Cortes Delusional on Heritage as public coffers lose out

The Government and the Minister for Heritage, Mr Cortes, should be less patronising and show greater humility in acknowledging the embarrassing state of our World War 2 defence structures.

The Government’s description of its newly announced inventory of military assets as “a first step” implies that a comprehensive assessment and maintenance programme has not been in place to date. This leads to the legitimate conclusion that they have been abandoned for years and Mr Cortes should at least be acknowledging that and stop being so defensive.

The Government should not be referring to the 9.2-inch gun move as a virtue but admit mismanagement in this connection also. They have not “rescued” this prime military gem – what they have done is move it from a scrap yard to an exposed area where it lies abandoned and rusting away in full view of everyone.  This epitomises the general neglect and is in stark contrast to Mr Cortes’ delusional protestations that never has so much been done for heritage.

Instead of going on the attack, the Government should also be explaining why the taxpayer is spending £1.4M, on an annual basis, on a contract with a private company when the sites it manages such as Parsons Lodge and Stay Behind Cave are underutilised for residents and visitors to enjoy. These, like the WW2 defence structures, are sites which have huge heritage and touristic potential but are being ignored despite the significant annual expenditure.

The Government should now also provide details of the key terms agreed with the various private contractors including any revenue-sharing arrangements linked to tourist receipts,
which could amount to many millions of pounds. It should also provide a detailed breakdown of the arrangements under which an estimated £6M is expected to be paid in 2025/2026 to “Sites Management Systems” in connection with Upper Rock entry fees.

Damon Bossino said: “As with the move of Government depTs to privately owned properties these further Government-private commercial arrangements raise legitimate questions which impact on our public finances and ought to be the subject of full transparency and accountability.”