Repairing sea pool is a priority - minister

A meeting to decide the future of the Victoria Marine Lake Pool was held on Thursday

The Government of Jersey is committed to repairing Victoria Marine Lake pool, the island's infrastructure minister has said.

At a meeting on Thursday, constable Andy Jehan said the government would invest money into restoring the sea pool, despite previously labelling it "uneconomical".

Nina Zaech, who started a petition to save the 128-year-old sea pool which garnered more than 1,400 signatures, has welcomed the commitment.

Jehan said the government was looking to repair the pool as soon as possible, adding his main concern was around safety and repairing the holes in the pool which were "getting larger".

He said: "It's about safety - it's a historical building so we can't demolish it without permission and it would cost an awful lot of money.

"The priority at the moment is to repair the pool and make it safe."

Jehan said the repairs would cost "hundreds of thousands of pounds".

The sea pool, built in 1897, is one of the largest of its kind in the British Isles, but it has been unusable since 2023 due to its sluice gates remaining open.

'Honouring history'

Ms Zaech said supporters of the pool wanted to "see action" on its restoration.

She said: "In our view, it is not only about safety - it's about preserving an important public place, honouring history, and supporting history.

"He [Jehan] assured us that he will secure funding and put solutions in place for long-term maintenance."

Ms Zaech said although the meeting on Thursday was positive, nothing had been done so far and there was no timescale.

"We would appreciate a transparent process of damage assessment, contractor proposals, funding, planning of long-term maintenance..." she added.