Simon Crowcroft

Capital confidence

2011-11-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

Without wishing to gloss over the serious challenges that are facing town's retailers and the many other firms that do business in our town, it's important that we recognise the continued resilience of St Helier's retail offer in difficult economic conditions. Recently I was shown around the former CT Maine jewellery shop that is being fitted out by Sandpiper as a clothing store; not only was I impressed by the skills of the craftsmen and women who were involved in an extensive renovation of this historic town centre shop to an ambitious deadline, but I was inspired by the confidence that Nick Steel, from Sandpiper, has in the future of retail in St Helier.

The work being carried out on CT Maine will make it rival the splendidly restored National Trust property just a stone's throw away at 16 New Street; it's as much a museum as a clothes shop, and I look forward to spending time and even some money there this Christmas.

The Parish Roads Committee were persuaded to relax the 'scaffolding embargo' sufficiently to allow essential work on the roof of CT Maine's (a name which it is likely to stick in the public mind for many years to come!), and Sandpiper responded by putting up an attractive hoarding during the work; apparently this has attracted neither graffiti nor fly posting, which goes to show that the public appreciate such attention to keeping the public realm attractive.

At the same time, it's depressing to note that a sculpture on the Esplanade has been vandalised again; a new focus on incorporating public art in developments was one of the key acheivements of the former Environent Minister, Freddie Cohen. I hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that we send out a strong message to such people that the majority of us want St Helier to be a clean, safe, attractive and vibrant capital of our island.

Why I signed Senator-elect Bailhache's nomination paper for Chief Minister

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Seems a few eyebrows have been raised over this so I will explain for the curious. Firstly, it seems to me that the person who tops the poll in the Islandwide election and who decides to stand for the top job on the strength of that is worthy of consideration. True, Deputy Ian Gorst, who came second, announced during the campaign that he would stand as Chief Minister whereas Philip Bailhache didn't, but the latter didn't, as I recall, rule it in or out.

Secondly, Senator-elect Bailhache took the trouble on two occasions after the election to discuss with me what I felt the key issues facing St Helier are, whereas I didn't hear from Senator-elect Gorst.

Thirdly, Senator-elect Bailhache ran for office with a specific objective of sorting out the States Assembly, and it should be clear to anyone who listens in to the States, or watches from the visitors' gallery, or reads it on Hansard, and who has heard some of my (now infrequent) interventions, that I am really fed up with the amount of time we waste in there; we are testing the system to destruction and I am fully signed up to reforming the States so that those of us with other things to do as elected members, and in life, can get on with doing them.

Salle polyvalente, anyone?

2011-11-07T08:49:00.001-08:00

For the senatorial hustings meeting last month the Parish hired a meeting room in a town hotel, due to the fact that the Assembly Room at the Town Hall only holds 250 people, seated, with 50 permitted to stand, making a total of 300 out of a population of more than 100 times that number. Nor was there sufficient space on the dais for the 13 candidates plus chairman, nor sufficient microphones - nor sufficient air! If you have attended a packed public meeting at the Town Hall you will know how stuffy it gets. When the building was acquired in the 19th century, as fire station, police station as well as parish offices, meeting space wasn't a problem as the only people entitled to vote in parish meetings were 'principals', those paying over a certain amount in rates; before that, parish meetings had taken place in town hotels (Plus ca change ...) while elections involved a show of hands in the Town Church prior to the introduction of the secret ballot.

Of course we will never be able to find a suitable space in which to accommodate the thousands of parishioners who could turn up to Parish Assembly, and critics of this proposal will point out that most of our assemblies are only supported by a handful of parishioners. It is also possible for us to make use of referendums on important parish issues in future. Even so, I think it is time that St Helier started looking for a meeting room with a more realistic capacity than the Assembly Room. Two of our twin towns have such facilities, the Kursaal in Bad Wurzach and La Salle Polyvalente in Avranches: both are modern, large enough to accommodate up to 1,000 people, and they also are in much demand for concerts, conferences, presentations, dinners and the like.

I'm not for a minute suggesting that the Assembly Room has had its day. We are making increasing use of our elegant room, with lots of commercial hirings as well as numerous community events, concerts, dances, dinners and so on, with potential to to put it on the town's cultural tourism trail so that more people can enjoy the parish's collection of paintings. But when it comes to holding a large gathering of parishioners, there is only really Fort Regent whose future is still uncertain, and which isn't under the Parish of St Helier's control in any case.

Any ideas?

The Millennium Town Park - a personal view

2011-11-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

One of the four questions put to the candidates in the election for Senator at the final hustings last month was why the new park had been built without the underground parking that was part of the original petition. As chair of the meeting I obviously couldn't say anything but listened as most of the candidates deplored the fact that the project hadn't tackled the desperate need for more parking in our parish. Stuart Syvret was the only candidate who seemed to fully appreciate the difficulties involved in digging out the site to a much greater depth as would have been necessary if underground parking had been included - and the huge increase in the cost of the project.

It was difficult enough to persuade the States to part with the 10 million pounds the park project cost - thanks to Deputy Southern's amendment to the 2011 Business Plan and the intervention of Senator Alan Maclean's ring binder; it was equally difficult to stop the States from building appartments around the edge of the park site - St Helier elected representatives lost that vote in the States, but the former Planning Minister, Freddie Cohen, withdrew the plans that would have made our new park even smaller than it is. How much more difficult it would have been to get the States in the current economic climate to stump up the extra tens of millions that an underground car park would have cost.

Yes, there were some private sector schemes floated during the last dozen years, and countless proposals for putting the car parking elsewhere - a multi-storey on Ann Court site, anyone? - but States Members in 2011 were faced with the prospect of another decade of argument about underground parking on the site, and no realistic hope of implementing the public's preferred project to celebrate the new millennium - unless they went ahead and voted the funding for a surface park. And that was the decision that was made, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

Not that we should give up on the search for more public parking in the northern part of St Helier; we shouldn't. The company that owns the site occupied by the Odeon and the various surface car parks and warehouses adjacent to the new park is keen to develop a mixed-use scheme and have told the St Helier Roads Committee on a number of occasions that it will include as much public parking as the transport planners will allow. There are also various publicly owned car parks in the area, including parish car parks at Nelson Street and Byron Lane, and States' owned sites in and around Springfield, that could provide much more parking than they do. To the east of town, there is ample space to extend Green Street car park, so long as the States aren't determined to build the new police station there, while extra levels of parking at Snow Hill have been talked about for years.

