Stream 7A: Logistical Challenges

Moderator: Marisa Ackhurst, Advisian, South Africa

Answer - Andrew Knight, Brighton Marina: I couldn’t help wondering what was the value of those huts and why they had to prove protected?

Answer – Steve Hold: This is a parochial Jersey question. Prior to 2016, French, British and Jersey fishers were fighting over the rich fishing grounds. It is a dangerous, wild and exposed environment and the sensible fishers had build timber shelters for the last 200 years or so. Slowly but surely, they became more robust and were built from stones from the 1880s. However, on the only island, Les Maitrise Isle, there are no facilities; no water, no electricity and is technically uninhabited. The agreement between French government and the UK Government to cede this particular archipelago to the protectorate of Jersey in 2016 meant that ownership of stone building could be purchased by the people of Jersey. Jersey is quite a wealthy place, and with this wealth comes with unseen political power that results in these Jersey owners having UK protection of their assets. There is a royal connection to this as well in that, as a UK crown protectorate, the Jersey ownership is backed up by the UK. The heli-pad, slipway, and stone jetty all provide access to this rugged and beautiful land and seascape. Over the last twenty years or so, one after another of the stone huts have been purchased by Jersey families who use them as a base for holiday visits to the island hence their value as a tourist destination. As you can see from the images, the whole archipelago can be really beautiful but also really wild weather-wise and very dangerous. Therefore, such holiday visits are infrequent but need to be planned carefully for a family visit for a day or so. The rebuilding of a new seawall to protect the huts that were behind the old, failed sea wall needed much planning and several site visits by the contractor to see how logistically all of the construction materials could be brought to the site. This meant many discussions with the hut owners who were only too pleased to have a contractor with materials on the island to build the new defence wall in front of their huts. The owners also offered the use of some of their huts as shelter, for storage, and even overnight accommodation, if necessary, in return for a little maintenance work to their huts. The hut owners were therefore very pleased with the completion of the wall, its aesthetics and robustness in the face of winter storms. The cost for the project as a whole was negotiated between the contractor and the HM Receiver General in Jersey. The costs were seen to be in keeping with those that could be expected for a more normal marine infrastructure project in such a remote and challenging environment.