Tom Le Quesne and Bernard Rebours, who is taking over as a Procureur Picture: TONY PIKE (00882509)

BELLES Fleurs nursery owner Bernard Rebours has been elected a Procureur du Bien Public for the Parish of Grouville.

He is replacing Tom Le Quesne, who has been in the role for over 21 years and will retire next month at the age of 76.

Mr Rebours, who has been a roads inspector for 14 years, has also been parish floral co-ordinator for ten years, and during that time the parish and its Grouville in Bloom committee have had major success in the Britain in Bloom competitions.

He and his wife Martine own Belles Fleurs nursery and they have two children, Bernard and Victoria.

Mr Rebours said that he had been approached by some parishioners to put his name forward and he was looking forward to being a Procureur.

‘Parishioners who asked me to stand as Procureur were confident in my ability and I believe I can achieve what is necessary in this post,’ he said.

Due to take the oath of office in the Royal Court on Friday 5 March, Mr Rebours will be keeping tabs on the parish purse with Procureur Wally Labey.

Twelve years ago, Mr Le Quesne retired from the family plumbing business, which was founded in 1890, and he represented the fourth generation in the family to serve the community.

His voluntary contribution to the Island started in 1973 when he became a Constable’s Officer in St Clement. From 1974 to 1980 he was a Constable’s Officer in Grouville, before becoming a Centenier, a role he took for six years. A member of Grouville’s Roads Committee for a year, he became a Procureur in December 1988.

While in office as Procureur, Mr Le Quesne worked alongside four Constables – Alan Le Maistre, Richard Le Sauteur, Frank Amy and the current postholder, Dan Murphy.

Nineteen years ago, he was closely involved with the twinning of the parish with Portbail, and his wife Margaret served for some years as president of the twinning committee.

Looking back over his years as Procureur and his other honorary posts with fond memories, Mr Le Quesne said that he had enjoyed working with such a wonderful team of colleagues.
‘The staff at the parish hall have also been very supportive and have kept me going with good coffee,’ he said.

Throughout his service to the parish he was fully supported by his wife Margaret, who ran Grouville’s friendship club.

Major projects in which he was involved with included the office block extension at the back of the parish hall, and the purchase of a depot for the parish – a base which, he said, had proved invaluable for storing equipment and vehicles and the building of the parish Battle of Flowers exhibit.

Mr Le Quesne said that he was confident he was leaving the parish with well-balanced books.

‘Both of those big projects are paid for and there is still a few bob in the bank,’ he said.