As for the new park, it is a dream come true for thousands of Islanders. Someone who lives in an adjacent street told me, with tears in her eyes, how she came out of her front door one morning to see a large tree in autumn leaf had appeared at the end of her road. Even though the Millennium Park Support Group is disappointed with the removal from the scheme of some of the features that were promised, and the inclusion of unwished for elements, practically everyone is agreed on one thing: the Millennium Town Park is an enormous improvement on what was there before. See you there, for a game of petanque, perhaps, or a jog a few times round the perimeter, or a picnic on the grass.

No Pooh sticks in the Millennium Town Park

2011-02-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

I have given my overall support for the current planning application in respect of the Millennium Town Park especially since the revised North of Town Masterplan has deleted most of the planned buildings from the site.

I say, most of, because I think that given the relatively small size of the park and the large number of expected users, it is in my opinion wrong to waste any of its area with unnecessary buildings. Indeed, the original petition that led, after many years, to the creation of the Millennium Town Park, proscribed any building on the site. There is actually no need for the States to provide any more than an area for picnic tables on the site, given that there is an existing cafe at the junction of Gas Place and Oxford Road, another one across Bath Street and a third under development on the junction of Tunnel Street with Bath Street. The provision of public toilets can be justified, although these could have been provided by using the contours of the site so as not to lose any valuable space. As it stands, the toilet provision in the proposed cafe is woefully inadequate - far better to have achieved a higher number of public toilets at various locations around the park, introduced at semi-basement level with planting or other park features on top. The applicant is providing, at considerable expense to the public purse, a cafe facility which will take trade away from existing cafes. I would refer you to the park in front of Cardiff's art gallery, essentially a lawned space with many trees, fountains, public art and some planting; the cafe provision there is amply provided by a wooden kiosk. I repeat: not only is the proposed cafe building against the spirit of the agreement to create a park without buildings; it is a waste of valuable park space, and it is, in my view, an entirely unnecessary blot on this particular landscape.

An even stronger argument can be made against the proposed maintenance shed on the Tunnell Street side of the park. I have been provided with detailed arguments as to why TTS believes it is essential to take up yet more space from an area that has been described by the park designer as 'very tiny', but there is no doubt that the new park could be maintained without this extra building. Of course this might entail changes in working practices, but there is no doubt that it could be done. It is, after all, not certain that TTS will be able to afford to maintain the park in the face of spending cuts, and I would give, by way of example, the case of La Collette Gardens which the then Public Services Committee decided they could no longer afford to maintain as a formal park. The Parish of St Helier maintains its town parks without the necessity of sheds, and would not require a shed were the Parish to be requested to maintain the Millennium Town Park at some future date. The need to provide a pump housing for the water feature does not justify the presence of the maintenance shed.

I would recommend that the cafe and maintenance shed elements of the application are not approved and TTS is requested to revise its scheme to provide better public toilet facilities. Alternatively, the applicant could simply delete both structures from the plans and we could rely on the surrounding buildings to provide all the facilities involved. I have already drawn the attention of the parties involved in the scheme to the potential complementary uses of the Le Seelleur building adjacent to the park. Given that it is intended to provide, at the very least, traffic calming and safe crossing points along the length of Gas Place, given that this building is in States' ownership and given that it requires urgent refurbishment anyway, it would be a far better use of the funds set aside for the cafe and toilet block for these to be applied to the Le Seelleur building. Public toilets could be provided here as well as the gardeners mess room et cetera, which it is proposed to provide in the second building on the park.

If any further work is to be done by the park designers in respect of the above matters, it would be useful for the provision of water in the park to be reviewed. I did mention during the consultation the presence of former streams through the site and believe that it would have been a major enhancement of the park to have had a watercourse flowing through it, running perhaps from the water play area at the eastern end of the park down to Bath Street. I believe that the 'Health & Safety' concerns of a shallow stream could be overcome and that there are few activities children enjoy so much as playing 'Pooh sticks'.

Election Manifesto 2011

2010-12-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Elector of St. Helier

When I stood for election nine years ago the Parish was on the verge of bankruptcy, with angry ratepayers determined to slash its budget at the annual Rates Assemblies. I promised if elected to get the Parish finances under control.

Together with the Procureurs du Bien Public, the Parish staff, and with the support of the Parish Deputies I have managed to reduce expenditure and increase income so that St Helier’s rates are no longer the highest in the Island, Reducing the cost of Parish administration has not been at the expense of front-line services – financial stability means that we have been able to take on new posts such as increasing our Parish Warden headcount to 5, and, following a successful trial in partnership with Transport & Technical Services, successfully recruiting 5 additional street-cleaning staff to provide cover in the evenings and at weekends.

Together with the Parish Deputies I have successfully argued in the States against building on the site of the new Millennium Town Park, and this project is set to become a reality next year. Ratepayers have approved the purchase of a building to provide new toilets in the town centre, and a proposal will come to a Parish Assembly in the New Year to build a new residential home as part of the redevelopment of Westmount Quarry. Other exciting plans for 2011 include the opening of new youth and community facilities at La Pouquelaye, First Tower and the Move On Café, and the construction of a shed for recycling at the Mont a l’Abbe depot.

The success of latest recycling trial in La Pouquelaye means that we are preparing to provide weekly kerbside recycling collections across the Parish; we are continuing to trial food-waste collections in the Havre des Pas area, and we are going to bring back monthly glass collections, as not all parishioners find the communal glass bins convenient. We will continue to work to improve parking facilities in the Parish, and to increase the supply of spaces for the Residents’ Parking Zones as well as for motorcycles.

