Mark Helyar describes a plan to remove the only diving board at La Vallette as 'sinister' given there was no consultation.
Deputy Mark Helyar, who has been at the forefront of moves to stop the diving board being taken down, says he has issues with the way the matter has been dealt with. He alleges that it was originally intended to issue a press release today, 10 February, and remove the board within one day:
"Environment and Infrastructure was planning to do a press release this morning and then simply remove the diving board tomorrow (11 February). That is not acceptable. It is lacking in any transparency. There has been no public dialogue about it. It seems to me an excessive application of the law and is very, very disappointing."
In fact the press release was issued by E&I on Friday, 7 February.
Deputy Helyar says the issue seems to be that storms and tidal action have deposited stones in the pool under the diving board, compromising the water depth there:
"It seems silly to me. They're rocks. It's inert material, this is just a silly interpretation of the law."
"Some people say this is just a trivial matter. It is not. This is the canary in the coal mine. There is too much of this 'yes ministering' going on in our government that is wasting money. People deciding to take action on laws that we don't want and didn't ask for, has to stop."
The Environment and Infrastructure Committee has said that fixing the inadequate water depth beneath the diving board could cost up to £1M.
Deputy Lyndon Trott, who has been at a Scrutiny Committee hearing today, made a personal comment about the Bathing Pools and blamed a shortage of States money:
"If only we didn't have a deficit."
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