Dean of the douzaine Bill Cohu told the parish meeting that he was unhappy about the project, which had recently been agreed by douzeniers.
He said he could not see how the project was good value for money for parishioners and he wanted to bring his concerns to their attention.
‘It is for about 10 people basically to be able to keep their crab pots dry, and they’ve also been given free electricity and free water,’ said Mr Cohu.
‘In the current financial climate, where possibly some people in this parish can’t even turn on their cookers, this doesn’t sit right with me.
‘That’s a lot of money to spend for 10 parishioners – they’re not even in the parish necessarily, but they’re boat owners at Bordeaux.’
After telling the meeting that Mr Cohu was himself a user of the shed, junior constable Richard Leale rebutted his claims about free electricity and water, the costs of which were covered by fees charged on boats laid up at Bordeaux over the winter.
Mr Leale said the cost of the roof would be paid out of a parish improvements fund, which was funded by dog tax receipts, and not by ratepayers.
‘We were told the roof leaks, though some say it doesn’t, but the most important part is that it’s asbestos,’ said Mr Leale.
‘Asbestos these days is an out-and-out no-no.
‘The roof is very old and it’s breaking down and, therefore, as the owner of the building, we have a duty of care to replace the roof properly.
‘Yes, it’s a lot of money, but you try to get anything done today that doesn’t cost a lot of money.’
Following questions from parishioner Richard Brache, Mr Leale said it would probably take about 13 or 14 years’ worth of boat fees to fund the improvements to the shed roof, which had been erected too many years ago for anybody to remember.
Mr Cohu pointed out that users of the shed itself were paying only £50 a year each and on that basis it would take decades for them to repay the cost of the re-roofing.
Parishioner John Naftel said asbestos was ‘a killer’ which had affected a number of people he had worked with, and that it always needed to be treated with great seriousness.