Following my uncontested election for a fourth term as Constable of St. Helier on Wednesday 1^st December, I look forward to continuing to control expenditure, improving services, defending the best interests of the Parish in the States’ Assembly, developing our day nurseries and residential homes, and supporting the many people who fulfil valuable Honorary roles in the Parish – all this at the same time as reducing Parish Rates. I am holding public meetings at which I will set out my policies for the Parish, answer questions and receive feedback on my manifesto on the following dates in the New Year:

Tuesday 11th January, First Tower School at 7pm

Wednesday 12th January, the Old Magistrate’s Court, Town Hall at 7pm

Thursday 13th January, at the Havre des Pas bathing pool café at 7pm

Alternatively please feel free to contact me for more information on telephone 720830 or email: constable@posh.gov.je

Key achievements so far

Parish finances under control

Progress with Parish property portfolio including Westmount Quarry and the Old Magistrate’s Court

Residential Homes and Day Nurseries among the best in Jersey

A second recycling trial at La Pouquelaye and agreement of a recycling partner in France

New front line posts in street-cleansing

New website for the Parish

New Residents’ Parking Schemes and more Parish Wardens

Championing St. Helier’s position in the States Assembly

Workscheme for the unemployed and an aprenticeships programme

Open meetings of the Roads Committee and monthly meetings with Parish Deputies

Annual grants to young people and youth groups

Honorary Police recruitment and training

Town centre management and regeneration initiatives

Support for the ‘Community in Bloom’ Group and our new Battle of Flowers’ Committee

Investment in new play facilities at People’s Park and the Parade

‘The Town Crier’ newsletter – new monthly format delivered across the Parish

Refurbishment programme for toilets and additional facilities

High standards maintained in Parish parks, gardens and cemeteries

Support for local charities in the Seale Street charitable offices

Increased use of Town Hall for community uses, such as Senior Citizens’ lunches

The challenges ahead

CHALLENGES IN THE STATES:

I will continue to ask questions of Ministers in the States and to bring propositions forward for debate as I try with my fellow Deputies to ensure a fair deal for St. Helier. There are several key States debates and works in progress that could have serious impacts on our Parish if the States make wrong decisions in 2011:

the long-awaited debate on the North of St Helier Masterplan, to which I have tabled an amendment to secure adequate open space for residents and to prevent ‘town cramming’

the debates on Speed Control and the new Island Plan

the ongoing debate on the proposals for the Esplanade Quarter, and the need to protect the interests of the retail heart of town, especially the markets

the future of Fort Regent and proposed developments ‘East of Albert’ including the harbours

the implementation of the Transport policy including proposals to improve pedestrian safety in places like Midvale Road and the Queen’s Road roundabout, to promote safe and responsible cycling and to increase shopper parking

the review of the Licensing Law and the implementation of initiatives to make St Helier a less threatening environment on Friday and Saturday evenings

the opening of the new incinerator at La Collette and the potential effect on Havre des Pas; ongoing problems for the residents of First Tower posed by States recycling and sewage operations at Bellozanne

the debate on whether the States should pay rates on their properties – a successful outcome for St. Helier will mean an extra £1m per annum to address the inequity of our ratepayers subsidising public amenities such as parks, gardens and toilets

I have a proven track record of championing the interests of the Parish in the States Assembly, and pledge to continue in this work during the coming year.

CHALLENGES IN THE PARISH:

I will continue to work with the Parish Assembly, the St Helier staff team, the Procureurs du Bien Public, the Parish Deputies, the Honorary Police, the Roads Committee, Accounts Committee, and the many other groups which meet to plan the successful administration of Parish life. I believe that the key challenges facing the Parish in 2011 are:

the need for continuing financial control, especially in the difficult economic climate, tackling inefficiency and waste, maximising non-rates income, with the target of further lowering the Parish rate at our Rates Assembly on Wednesday 6 July

the introduction of kerbside recycling collections, including community recycling points for those with insufficient space to store recyclables, and a return of domestic glass collections

the need to develop further our ability to keep St Helier clean, especially the provision of more litter bins, and greater enforcement of littering offences

wise management of the Parish’s property portfolio, both of schemes already approved by the Parish Assembly such as new town centre toilets, and the potential purchase of a new residential home as part of the Westmount Quarry development

the provision of more benches and trees around the Parish

the monitoring of the operation of the existing Residents Parking Zones, making improvements as required, and developing new zones where requested by parishioners

the opportunities to develop further the opportunities for community involvement in Parish life, especially in the Honorary Police, and the ability of parishioners of all ages to enjoy the facilities and activities provided around the Parish

the development and implementation of environmental policies for the Parish

I look forward to working in the months ahead with the talented and enthusiastic team of St Helier staff and volunteers that has the improvement of our Parish as its no. 1 priority.

Constable Simon Crowcroft

I started a new language school for foreign students in St. Helier in 1991. I was elected as a Deputy of St. Helier No. 2 District in 1996 and chaired the Urban Renewal sub-committee of the Planning & Environment Committee which played an important role in the refurbishment of the bathing pool at Havre des Pas as well as in the rejuvenation of town, with new tree planting, pavement widening, unloading bay provision and traffic calming. In 2001 I was elected Constable of St. Helier; I was returned unopposed in 2004, and won a contested election in 2008. On 1December 2010 I was returned unopposed to serve a fourth term which will expire on October 2011 when there will be a general election.

I have given up my business interests in order to concentrate full-time on the running of the Parish

I am a family man, 52 years old, with three sons aged 27, 25 and 22, and two daughters aged 14 and 9. My wife, Angela, teaches art at Jersey College for Girls

Formerly a resident of St. Brelade, where I lived from the age of 15, I chose to raise my family in town to be closer to work, to the schools and to the vibrant community that is St. Helier.

Nomination paper

Thank you to the following residents of St. Helier who have nominated me to serve a further term of office as the father of the Parish:

Clive Barton, Paddy Freeley, Iain Macfirbhisigh, Ann Bailhache, Stewart Mourant, Roselle Godfray, André Ferrari, Martyn Gallery, James Spriggs and Gordon Bullock

Please feel free to contact me for more information on telephone 720830 or email: constable@posh.gov.je

The Planning Committee and St Helier

2010-03-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the public meeting of the Planning Applications sub-committee to support a request for reconsideration in respect of the Broad Street cafe. The proprietor and his architect have asked for planning permission to enlarge the serving hatch as the present one is simply too small to meet his operational needs. Admittedly the montage of the larger hatch wasn't too attractive, and this is a listed building, but all the same, the permitted (small) hatch was inserted as part of the conversion of the building from Victorian toilet to modern cafe, so the request to enlarge it seemed reasonable enough to me.

So, which elected members compose our Planning Applications sub-committee? Some rural constables and some out of town deputies - not a single member from the Parish of St Helier, of which there are eleven in the States Assembly. Last year the committee turned down a request for a pavement extension to allow some more al fresco in a part of town that needs every bit of extra retail vibrancy that it can get; and today they turned down, unanimously, the request to make a minor change in a cafe serving hatch.

Thanks, guys!

St. Helier is getting cleaner

2010-02-17T10:43:00.000-08:00

I still have to pinch myself when I see our staff with their brushes and handcarts, or astride their green machines, and it's dark. For as long as I can remember you only ever saw one or two people cleaning the town streets in the afternoons, and it's long been an ambition of mine to have street cleansing crews working into the evenings, as happens in many other towns of this size.

