Attempt to block sale of old Social Security building fails

Tuesday, 31 March 2026 08:00

The sale of the old Social Security building for housing will go head, despite a St Helier's deputy's attempt to postponed it.

Deputy David Warr wanted 'alternative uses' of the La Motte site to be considered, such as an open space or public parking.

READ: Town deputy attempts to block sale old Social Security building

He said the £2.3 million transaction it was being 'rushed through' before the election 'without proper scrutiny', and wanted its use to community to be properly considered.

"We can choose to treat public land as something to be monetised, or we can choose to treat it as something to be stewarded...

"We can choose to leave St Helier more crowded, with more concrete and more fragmented, or we can choose to leave it greener, fairer and more humane."

Social Security Minister Deputy Lyndsay Feltham said the Deputy was asking the States to repeat a process that had just been done:

"It's not been a secret that this was up for sale, any member of this assembly could have brought a proposition at the budget to give the government the amount of money that it would need to purchase the site from the Social Security fund, and give the government the money it would need to build a park, car park, but of course, no member of this Assembly did that."

The vote was lost, 33-9.

The sale of Philip Le Feuvre House and the adjoining Huguenot House is due to be completed within the week.