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Why get a tattoo? Of course, there are the drunken holiday mistakes and odes to exes, but, ask any of our local artists, whose craft is steadily moving from the backstreets to the high street (as we explore on P3), and it’s largely about creating something permanent that makes a statement, tells a story, or simply celebrates beauty (in the eye of beholder, of course).
When it comes to making a mark, our Government appears determined to do the opposite – so enthusiastic were their project-pulling attempts to draw a line under the era of Le Fondré and Farnham that, just months into their tenure, they had already earned the moniker ‘Cancel of Ministers’
So, what big ticket items are going in their place to stimulate our stagnating, Bean-drained island as we emerge from the smorgasbord of economic struggles we need not name? Recently released spending plans for 2024 and beyond (News Focus, P11) leave us, for the most part, none the wiser.
Of course, not every administration needs to have a Hoover Dam (though we do need a new reservoir and upgrades to our sewerage infrastructure, as it happens…), but bricks-and-mortar statements are always a useful clue as to Ministerial priorities and designs on the future.
So, in the absence of a tangible project, is there a clear vision for the community to get behind? Looking at what’s marked the administration so far, it seems the answer is… not yet.
Things started promisingly with a rapid response to inflation stress in the ‘mini budget’, but since then the road has been marked with a protracted teacher dispute (the first in history where headteachers have joined the strikes), a bloated public service (and no firm pledge to deal with this), dodgy IT, thousands of unpaid bills to local service providers, a U-turn on a major period promise, and a new hospital project on track to be more expensive than the “unaffordable” one it is replacing…
As Chamber notes (P39), this is the year things – positive, visionary, stimulating things – must start to happen.
One area in dire need of vision – and we are promised one by the Economic Development Minister – is tourism and hospitality. In Unplugged (P23), industry stalwart Robert Mackenzie highlights the pressure points and areas of possibility – among them, seizing the opportunities presented by the upcoming D-Day commemorations and Paris Olympics across the water, and seeking a revival of our ‘Scandi era’ of the 1980s and 1990s.
Sometimes taking a step back to go forward can itself be visionary, as Jersey chef Joe Baker and wife Charlotte (No Ordinary Day Job, P31) have proven. Their new foodie haven, Pêtchi, mixes the blends the best of Jersey tradition and produce, serving it in what was once a redundant space in abattoir-turned-town hotspot Liberty Wharf.
Enjoy Connect.
