A parish constable is asking the public to share their thoughts on the relocation of a "much loved" St Helier landmark. The granite apple crusher on King Street is due to be moved to Howard Davis Park as part of a £2.5m Infrastructure Department project to revamp the area including resurfacing work.
Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Jonathan Renouf said there was a consultation on it but admitted he was "open to ideas on keeping it". He said the proposals showing its removal were publicly available throughout the development of the scheme, and were displayed and discussed at a public exhibition over a year ago, and the plans published online have consistently shown the apple crusher removed.
The Deputy has since abandoned the plans!
But with a statement which suggests the pushback is bad! Not with an admission that the plans were bad! Heaven forbid!
The Minister said: "The original design would have delivered important improvements to the public realm, including strengthening the link between King Street and Broad Street, creating additional opportunities for outdoor seating, and allowing for further tree planting. However, it is clear that a significant body of public opinion wishes to see the Apple Crusher remain in its current location. Having listened to those views and to the Connétable of St.Helier, I have instructed officers to redesign the scheme so that the Apple Crusher is retained."
This statement frames the situation as if retaining the Apple Crusher is a compromise that forces them to sacrifice trees, seating, and connectivity. In reality, modern urban design frequently proves the exact opposite: retaining authentic historical anchors actually maximizes the value of a public realm!
Trees, standard paving, and outdoor seating can be added to any high street in the world. They are generic improvements. A 200-year-old granite apple crusher is unique to Jersey's specific heritage and has been there for around 50 years. The apple crusher was installed in 1978 to commemorate Jersey's historic cider-making heritage.
The argument that they needed to move it to strengthen the link between King Street and Broad Street sets up a false choice. Excellent urban design adapts to heritage rather than demanding a blank canvas.
So let's look at the evidence:
https://publicrealm.gov.je/our-projects/broad-street/
The documents I have looked at contain no mention of the word "apple crusher."
The diagram above is a high-level master schedule that focuses strictly on the overall project Phasing and street names, which is exactly why the specific location of the apple crusher is so difficult to find from the map alone
.
To clarify exactly where it sits based on this map's labels:
• The map shows King Street running horizontally across the top left.
• The "New Cut" (the vertical orange zone) is the specific walkway that connects King Street down to Broad Street.
• The apple crusher is located on King Street, positioned right at that specific junction where the orange "New Cut" pathway meets the main shopping street.
The physical landmark itself was completely omitted from this visual key, which is why there was such an intense public outcry—many parishioners felt the government was hiding the removal within the broader "New Cut" work phases
https://publicrealm.gov.je/media/yull0sxs/improvements-design-and-map-of-broad-street-phase-1.pdf
All technical parameters, street furniture standards, and pedestrian path rules for Phase 3 are bundled directly inside the main Broad Street Public Realm Improvement Scheme Guide rather than an isolated document.
https://publicrealm.gov.je/media/yull0sxs/improvements-design-and-map-of-broad-street-phase-1.pdf
This contains no mention of the relocation of the apple crusher.
https://publicrealm.gov.je/our-projects/new-street-and-new-cut/
This contains no mention of the relocation of the apple crusher.
https://publicrealm.gov.je/media/0uxkc455/61502_gra_broadstreetph3web_p3_fi.pdf
This master design blueprint explicitly shows the area after the apple crusher has been removed.
The text makes NO mention of it.
Where it should be vs. What is shown
• The Location: Look at the middle section of King Street where the paved "New Cut" pathway forms a wide, curved peach-colored pedestrian plaza.
• The Substitution: The apple crusher planter originally sits right in that King Street clearance outside Marks & Spencer. On this specific plan, that space has been completely flattened into open paving, and a new green tree symbol has been placed nearby to replace it.
• The Omission: Because the original government proposal assumed the landmark would be extracted and relocated to Howard Davis Park, they completely wiped it from the architectural graphics.
Concluding remarks
There are no official planning maps or architectural blueprints that I can easily find which textually label the words "Apple Crusher."
• Omission on Master Maps: On every master engineering visual (like the ones you uploaded), the landmark was simply scrubbed out and replaced with an unnamed circle representing a tree or flat paving.
• Hidden in the Text: When the project was filed inside the broader town planning frameworks, the feature was only genericized under technical design terms. The department labelled it an "obstruction," a "planter," or "clutter" to be cleared to expand pedestrian capacities in the "New Cut" sector.
And finally...
Mr. Prosser: "But the plans were on display…"
Arthur Dent: "On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
Mr. Prosser: "That's the display department."
Arthur Dent: "With a torch."
Mr. Prosser: "The lights had probably gone out."
Arthur Dent: "So had the stairs."
Mr. Prosser: "But look, you found the notice, didn't you?"
Arthur Dent: "Yes, yes I did. It was on display at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard."
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