Select a region
He's soon set to take to the stage as an Ugly Sister in his first pantomime, but, before then, this amateur actor shared the ways he'd like to change the script for the island.
James Knight moved to Jersey 11 years ago with his husband, and works within the Community and Social Services Department.
His latest part, however, has nothing to do with his job or his past role in the airline industry.
After starring in 'Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert', '9-5', 'West Side Story' and 'Joseph', James is now playing one of the Ugly Sisters in the Jersey Green Room Club's pantomime Cinderella.
He will take to the stage, along with the rest of the cast, tonight and perform every day – except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve – until 4 January.
"This is my first ever pantomime and I cannot wait to start showing our island what we have to offer," James said.
To take his mind off first night jitters, he instead dwelled on the little tweaks he'd make to improve island life...
I feel there are two key areas that would benefit from some major changes.
Pictured: James would like to see better care and support for islanders living with dementia.
Firstly, the care of those living with dementia. We need to improve Community Support and the provision of a ‘Dementia Village’ where individuals can continue to live independently and maintain their routines, whilst their safety and health is maintained.
Secondly, there needs to be more support and care for those who struggle with their own mental health. A useful and worthwhile service currently has an 18-month waiting list. There have been some great changes but I feel so much more can be done.
A new train transport system would link all parishes and take more cars off the road. I think maybe a monorail or an underground train network.
Pictured: James wants to see trains make a comeback to the island.
Some European cities have a network of three different lines so a Jersey train/tube would not need to be that big. I would like to see a circular line that covers all parishes and two/three cross island lines.
This would allow all islanders to access most parts of Jersey in just one journey! This could also open possibilities of better links to neighbouring islands or even main land Europe.
We need more retail stores and better choices for affordable clothing as well as more menswear for the people of Jersey. Recently, the menswear products of some high street stores have been reduced or removed all together.
Pictured: There isn't much choice out there for menswear says James.
I would like to see more stores like Zara or H&M or Primark come to Jersey! This would also provide more jobs to our local community.
The bus interchange at Bel Royal should be turned into a roundabout to allow all vehicles to access all directions.
Pictured: Only buses are allowed to cross at the Bel Royal junction. (Google Maps)
Currently only buses are allowed to cross at this junction, however making this into a roundabout would provide better access to all points along the Avenue, Inner road and St. Peter's Valley.
This may ease the congestion that the Avenue has every evening.
Tax returns and other documents or forms should be online applications. This would speed up the process and give an immediate and more accurate outcome.
Pictured: James would like to see more forms available online.
It appears to take quite a few months to process the current application forms. The staff are doing a good job however the volume of forms must be very high and the time it takes to process would be a lengthy job.
Providing an online tax return would save much more time and ease, and could also send out electronic reminders to those who have yet to complete their tax returns. Most applications can now be done online and this would allow other forms to be completed on there too, saving companies time and money.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not the Bailiwick Express.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.