, the most transparent jurisdiction , winning world wide awards and losing business and money hand over foot !
I would really like to think that Jersey instead of being numero uno in the world rankings of compliance , could come about say , 5th or 6 th and still be a hundred spots ahead of the USA , UK and any other Euro Jurisdiction.
Seriously , is there anybody who thinks that they are going to be able to fill a new batch of offices to serve the Finance Industry? Last I heard they were deserting in droves and taking their money with them .Jersey Finance and the JFSC and maybe the Law Officers have not had a new building for at least 3 months so maybe it will be worthwhile , whilst the rest of the Island stares in awe at the empty monuments to indecent stupidity already in place !

[rico sorda]

Sparty

You are the man when it comes to this Tax Stuff an always a good read. Now some might say that is some good old fashioned ass kissing but i have a real interest in it and will be starting a blog soon looking at these issues.

You could even post?

rs

[tonytheprof]

It is a kind of madness - never mind Town parks, never mind problems with the Swimming Pool - or the office block that is still empty by Green Street - they want their Masterplan, and sunken  road, and they'll keep coming back to it until they wear away all opposition.

I told a UK friend on a visit about the £500,000 a year maintenance on the sunken road / tunnel, and they said "why on earth do that when there is a perfectly good road with no more than normal maintenance?". And when they heard about Gloucester Street at one end, where it floods, so it will have to have a large hump as it comes to the surface, they thought it was crazy, and certainly not a marvellous piece of planning.

[man in the street]

a quick look at channel online , and a look to whats going on in guernsey, they have a good logo for their finance centre, and are looking to HongK kongs  tax set up, this means , not a lot to me, outcome wise , but they seem to have a good game plan , unlike our lords and masters .
didnt hear about the guernsey lot flying round the world , and coming back seemingly empty ahnded.
where are the people beating  a path to the many estate agent to snap up the glut of office space?

[Pomme de terre]

I dread the 7 year disruption that will be caused by the sunken road, so here's my plan for a trial run.

At 5am on a Sunday morning, close the underpass to all eastbound traffic at the Gloucester Street end. Divert all that traffic along the Esplanade, then right into Castle Street, then left at the roundabout, rejoining the eastbound sliproad alongside the old abattoir. Then stand back and watch what happens, even on a quiet Sunday. If you've got the testicular fortitude, allow the experiment to continue all day Sunday and into Monday morning. Then try to sell that diversion to the Jersey voter, for seven years.

If you can't commit to a 1 or 2 day pilot road closure along the intended diversion route, then you have no business being in office, let alone trying to persuade the people of Jersey to accept this ill thought-out scheme.

Sean and Sarah, if you're listening, have a word with the powers that be, would you?

Of course, if the Sunday experiment causes complete chaos for a few hours, no real harm is done, you can just re-open the underpass and we'll all walk away from this plan as if nothing had happened. We don't need a masterplan, a presentation, an artist's model, a powerpoint, a consultation or a survey. We just need an honorary policeman and some traffic cones! 

[man in the street]

good idea ,pomme as you say , not much cost for this test, if there was no test of traffic flow,it would be toal gridlock i should imagine.iys great driving to town from the east at this time as , no schools, i belive it is the school /nursery run that is the problem and guess the two wheelers(scooters ect) has expanded x3 over the last year or two, but many return to the car when the winter comes, and who wants to trek to a windswept bus stop in a gale twice a dayand a big question is where will all the cars and vans go to from the esplanade carpark, i use this car park as its 8 hour parking when working in various buildings in town for the day and trek off with my tools and come back for my steps.
 if you work servicing buildings in town then parking and unloading are a nightmare at times(most)