Since July last year there has been a new trial in place whereby all of the Parish street cleansing staff are concentrated on the area within the Ring Road, while the TTS or States staff deal with the rest of the Parish. But St. Helier parishioners voted extra funding so we could increase our staffing to cover the afternoons, evenings and weekends, and what a difference it is making.

Not that we're home and dry, by any means - we still have to tackle the root of the problem and deter people from dropping litter in the first place; we need to improve the provision of litter bins, too - sometimes I pick up some litter and find I have to walk half a mile before I find a bin to put it in; we need to allocate more resources to the actual washing of pavements and precincts. But progress is definitely being made towards a cleaner St. Helier.

The St Thomas' RPZ

2010-01-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

The latest addition to St Helier's Residents' Parking Zones or RPZs went live at the beginning of the year. As with the previous RPZs, Cheapside and St Mark's, there have been teething problems; for people on the waiting list to get a permit it is particularly frustrating not being able to use the areas which were previously disc parking, while some residents who already have off-street parking are concerned about whether there are enough spaces provided for visitors. At the meeting accompanying the launch of the new RPZ, held for obvious reasons in St Thomas church hall, a number of useful suggestions were made, especially about how the number of parking spaces available may be increased, and the team at the Town Hall is looking into the proposals. These include making it legal to park on some parts of the street that are currently yellow-lined and removing some of the 'ugly' concrete planters, some of which have pretty stunted trees in them.

Most of the feedback we have received has been positive: residents of streets previously clogged up in the evenings and weekends by high-sided commercial vehicles are delighted to get some light in their windows; the Parish Wardens, whose activities are funded by the permit fee, are adding to the sense of security in town streets; in St Helier, as elsewhere, residents' parking adds to the sense of living in a particular neighbourhood, spares residents the headache of having to move their vehicles all the time, and means that if you live in town and want to drive out to the beach or the countryside you have a pretty good chance of being able to park in the vicinity of your home when you come back.

Though I don't qualify for a RPZ permit, I still get a real buzz when I walk in town streets and see the permits in the windscreens of most vehicles. It's the kind of practical politics that got me into this in the first place, and it takes me back to the first meetings of the working group which were held in the language school I ran in Don Street. Martyn Gallery was there, Bernie Manning, Jenny Bridge and several others. The latest RPZ has taken 12 years to deliver, but that's still not quite as long as the Millennium Town Park or a parish-wide recycling scheme.

Car alarms

2009-11-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

A minor nuisance, no doubt, but am I the only person who objects to the fact that during wind and rain hypersensitive car alarms go on in the middle of the night? After all, what is the justification for having your car alarm enabled in Jersey anyway? What evidence is there that having a car alarm deters car thieves, and how does the comfort a car alarm confers weighed up against the nuisance they create when they go off at 3 and 4 and 5am? I would be interested in knowing how easy or difficult it is to disable the thing, and whether legislation exists elsewhere to tackle this.

National Poetry Day

2009-10-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

The theme of NPD is heroes and this morning on BBC Radio Jersey I read a poem I wrote about one of my local heroes, Gerard Le Claire. Several listeners have asked to read it, so here it is:

In Memory of Gerard Le Claire

He tried so hard to look older:
glasses, goatee, gruelling missions
to the world’s end on shoestring budgets;
fresh-faced for all his pains, as if some shaman
had slipped him an elixir, at lectures
they would think a schoolboy had come to the dais.

Imagine him at sixty, walking the shoreline
between South Hill and the Dicq,
with crows’ feet, at last, and his hair silver!

Loving this place, he loved the world more -
‘The local is global’ - et cetera:
rivers in the wrong places,
downpours drumming on the sea,
the earth crazed like old china …

‘We must meet up for a beer,’ he’d say,
pumping my hand, and we had years to arrange it:
this table with its view of the sea,
a cargo ship crossing St Aubin’s Bay,
and two glasses, one empty, the other full.

2009-09-29T00:49:00.000-07:00

Anonymous writes: ' Will you be building a toilet block in the new park so you can convert it at a later date to a cafe?'

We have been pursuing a policy wherever possible of combining the refurbishment of toilet facilities with the addition of revenue raising opportunities such as the cafés introduced in Broad Street, The Parade and Havre des Pas. Apart from helping to enhance town life in these areas (I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't think the new public square in Broad Street, with its cafe, fountains and seating, a vast improvement on what was there before), these new concessions have provided local people with job opportunities and have helped to offset the cost of toilet provision by the Parish.

It is of course unfair that St Helier ratepayers should bear the cost of toilet provision which is used by the Island and visitors. I along with most of the Parish Deputies have argued in the States Assembly that a contribution to this service should be made by the States out of general taxation. To date these arguments have fallen on deaf ears but I will continue to seek a fair deal for St Helier ratepayers in the provision of all public amenities.

Thank you, Senator Maclean

2009-09-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Council of Ministers has been forced to reinstate the funding for the Millennium Town Park by one of their own members pressing the wrong button when it came to the vote. After many hours of debate -which will be available on Hansard (www.statesassembly.gov.je) in a fortnight or so - Deputy Geoff Southern summed up and called for the 'appel'. Senator Alan Maclean, formerly a Deputy for St. Helier No. 2 District in which the promised park and car park are to be built, had previously spoken against the proposition, and, one assumes, fully intended to vote against it, too.

But, he told the Greffier who was in the chair, the papers on his desk meant that the 'pour' button was pressed by mistake. The result, 23 in favour, 22 against. I missed seeing the look on the Treasury Minister's face as the Senator behind him tried in vain to have his vote changed, as I was too busy enjoying this momentous day in the States Assembly; there was even a burst of applause (most unparliamentary behaviour) over the traditional footstamping, and for States Members who have campaigned, argued, and pleaded for this particular promise by the States to be kept, it was an emotional few moments.

The four JDA members all spoke well, especially Deputy Southern, and there were persuasive arguments from the other St. Helier Deputies, apart from Deputy Ben Fox who inexplicably voted against. Daniel Wimberley, Deputy of St. Mary, made the best researched contribution, although Senator Maclean (how he must regret his hubris) chortled as he mocked the length of Daniel's speech. Perhaps the most compelling speech came from Senator Ian Le Marquand early in the debate, when he distanced himself from the Council of Ministers, recognising that the North of St. Helier Masterplan was simply a delaying tactic to avoid delivering the long-awaited preferred Millennium project for Jersey.

