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Seven candidates gathered at First Tower school for the St. Helier North Hustings, but a full audience of eager parishioners were in for an uneventful night…
Besides a couple of brazen comments, the candidates were altogether rather tame. And the hustings proved forgettable even from the start, after the leader of the pack, Peter Tabb (President of the Jersey Lions Club) had trouble placing one of the contenders in the line-up of candidates.
(Steve Ahier made the right call wearing his election voting sticker displaying his name in capital letters.)
Despite the muddled introductions, the meeting was off to a roaring start as Mary Le Hegarat rattled off her manifesto.
Meanwhile, other candidates took a more relaxed approach, with St. John convert Trevor Pointon instead suggesting parishioners ask ‘Mr Google’ to take them to the Reform website where they could read the party’s full 28-page proposal.
Pictured: The hustings were led by Peter Tabb, President of the Jersey Lions Club.
After the manifesto summaries (or lack thereof), the candidates were fed to the lions – er, parishioners – with questions ranging from the housing shortage and employment crisis to the elephant in the room: Jersey’s hospital plans.
The candidates attempting to defend their territory of St. Helier North are: sitting Deputies Steve Ahier, Inna Gardiner, Mary Le Hegarat, and Trevor Pointon (Reform Jersey); new faces Phil Romeril (Jersey Alliance) and Max Andrews; and old new face Ted Vibert (Jersey Alliance).
The first question of the night related to Jersey’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap, with candidates asked how Jersey will combat its carbon emissions and how much it will cost the public.
Most candidates agreed that despite Jersey’s small impact on a global scale, it was still important to reduce our carbon footprint as an island. Ideas to combat emissions included encouraging greener travel, improving home insulation, and introducing subsidies for electric boiler systems and electric vehicles.
Pictured: There was no mistaking Deputy Steve Ahier thanks to his voting name-badge.
Serving Deputy Marie Le Hegarat also suggested doing more to encourage growing and buying food locally.
But former Senator Ted Vibert went against the grain, likening Jersey’s impact on global warming to going down to St. Aubin’s Bay and pouring a kettle of hot water into the ocean to make the sea warmer.
“Are the public going to be expected to spend thousands and thousands of pounds on producing a result that will be so tiny that the rest of the world won’t even know its happening?” he asked.
The panel were also asked what they would do to help Jersey fisherman and "stop the French stealing our fish".
Deputy Gardiner joked that she wished she could "stop it tomorrow", but suggested the way to help Jersey fishers was to find new markets.
Pictured: Deputy Trevor Pointon suggested parishioners ask ‘Mr Google’ for Reform's manifesto.
Deputy Le Hegarat agreed that alternative markets and diversification are solutions, while Phil Romeril touched on the issue of food security: “We could all eat more fish,” he suggested, “and that would really help our fishermen, wouldn’t it?”
Steve Ahier, meanwhile, clarified that the French were not, in fact, "stealing" our fish, since they were legally fishing with issued licences, but argued that we should try and stop large trawlers from "destroying the seabed".
The topic later turned to Jersey’s employment crisis, with a parishioner asking candidates what policies they would introduce to ensure overseas workers can afford to pay rent.
Max Andrews, who recalled his school days at First Tower, said he wanted to see a point-based immigration system and highlighted that he was not in favour of rental controls in the private market. Instead, he said the focus needed to be on building more social housing.
Current Deputy Trevor Pointon said that the Government should be doing more to ensure there is accommodation for key workers, while Inna Gardiner, Mary Le Hegarat and Phil Romeril agreed the need to assess the "skills gaps" and work on training "local talent".
Pictured: Deputy Inna Gardiner joked that she wished she could stop the French "stealing our fish".
On the topic of Jersey’s housing shortage, Mr Romeril said there was an issue with the "whole planning process", which is "getting in the way" of building new houses and renovating old houses.
“The planning process is the biggest block,” he said. Along with Deputy Gardiner and Deputy Le Hegarat, Mr Romeril suggested a more structure ‘pre-application’ process could help.
“To really get off the ground with housing, we’re going to need to free up land that is already owned by the States of Jersey, to dedicate land to building affordable housing for people,” he added.
Mr Romeril also suggested increasing the number of properties that private developers are obliged to build, and increasing the affordable elements of those developments.
But the elephant in the room, according to one parishioner, was the future of Jersey’s hospital, prompting each candidate to share what propositions or amendments they would make to the current hospital plan.
“I don’t think anybody fought harder against putting the hospital at the top of the hill than I did,” said Mr Vibert, who argued that expanding Westmount Road for site access was "not necessary".
Both Deputy Gardiner and Deputy Le Hegarat agreed, while Steve Ahier remarked that the cycle track planned for the road was "too large".
Deputy Le Hegarat went one step further, adding that the size of the hospital building should be reduced. “I think 10 floors is ridiculous,” she said. “It’s a blot on the landscape.”
Speaking from a "healthcare point of view", the man previously behind Jersey's oldest chemist, Mr Romeril, said we "need to just get on with it" and "invest our time in the people who deliver the care, not the building".
Meanwhile, Steve Ahier stressed that if there was any amendment to try and stop the hospital being built on Overdale, he would not support it, having campaigned to prevent the hospital on People’s Park.
Other subjects during the evening included electoral reforms, university grants and cooperation in the States Assembly.
ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE, TRINITY: “I prefer not to use the mic"
ST. HELIER SOUTH: A quiet 'night out' with the candidates
ST. BRELADE: Parker, pensioners and proper parties
ST. CLEMENT: "Can you hear me at the back?"
GROUVILLE AND ST. MARTIN: Pantomime cards, cruise ships and solar-powered tractors
ST. SAVIOUR: Faith, Five Oaks and counting to five in feisty first meet
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