St John Constable Chris Taylor had called for a new independent review of the site to compare the pros and cons of the location and revisit those sites that had been rejected, including the Waterfront and St Saviour’s Hospital.
However, his proposition was defeated this week by 25 votes to 19.
Mr Taylor, along with several other Members, argued that the hospital project team had lost the faith of the public and that all sites should be reviewed to ensure the ‘best for Islanders’.
The Constable said: ‘I have not received one single email from anybody working in the Hospital saying “please can you get on and build this”.
‘But I have had a lot of phone calls saying anonymously “you have got to stop what is happening”.
‘It’s very sad that people should be in such fear of their jobs.’
Deputy Russell Labey added that Members needed to be 100 per cent sure the site was correct.
He said: ‘We all have favoured sites – that is not the issue here.
‘The issue is whether independently this site should be looked at again. I’m not against this site – I would love this site to work but I cannot be sure.
‘I have lost confidence in the process so far and I think the public has lost confidence in the process so far as well.’
Health Minister Andrew Green said that all the sites had already been reviewed and a fresh report would simply return the same results that have already been published.
Assistant Health Minister John Refault added that ‘to say we have not done the homework is, quite frankly, offensive’.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said: ‘There comes a time when as States Members we have to move on.’
An initial planning application for the current hospital site was rejected by Environment Minister Steve Luce following a planning inquiry. The application was rejected on the basis that the scale and mass of the proposals were too big for the town location. This week a revised application is due to be submitted to Planning.
HOW THEY VOTED
FOR:
Senators: Bailhache and Ferguson. Constables: Le Sueur-Rennard, Taylor and Le Sueur. Deputies: Martin, C Labey, Le Fondré, K Lewis, Vallois, Higgins, Maçon, Mézec, R Labey, Wickenden, Brée, McDonald, Johnson and Truscott (19)
AGAINST:
Senators: Routier, Ozouf, Maclean, Gorst, Farnham and Green. Constables: Crowcroft, Norman, Refault, Mezbourian, Gallichan, Paddock, Pallett, Le Troquer and Le Maistre. Deputies: Hilton, Pryke, Noel, Pinel, Bryans, Moore, Rondel, Renouf, Doublet and McLinton (25)
