That was the Month in Jersey: August 1966 – Part 2

Some more from Jersey Life, 1966.

That was the Month in Jersey: August 1966 – Part 2
By Phyllida Campbell

Mini-Sky-Scrapers in the Town?

After long and exhaustive research and planning by the City Fathers who guide our destiny, the States have given enthusiastic approval to the project of building three lots of mini-sky-scrapers or States Flats at a cost of nearly £800,000—the Windsor Road Development Scheme. The daily press has had two-inch headlines and many people ask ‘where is Windsor Road and what is all the excitement about?’

For the benefit of the curious who are not too au fair with our capital city, a drive from Trinity Road along Val Plaisant towards the town will bring them to a large, unsightly but none-the- less handy car park on the right. Turn there and see Windsor Road, a dull but respectable thoroughfare, with the buildings at that end practically backing onto the car park, already empty and due for demolition.

Far from being the Dickensian-type hovels of Old Street or Dumaresq Street, they are quite solidly built little dwellings, though not first-class properties. Surprisingly, many of the occupiers seem to have walked out and left doors and gates unlocked behind them, providing splendid free (loss-houses for Jersey’s much publicised ‘destitutes’. Periodically the police have been along to flush them out, but the people opposite still occasionally see them sneaking in, and there are signs of recent camp-style occupation.

The car parks and these buildings form Phase One of the Scheme, and later on part of Garden Lane, a dark and dreary passage running through Windsor Road to Dorset Street, will have to be scrapped completely and the present occupants housed elsewhere. Looking at the artist’s conception of the whole plan, now at the States Engineer’s Office and soon to be on display to the general public, the three huge blocks of flats, each unit with a roomy balcony, enlivened by sculptured concrete panelling, make an attractive picture. They are well set back from the road, indeed can hardly be seen from Val Plaisant, and the car parking area is well screened by pillars supporting a huge podium, which will have flower tubs, seats and amenities for children.

The scheme is in a sense the joint brain-child of the Housing Committee whose original idea it was and whose job it is to carry it out and the Island Development Committee whose function it is to plan such urban re-development to add‘ to the beauty and dimity of the town.


From the Horses’ Mouths

Deputy Letto, Chairman of the IDC [Island Development Committee] was readily available to talk to Jersey Life about the Scheme. Weren’t these houses waiting for demolition rather far from being slum dwellings?

‘Yes, indeed, but this is one of the big difficulties in re-development. In the Island Re-development Plan, you will see little black pockets which are slum properties that should come down.

Unfortunately these areas are not always suitable for the erection of new housing units and some alternative has to be found’.


Won't three nine-storey buildings slap in the middle of the town look rather incongruous? 

‘That is another difficulty the LDC. had to contend with. At the rate the town and population is growing, there seems only one way to build residential properties in St. Helier and that is upwards. A solitary building might look clumsy, but a group of three with the car parking space and podium above and a certain amount of land- scaping, should be quite acceptable'.

How long will it take? 

‘I would like to see the whole thing completed within five to seven years’.

Turning from the particular to the general, Deputy Letto said a word or two about I.D.C. plans since he took over the Chairmanship on February 1st. ‘What we are trying to do as a matter of policy is to ensure that future planning of the Island is compatible with the best interests of the population as a whole. It is the population that matters, we can’t afford to spoil the natural beauty of the Island for the sake of the individual'.

The small lee-way now allowed to property owners for minor alterations and extensions had pleased the public? 

With a slightly wary look the Chairman agreed. ‘Yes, we have extended the exemptions in development which allow for minor works within limitations. If the public take advantage we shall have to reconsider the matter’. A veiled threat Sir? ‘Well’, with a smile, ‘no rickety little huts made out of tea chests built in front gardens—or anywhere else, please!’

What did he think of Mr. William Barrett‘s remark on his recent visit to Jersey that the IDC was short of planning staff? 

‘I think he’s right. We're short of office space at the moment, but we are advertising for an assistant planning officer, and we are hoping that in time we can get Jersey boys and girls coming out of school and help to train them’.

Senator Gaudin, Chairman of the Housing Committee, endorsed all that Deputy Letto said about the Windsor Road Scheme. ‘Nine storeys are not too high. Look how nice the Green Street flats look and how they blend in with the background. They are sixteen storeys high and no one is grumbling about them’.

He is convinced that when all is completed a tremendous improvement will be seen in what is now a shabby, sprawling part of the town.