The Next Big Thing

2009-09-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the Council of Ministers for a presentation on the much hyped and slightly overdue Masterplan for the North of St. Helier, aka How to deliver the Millennium Town Park without it costing the States of Jersey a penny. This project, as its name implies, is already a decade overdue since it was voted by Jersey people as their preferred States sponsored project to mark the new Millennium, a green lung stretching from Bath Street, adjacent to the Odeon, across the private car park (the 'Talman site') and the Gas Place car park. It's also a decade since more than 16,000 people signed a petition calling for the whole site to be used for the purposes of a park, with underground car parking. And if the Council of Ministers have their way it'll be another decade before the first sod is turned and the first blade of grass sprouted.

Amongst the plethora of hiccups, false starts and delays that have probably already cost a small fortune and put a smile on the faces of a whole host of UK consultants, there have been two main problems in delivering the project: first, the issue of the contamination of the ground due to its previous use as the Island's gasworks. But I think even those most committed to the goal of stalling the project would have to admit that there is now enough information to go on in terms of dealing with the contamination - and there's even a couple of million left in the States' coffers to pay for this. (All the rest of the promised States' funding has gone, but the decontamination money is safe for the time being, so it's not all bad!)

The second reason for the delays has been the need to provide alternative car parking, as consultants' reports filed at some stage down the years determined that the original aim of underground car parking was simply not feasible. That was when the idea was dreamed up of putting a car park on the site of Ann Court ... once the residents had been rehoused and the outworn accommodation demolished, you understand. The information sign alongside the site still gives this as the timetable for delivering the park by 2012. Yet when the Housing Department started moving people out of Ann Court, nearby residents began to wonder at the wisdom of putting a multi storey car park there, rather than new sheltered housing, for example, or some decent open space - with a perfectly serviceable multi storey car park a hundred yards away in Minden Place, why build another one on Ann Court? And didn't the Island's commitment to a sustainable less car-reliant future mean that we would think twice about such a project?

The solution dreamed up by the Planning Minister was to have a masterplan of the whole area, originally promised in a few months but actually it's taken nearly twice as long, but then delay really is the common theme of this project. The consultancy that won the contract was Hopkins, who've only recently completed the Esplanade Quarter Masterplan. They asked to see me at the start of the exercise and I was pleased to have a chance to share my vision for the kind of regeneration that would follow the creation of the Town Park. These were not my views alone; they were the dreams and aspirations of literally hundreds of men, women and children who had been part of the popular movement that led to the petition; they were primary school children (now adults) whose models of the kind of park they would like to play in were put on display in the Town Hall back in the 1990s; they were members of the Millennium Park support group who canvassed the views of residents of the area.

The most important thing, I told the consultants, was that people want the whole area for a park. They don't want to be offered a compensatory area somewhere else and a smaller park here, after all, this is a pretty small park by any standard. If you run between Robin Place and Gas Place it takes how many seconds? (it will take a fit child much less). The extra width at the bottleneck of the park can be provided by incorporating the two streets as extensions of the open space, even though they would have to be paved to allow essential and emergency access. The original design, completed at the end of a two-day workshop, accepted this as gospel: that's why the petition was so specific - we don't want you to build on the park. Not a car park, not a cafe, not a toilet block, but parklkand, from one end to the other and from one side to the other (we could and should be getting the Le Seilleur building incorporated into the scheme to provide complementary services for the park). This is what I told Hopkins: by all means look at the opportunities to regenerate the surrounding area; by all means supply artists' impressions of a leafy traffic-calmed David Place, and dream of the gentrification of Bath Street, but your key job is to solve the problem of where to provide the car parking that will be displaced by the Town Park.

What have Hopkins done? They have come up with a scheme that shows a line of three-storey houses along the northern side of the bottleneck, and housing on three sides of the Gas Place car park. The site needs 'enclosing', you see (the consultants employed ten years ago argued that the creation of the park would lead to the redevelopment of the park-side properties anyway, as night follows day.) Green Street car park has found its way into the Masterplan, too, with lots of redevelopment there, and (no surprises for guessing this one) they are proposing underground car parks for the Town Park, as well as for Ann Court! Underground parking, is, after all, perfectly feasible. All of this, and there's more, at no cost to the States.

The Council of Ministers were impressed, as you would expect. Surely this would be the death knell for Deputy Southern's amendment to the Business Plan which seeks to reinstate some States funding for this States sponsored Millennium project! But more exciting than defeating Deputy Southern (such victories pall after a time) here was the perfect replacement for the Esplanade Quarter Masterplan, the multi million pound project likely to be mothballed due to the credit crunch - here was the Next Big Thing! Would it deliver the Town Park? Not in the lifetime of this Council of Ministers. But what a splendid opportunity for more consultants, and for more delay!

There is a lot to admire in the Hopkins Masterplan for the north of St. Helier, don't get me wrong. But as far as delivering the Town Park is concerned it's a blind alley. A decade ago we voted to create a park across the whole of the site, and to put the parking underground - why don't we just get on with it?

St Helier's new party scene

2009-08-03T07:06:00.001-07:00

One of St. Helier's main traffic arteries was blocked on Sunday 2nd August by the Stopford Road street party, organised by Rod Bryans (pictured). I walked over to see how it was going and was really impressed by the difference the lack of traffic makes to a community. No surprises there - there's plenty of evidence that interraction between town residents is reduced in direct proportion to the speed and volume of traffic, but it was good to see that demonstrated in practice. There were tables down the middle of the road with food and drink (thanks to the Co-operative Society of the Channel Islands for sponsoring that) and people of all ages (8 weeks upwards) mixing, many of them for the first time. There were also leaflets available describing the history of the road, how it got its name, and some of its more famous residents.

As I met and talked to some of the residents I had a curious sense of this happening across the town, and how good that would be if, say, on the last Sunday of the month, April through to September, town residents were able to turn their stretch of the highway into a village green.

It's probably no coincidence that the first St. Helier street party in many a year has taken place in one of our Residents' Parking Zones or RPZs. Since their inception a dozen years ago, one of the key arguments for creating RPZs was that it would foster a sense of neighbourliness, of belonging to an association of people who share common experiences (like having to move their cars every two hours in the pre-RPZ days) and common needs, like the ownership of a car on Sundays as well as during the rest of the week. I still get a buzz out of seeing the RPZ permits on people's dashboards as I walk past their cars, though the buzz of a street party is even better. So thank you, Rod, and to everyone who helped run the Stopford Road street party. I hope we can use the 'event plan' that was required to snip through the red tape as a template for future street parties, both in your street and elsewhere in the Parish.

