Deputy: How do we get States to listen to the Vale?

The Guernsey Press devoted half a page and two separate stories (see headline above) to cover the first surgery for five years – the last ones were arranged before island-wide voting by the parish deputies – and highlighted fears about over-development in the parish.

These centred on major plans by the Guernsey Development Agency around St Sampson's Harbour and proposals to build hundreds of new homes in the north of the island.

"There is no majority in the Vale for large-scale developments in the north of the island," douzenier Ollie Goddard, who is leading the re-establishment of the meetings, told the newspaper. "There isn't a problem with housing. We have over 600 empty flats in Town, 200 empty houses in the island, and over 200,000 sq. foot of empty office space," he said, speaking in a personal capacity.

Empty
"I have counted over 70 empty houses in the Vale personally. Things could be done right now, if the interest was there, instead of building brand new houses or big multi-million pound developments. But there doesn't seem to be any will behind that."

Deputy McKenna particularly raised taxation – he is leading the opposition to GST – and the concerns that it was another reason why young islanders would leave the island.

More generally, he applauded the surgery initiative and people raising their voices.

"How do we put the feeling of the room – the heartbeat of the Vale – into the States to show their concerns and implement it?" he asked. 

• The next douzaine surgery is scheduled for 25th April.