From Michael Haines.
MAY I through your publication extend an open invitation to the 30,000 plus residents of St Helier to visit St Clement to view and admire our green open spaces.

They are in abundance and add very much to the quality and richness of life in St Clement and to the community spirit prevailing throughout the parish. And we are fortunate in St Clement to have those facilities because, following the lead of the other country parishes, the ‘no more development’ notice is prominently on display. Our Constable and parish Deputies are at the vanguard of this charge and we are grateful for their dogged determination to stop further development.

But where are the new developments to go to provide for new homes? How are we going to accommodate the 200 to 500 new arrivals coming to Jersey every year to work and reside under our policy of growth? Obviously not in the country parishes.

The answer from the Planning Minister is to cram them in to St Helier. St Helier is already a built-up concrete jungle with very little open green space, so further bricks and mortar will blend in very nicely with the existing landscape. To put it another way, the residents of St Helier do not need community spaces, parks and other green open spaces.

So far so good for the country parishes, but do we not sense a large degree of hypocrisy in such a policy? St Helier residents should not be regarded as second class residents in our Island. Their needs are no different to the needs of the country parishes. St Helier should be our ‘jewel in the crown’.

Against that background, it is not surprising that Constable Crowcroft, presumably with the full support of all the town Deputies and town-based Senators, is seeking an assurance from the Planning Minister. If the minister wishes to continue with the policy then he should stand by the previous promises made by the States and Planning and give town residents a town park across the whole of the Gas Place site.

Therefore congratulations to the town Deputies and Constable for taking this stand, which is entirely reasonable and consistent with the policy pursued by the country parishes. I fear if housing is placed on the town park site then, not only will it represent a failure to take account of overwhelming public opinion and support over many years for the town park, but it will also lead to the final debasement of many parts of St Helier.