Racism in Jersey in 2009

2009-07-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

I suppose what I find shocking about racism in Jersey in 2009 is the way it issues forth from the mouths of people whom I know well - or believed that I did - people with whom I associate, work, do business, socialise; that it comes from older people who are naturally shell-shocked with the changes that have come upon their island in the past few decades I can understand, but to hear racist attitudes spouting from 16 year-olds, who have recently been granted the right to vote? It makes me wonder what our expensive education system is doing to inculcate tolerance, fairness, and, au fond, intelligence in our young people. It makes me wonder what we have learnt from the lessons of the holocaust when people can rise up to protest against the renaming of a shabby backwater of a street, a street with few residential addresses and only a handful of businesses, and seize upon all manner of excuses to defend their xenophobia.

But we’re not racist, they protest. Why we know Portuguese people ‘and they’re quite nice, really’ - this is verbatim, from last night’s Parish Assembly; ‘though I wish they wouldn’t talk to each other in their own language when they’re serving us.’ Ironic, that ... And here’s a call logged on my answerphone this evening - the caller gave her name but no number so there’s not much I can do to seek to show her the error of her ways, to convince her - if that would be possible - of how darkened her mind is:

“I’ve just heard on the news that it’s been approved that we now have a Route (sic) de Funchal, and I just wanted to voice my disapproval and absolute horror at that appalling decision. I think it’s a disgrace, an absolute disgrace, we are local people, this is Jersey, if we wanted Portuguese we would go to Portugal, we don’t have a St Helier in Portugal and why the hell should they have a Funchal in Jersey. I really think you should think long and hard before you make these irrational decisions, and upset half of the island. You’ve had people most I would imagine were unemployed Portuguese while the locals are busy trying to work to support this island. I think you need to think long and hard Mr Crowcroft, you’re Constable but the time will come when you will need our votes, and you won’t be getting mine if you continue down this vein.”

Make what you will of that. Or compare it with an email I received earlier the same day from a young man who was at last night’s Assembly:

“First of all I would like to let you know that I am pleased the proposal was approved last night to rename the street. I am also aware that before this could have got to the stage of being presented to the Parish Assembly last night, there was a lot of work involved, which means that there were a lot of people like yourself who were of the opinion this should be done and supported you all the way. For that I am very grateful and pleased.

I went to the meeting last night expecting to find some opposition and prepared for the possibility of people not approving the proposal. I thought people would not like to lose the street's name and all the bother associated with a change of address.

After a while of listening to people with objections against this change, I felt some genuine worries, however most the people I felt they were purely racist and many of them used what could be seen as genuine reasons/ objections, but I couldn't but feel that they were purely describing their true motivation.

Less than half way through of the debate, I really felt so disgusted and humiliated. I wished I had not gone to the meeting, I didn't think I would be able to stay until the end. I really felt there was a lot of hostility and a particular group of narrow minded people who kept claiming they were not racist, but their attitudes denied this.

Last night, I was pleased that the proposal was approved and thought that all the feelings caused by the racist comments I had witnessed would go away and would make me feel better by the approval of the name change. I was wrong, this feeling only lasted a couple of minutes, as I walked out of the Parish's doors I felt humiliated again and like these people had put me back in my place. I even got to the conclusion that no matter how hard I would try, I would never be able to mix in and be a part of the community.”

Despite the victory of 21st century inclusiveness, fairness and open-mindedness that last night’s Parish Assembly represents, the hurt caused to this parishioner at the same meeting is enough to make me weep. I have not felt so disgusted with the behaviour of my fellow islanders since it was reported to me that a person or persons lay in wait for a gay couple to exit a town take-away, in order to hurl them through the windows of a shop in Bath Street on 16th July (St. Helier Day). To date no prosecutions have been brought.

You may rest assured, parishioners who are disgusted by my desire to promote the naming of Rue de Funchal and to raise the profile of our Portuguese community, that I will continue to do all that I can for this community. And I will also do all that I can to make sure that those whose narrow-mindedness and ignorance leads them to mock, abuse or injure homosexuals get shown the pitiful error of their ways.

Dressing up

2009-06-24T08:44:00.001-07:00

Last month 'Anonymous' commented, a propos of the fining of 2 Parish Deputies, and the absence of any public comments from the Town Hall about it, "Its all very well dressing up in the fancy red gown but your job has its unpleasant duties too." Well, thanks for that - who would have guessed that the constable's job is not entirely a bed of roses!

Actually there're loads of pleasant duties involved in my job, but dressing up is not one of them, especially for the pilgrimage from the Town Church to the Hermitage beyond Elizabeth Castle which this year takes place on Sunday 19th July. The St Helier pilgrimage is quite short, as pilgrimages go, and takes about half an hour depending on how fast you walk. But if you have to dress up in heavy robes, as a lot of the pilgrims do, it is quite hard work. The members of the Church wear their cassocks, and the Dean of Jersey who leads the procession through town and out across the causeway to the Castle, has to don his ornate surplice. I am expected to wear the red robe that has been worn by St Helier constables for about a century, together with the chain of office made of gold – these are quite heavy too, on top of a suit – and I’m sure I’m not the only constable who has asked himself why we celebrate the life of St Helier in the middle of the summer!

Then there's Minden Day, which this year takes place on Sunday 2nd August, and commemorates the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Minden - it's usually pretty baking hot for that one, too, which takes place, surprisingly enough, in Minden Place.

Most of other occasions when I wear the robe and chain of office centre on ceremonies for past and serving members of the armed forces at the Cenotaph. Several - the D Day ceremony, Armed Forces Day, the launch of the Poppy Appeal, and Remembrance Sunday - are followed by a reception in the Assembly Room, and we also host receptions for visiting regiments and crews of naval vessels. On such occasions I am happy to take the extra trouble to dress up out of respect for the servicemen and women who are present, and feel that it's a privilege to meet them, to listen to their stories and to acknowledge their courage and spirit of self-sacrifice.

