Proposal to scrap Fort Regent borrowing defeated

A proposal to scrap plans to borrow £43m for the first phase of the redevelopment of a leisure centre has been defeated.

Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache brought forward the amendment to cancel the funding for Fort Regent in the Government of Jersey's proposed budget for 2026-2029.

The plans to redevelop Fort Regent could see the government borrow up to £110m in total.

The proposal was rejected with 34 politicians in the States Assembly voting against the plans and 10 voting in favour.

Bailhache said in his proposal borrowing £110m to redevelop the fort was a "colossal sum".

He wrote: "The cost of borrowing £110m will be more than £8m every year.

"At present, States revenues are insufficient to meet current expenditure without recourse to the capital of Reserve Funds so it is difficult to see how that additional money is going to be found to service and repay the borrowing."

He suggested the redevelopment of the fort could be funded by increasing GST by 1%.

"The plain truth is that, without raising taxes, Jersey cannot afford to spend £110m on the restoration of Fort Regent," he said.

The government said while they would borrow £43m in this budget, the funding for the other £67m would be detailed in future budgets.

Minister for Treasury and Resources Elaine Millar defended borrowing £43m for the first phase of the redevelopment.

"If we don't borrow we won't be able to do anything," she told the BBC.

"If we didn't it would take years to come out of revenue or we would have to cut services elsewhere to find the money for the fort."

Politicians are due to continue debating further amendments before voting on whether to approve the government's budget.

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