From Simon Crowcroft, Constable of St Helier.
IN his letter (JEP, 10 August), Barrie Bertram wrongly supposes that St Helier’s new relationship with Funchal is to be ‘solely commemorated’ by the renaming of James Street.

As I explained at the parish assembly, at which the roads committee’s decision was approved, I have already asked the Waterfront Enterprise Board to consider naming the new squares, which were planned for the Esplanade Quarter scheme, after the parish’s three twinned communities of Avranches, Bad Wurzach and Funchal.

But as we all know, those plans appear to be less likely to be achieved than they did when I made my request to WEB.

But twinning is not about signs or names; it serves to foster links between communities, especially between young people. Mr Bertram is wrong about this as well, as he caricaturises twinning as ‘junkets’.

Perhaps he is unaware of the hundreds of exchanges that have taken place between families, schools and individuals over the years of St Helier’s twinnings, including visits of the Jersey Youtheatre to Bad Wurzach, the visit there of the Band of the Island of Jersey last year, groups of young swimmers, table tennis players from Avranches, the visit of a girls’ choir to Funchal, the list goes on and on.

To say, as he does, that twinning offers ‘few benefits to local retailers or taxpayers’ is equally misguided.

In the current economic climate, we need to do all that we can to encourage visitors from abroad to come to Jersey, and more than a dozen twinnings across the parishes play a small, but significant part in this regard.