Select a region
After more than an hour of questions, confusion, interruptions – and even an accusation that communism had taken root – parishioners of St Peter decided to put off a vote by several weeks in a meeting that at times carried shades of the Handforth Parish Council.
On paper, the agenda for last night's parish assembly was straightforward...
Those in attendance at last night's Parish Assembly were being asked to agree on changes to sections of Verte Rue.
The aim of the plans – which already had the backing of the Parish Roads Committee – was to help facilitate the development for housing on adjacent fields.
Pictured: Parishioners were being asked to vote on changes to Verte Rue to facilitate a housing development.
Although very little was revealed about the scheme itself, some representatives for the companies involved – including Dean Hacquoil of building contractor Hacquoil and Cook, as well as Bob Godel of Godel Architects – tried their best to answer questions.
Several residents gasped loudly upon hearing the site was earmarked in the Island Plan for as many as 130 homes, although no number was given for how large the development would actually be.
A number of parishioners also took issue with the lack of information they had been provided about the scheme – and whether they should even be making the roads decision without it.
One resident questioned whether Constable Richard Vibert had "put the cart before the horse".
Parishioners gathered last night to vote on the changes but ultimately decided to postpone it so more information could be provided.
Another went as far as to query whether the parish was moving from a democracy to "a communist state".
A back-and-forth over whether residents could at least be provided with "an outline sketch" of the scheme also proved fruitless.
The Constable stressed that "nothing underhand" had been done and pointed out that the plans were neither being developed by the parish – nor had they even reached the planning stage.
However, this remained a point of contention for the rest of the evening.
Pictured: Constable Richard Vibert agreed that the decision should be revisited at a later date once parishioners had more information.
It was coupled with an equally strong parochial concern as to how traffic would be affected by the changes, with Mr Vibert acknowledging it would have been "useful" to have a representative from the government's Infrastructure Department present.
Former Chief Minister Kristina Moore, who was also in attendance, joined parishioners in questioning how much consultation work had been done prior to the Assembly.
A busy Parish Assembly. Following a number of questions from parishioners it has been adjourned. The developers will hold engagement sessions & return in 3-5wks pic.twitter.com/0uUbfi0I1r
— Kristina Moore (@Moore4Jersey) April 25, 2024
After more than an hour of debate, which included parishioners interrupting each other, the occasional mobile phone going off and not much progress being made with the agenda, the parish decided to adjourn on the basis that developers would hold engagement sessions and return in around five weeks with more details about what was being proposed.
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.