St Helier Rates

2009-06-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

From Maurice Le Cocq

The Constable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft, has gone on record as saying that he would like to increase the rates for St Helier ratepayers to pay for more street cleaning.
In view of the current economic times, including frozen wages and huge increases in basic commodities like electricity, instead of increasing costs for cash-strapped ratepayers, surely he could be looking at other ways of getting the job done without increasing our rates.
We have an ever-growing number of people being sentenced to community service, so how about following other jurisdictions and getting these people to sweep the streets? If it’s good enough for Boy George to sweep the streets of New York, why can’t our own home-grown offenders sweep our streets?
(Before I get irate letters from the unions, they need to appreciate that if the money isn’t there to pay for extra staff, they aren’t going to be taken on anyway, so no one is losing out.)

The Millennium Town Park - 'Framed'?

2009-06-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

The creation of the Millennium Town Park is shockingly overdue. As long ago as 1997 the Policy & Resources Committee felt the need to explain the delay in realising the project, putting it down to the complexities of the contaminated ground; since then, successive committees have commissioned feasibility studies, contamination reports and masterplans, which if placed together would probably fill a large bookshelf.

Many of the consultees involved in the early stages of the plans for a Town Park were primary school children: their models of how the completed park might look were displayed in the Town Hall, and various meetings held there with stakeholders, whose views on the type of park facilities were sought and carefully recorded. It is an indictment of the States relationship with the public that senior politicians have, since the late 1990s, simply ignored the outcomes of those early consultations. Meanwhile, the school children who contributed their vision of the new park have grown to adulthood, convinced, one must assume, that the States of Jersey cannot be relied upon to act upon the wishes of the people.

The majority of those who have campaigned for a Town Park, including the Millennium Town Park Group, have pledged to see the whole of the site used for open space. The Parish of St Helier has indicated that it would wish to see the roads bordering the site incorporated into the whole, albeit as paved areas where vehicular access to properties is still required.

One of the myths which some States Members have subscribed to is that such open spaces need to be framed by buildings. This view is especially espoused by the Planning Minister, Senator Freddie Cohen, who also wished to see the newly paved Weighbridge Square allow for a National Gallery at the Old Harbour end, to stop the open space from ‘bleeding’. The hoggin petanque pitches that were laid down were seen as a useful ‘temporary’ treatment of the end of the square earmarked for the gallery, but even the Minister would admit that such is the success of the new petanque space that it is likely to be permanent.

I don’t agree that the Town Park site needs to be ‘framed’ by terraces of new buildings along their edges. Early studies by imported consultants indicated that in the case of the Town Park, the surrounding properties would benefit from substantial increases in value, due to their position on the edge of the park, and that, in time, there would inevitably be investment in those properties that currently ‘turn their backs’ on the site. It should be pointed out that this process has already begun, with award-winning development of terraced houses on the south side of Gas Place.

As a member of the political steering group of the current master-planning process for the north of St. Helier, I pointed out at my first meeting with Hopkins, the chosen architects, earlier this year, that there was this historical opposition to building on the park; however, I have been disappointed to find out recently that they will be proposing the construction of housing on both sides of the park. The reasons given are likely to be aesthetic as well as financial, but I would argue that the open space provided by the two sites is simply too small to be compromised in this way.

The argument will be made that the Ann Court site, once cleared of housing, can provide additional open space, as well as new housing units, but I would argue that it is a case of both - and, not either - or; St Helier will only prosper as the focus of the majority of new housing developments if town residents have sufficient open space.

When I presented the petition for the creation of the Millennium Town Park to the States in 1997, and it was adopted with only two votes against, I believed that this decision would safeguard the sites against those who wished to see buildings upon them. Twelve years on from that near-unanimous decision I think that the time has come for the States to show once again that it is committed to the creation of the Millennium Town Park across the whole of the site, in recognition of the fact that the need for open space in St Helier has increased.

For the benefit of anyone who doesn't remember the Town Park petition, (P.190/1997), here it is:

Petition

To His Excellency General Sir Michael Wilkes, K.C.B., C.B.E., Lieutenant-Governor.

To Sir Philip Bailhache, Bailiff, President.

To the Members of the States of Jersey.

The humble petition of the inhabitants of the Island of Jersey shews –

(a) there is substantial public support for a public Town Park with underground car park (“the Town Park”) on the land currently comprising the public car park at Gas Place and the private car park occupying the site of the former Gas Company offices and workshops, the whole situate between Bath Street and the new Gas Company offices (“the entire land”);

(b) the maintenance of an open space on the entire land is desirable to ensure the quality of life of the residents and users of St. Helier;

(c) the Park would be a desirable and appropriate project to reflect aspirations for the future of St. Helier as a vibrant urban environment in the twenty-first century;

and accordingly your petitioners pray that –

(1) the Town Park be created on the entire land;

(2) the Town Park be known as the Millennium Town Park;

(3) the Town Park constitute a Millennium project for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations of Jersey, the residents of St. Helier and their children;

(4) the entire land should not be used for a multi-storey car park or other uses precluding a public park.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.

Countersignature of
Member presenting...................................................................... A.S. Crowcroft

Number of signatures.................................................................................. 16,404

Liberation Day - Vive la difference?

2009-05-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

My hairdresser - yes, I do still need to go to one, still have some hair clinging to the sides of my head - was delighted to discover that they needn't have transferred all their bookings for Saturday to the previous day (and cancelled those that couldn't be moved). I was in there last week submitting to the shears and explaining that they didn't come under the provisions of the Sunday Trading Law. While I was there watching the pathetic quantity of clippings tumble onto the floor, they had an assistant busily rebooking the diary for Saturday.

Presumably it's not illegal to get your eyes tested on Liberation Day either, in between shopping for an engagement ring, getting essentials from the chemist, a good book to take onto the beach, some flowers to give your beau, and sitting down to a fine meal in one of our many town restaurants. And food is on the list of things that are okay to buy on a Sunday (or on Liberation Day) too, so corner shops and supermarkets can open if they choose. There's no restriction on cleaners, gardeners, plumbers, decorators, builders, scaffolding-erectors - the list goes on and on.

A couple of months ago I was asked by Chamber of Commerce to allow our shops to open on the afternoon of Liberation Day, once the majority of the commemorations were finished. It was put to me that in these straitened times town retailers could ill afford to lose the trade that is expected on a busy Saturday in May, with extra tourists on the island to take part in the Liberation Day events. The compromise - closed a.m, open p.m - also had the blessing of the Dean and the Bailiff.

Having agreed to the request, I waited for the public reaction - I did not have to wait long. Lots of people, from members of the Parish's Roads Committee, to traders (large and small), to parishioners (young and old), to States' Members, told me by email, by letter, by letters to the JEP, that they wanted Liberation Day to be kept special. When I pointed out that the Sunday trading law (which includes Liberation Day thanks to an amendment to the law brought by Senator Routier) allowed a large proportion of shops to open ANYWAY, and that surely it was unfair that, for example, a clothes shop would be closed but a jewellers could open - the response was that two wrongs don't make a right; ideally we would - we should? - give future Liberation Days even more protection than they currently receive.

The Town Centre Manager came up with the compromise of designating the Sunday after Liberation Day as a fete or festival which would enable all shops to open under a blanket Sunday Trading permit. This is what happened last Christmas when all Parishes participated in the Fete de Noue, or Christmas Festival. Only the other 11 parishes weren't enamoured of the idea this May, so St Helier was left (as often happens) to plough its lonely furrow, and the St Helier Fete de la Liberation was born.

Quite why the Economic Development minister, Senator Maclean, has now declared the whole weekend a 'fete or festival' I'm not sure, as it's still up to the Constables of the individual parishes to issue Sunday trading permits, and it's not as if he's seeking to allow any more shops to open on Liberation Day than have currently got the ability to do so.

My guess is that there's going to be an awful lot of business going on this Saturday, most if not all of it perfectly legally carried out, either because the businesses concerned already have a Sunday Trading permit, or because they don't need one. In most cases it won't be motivated by greed, either, but because times are tough.

The question for the future is this: can Jersey's government do more to keep Liberation Day special? Or should it be left to the public to vote with their feet - to turn out in force in the morning to the commemoration in Liberation Square, and in the afternoon, to the slaveworkers' memorial at Westmount Crematorium. Isn't it all a bit reminiscent of the Pharisees, to insist that everyone shuts up shop? Thou shalt not buy or sell anything on Liberation Day, thou shalt not buy a shirt or a pair of shoes, thou shalt not take a taxi, thou shalt not get one's hair cut?

Slow boat to Jersey

2009-04-20T09:11:00.001-07:00

At the end of our Easter break in the UK we made it to the ferry terminal in good time only to find I’d confused Poole with Portsmouth and instead of the fast cat that would get us home by lunchtime we were to be cooped up all day on the conventional ferry. The family were amazingly forgiving, though the need for penitence changed once we went up from the car deck.

What used to be called the Purser’s Office (in those grim, dank, interminable days - and nights - of Sealink crossings) , was now ‘Reception’ and we went there first to enquire about a cabin. How many berths would you like? That’s £34 please, (a four-berth cabin is £73 on the night crossings) and and so-and-so will show you to your cabin. Lo and behold, a smiling member of staff appeared to conduct us there. The en-suite cabin with views over Portsmouth harbour had clean linen, soap towels; a desk and socket for working at a laptop; the bunks were comfy, too. Exploring the Commodore Goodwill, we found ourselves in clean, comfortable and relatively empty cruise ship, with a choice of lounges, restaurant and bars, and a family film to watch.

Later on the kidz opted to stay in the cabin with all its novelty so the parents, kicking their heels with glee as they legged it down the corridor, could enjoy lunch on their own: a choice of several main courses washed down with a choice of half a dozen wines, followed by coffee. The restaurant staff were as friendly and helpful as everyone else we were served by. Far from being a bore, the journey turned out to be an enjoyable extension to our holiday, a perfect mini-cruise. Okay, so the sea was calm, but as one of our fellow travellers said, the conventional ferry has the advantage of not being subject to the vagaries of the weather.

I realised today how much I dislike travelling by air, the whole wretched experience from the online check-in, luggage worries, the queues, the searches, the long walks, the close confinement in a narrow metal tube at 20,000 feet – no, whenever I can find the extra time I’m going to take Condor's slow boat between Jersey and the U.K.

Businesses won't have to pay for the town's recycling scheme

2009-04-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

According to the article on page 3 of the JEP on Friday 3rd April, I think that 'Town businesses could pick up the bill for the new St Helier recycling scheme'. Now why would I want to do that? How could that possibly strike anyone as fair? Actually the rest of the article makes the point that we are only considering charging businesses for EXTRA collections. In other words, everyone who pays rates is entitled to go on receiving their weekly refuse collection, which is going to include a collection of recyclables like paper, tins, plastic bottles and glass, but if you run a business that generates a load of refuse on a daily basis you will have to pay for the extra collections.
The article also points out that the new recycling scheme is going to be put to a Parish Assembly for approval, once the staff involved in operating it are fully signed up to the scheme, and once the parishioners have been consulted about the scheme. So if businesses object to paying any for the extra refuse collections they can simply turn up to the meeting and vote against it. Mind you, they will have to have a pretty good argument against paying for extra services, as if they don't pay for them everyone else will!

The Wrong Street

2009-04-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

Someone wrote to me about illegal parking in St James Street, or so I thought: St. James Street is really busy and is part of the Ring Road, so I asked that a letter be sent to the premises in the street concerned to advise them that a zero tolerance approach would be taken to illegal parking, and in due course a meeting with a delegation representing businesses in the street appeared in my diary.

I thought something was amiss when they arrived as the group included people I knew who run businesses in a different part of town, and when they circulated photographs of commercial vehicles unloading in James Street I realised that at my request the traffic wardens aka parking control officers were blitzing the wrong street – St. James Street goes past the former St. James Church between the Bacchus and Admiral pubs; James Street links the Nelson Street car park with Burrard Street and is effectively a cul-de-sac. James Street currently has yellow lines prohibiting parking on both sides, but the many businesses in the street need to be able to have deliveries, so why on earth did I want to adopt a zero tolerance approach to parking?

Good question – I didn’t. I apologised for the case of mistaken identity and a solution to the problem was quickly found, as not only did I propose to replace the yellow lines with some marked unloading bays, but issues like the condition of the pavements, the potential for some al fresco areas and traffic calming were all agreed as needing the Parish’s attention.

Subsquently I’ve found out that I’m not the only person to have been confused by these street names. The landlord of the St. James Wine Bar (confusingly situated not in St. James Street but the other one) regularly gets mail sent to an address across town, and other people have reported to me that it’s a confusing situation.

By coincidence I had a letter recently from the head of the Catholic Church asking why the Parish had not considered renaming a Parish road to reflect the fact that for more than half a century the Portuguese community has been settled in Jersey – James Street seems to me to be eminently suitable:
How does Rua da Madeira sound?